With January seeing the influx of detox plans, not to mention marking Sugar Awareness Week, a leading nutrition expert is educating on the impact diets can have on our cravings.
Dr Michael Mosley – initiator of the Fast800 programme – has explained how, unless you follow a weight loss plan designed to reduce cravings, diet plans can actually worsen a sugar addition. And so, he is offering tips on how to counter addiction to sugar.
Dr Mosley explains that consuming sugary food triggers a cascade of neural events that leads to a powerful urge to keep eating. Within the midbrain, pathways release dopamine, driving sugar addiction by rewarding and reinforcing consumption. In the prehistoric setting, of course, this was not problematic – opportunities to eat sugar were far too rare for a sweet tooth to disrupt health. But in the modern era, the same compulsion drives conventional diets to fail. By locking you into a state of hunger, such regimes switch your attention towards, rather than away from, high-calorie foods. Breaking the diet becomes inevitable; sugar addiction worsens and the obesity crisis gains momentum.
There are a few simple changes Dr Mosley and his team advise you can make which will help combat sugar addiction:
- Always choose the full fat option: Low fat generally means all the good stuff has been removed and has been replaced with sugar and nasty additives. Full fat products will keep you feeling fuller for longer.
- Stick to water: Soft drinks and fruit juices contain a large amount of sugar. If you feel like mixing it up, try sparkling water with a wedge of lemon and some cucumber.
- Start reading food labels more closely. There are many sources of hidden sugars and it’s important to check the label to see just how much sugar you are consuming — you may be surprised.
- Visit thefast800.com: Find more tips and sugar free recipes to help you counter sugar addiction, lose weight, improve mood, reduce blood pressure, inflammation and improve blood sugar levels.
