An intersting study - conducted in 2007 by M. Lenoir and published as Intense sweetness supasses cocaine reward - found that, given the choice between sweetened water and cocaine, rats have chosen each time water sweetened with saccharine. Surprisingly, when researchers increased the concentration of cocaine in water, rats still chose sweetened water. What's the conclusion? We are hypersensitive to sugar. When the receptors in our brain are over-stimulated by sugar-rich diets our self control struggles with a strong desire of sweets which comes back again and again.
It should be noted that not all carbohydrates are bad guys; those of whole wheat or anyway rich in fibre take a long time to be processed and absorbed by the body, so sugar level in the blood raises slowly. The problem occurs when we consume refined sugar and baked foods made with refined white flour.
Let's consider what the "average man" chooses to introduce in his daily diet and it's easy to discover that half of the sugar intake is related to drinks (soft drinks, friut juices, even sport drinks!!); the rest is hidden in cookies, icecreams, cakes, dressings (yes...read the label!), yogurt (the most yummy are the most sugar-packed), breakfast cereals (again, check the label!!) and low-quality bread.
What should we do? I think you already know the answer: limit daily consumption of sugar in order to reverse sugar tolerance: if it's proved that the more sugar we eat the more we want, it's yet a consequence that we can stop the addiction cutting sugar. Personally I was surprised to see how something tasting perfectly sweet weeks before, become too sweet to drink/eat after I started changing my habits.
Maybe you too can find helpful my "strategy"...
1 Remove temptations. When you shop at the store, don't buy sweets, low quality bread, low quality and usually cheap baked products, white sugar, soft drinks, candies. Buy what your body REALLY needs to work perfectly: proteins, fresh fruit and vegetables, high in fibre food, green tea, herbal teas, skimmed milk,... At home, get rid of all the junk food you may have in your refrigerator or food pantry.
2 Have small, frequent meals, avoid skipping breakfast. This will keep stable your sugar levels during the day and will keep you away from uncontrolled cravings for sweet snacks.
3 Replace sweet and sugar with fruit and fermented, acid foods. Fruit is rich in fibre and water so you can be delighted without increasing glycemia; fructose is also a good sweetener, to be preferred to the artificial ones (which aren't safe). Acid foods like sauerkraut and sugarfree yogurt stave off the desire of surplus sugar and break the chain of "still" your brain can be bound.
- get distracted: go for a walk, phone a friend, read a book...take control of yourself!!!
- chew sugarfree gum. Gives you the impression you're eating and distract your mind from food; moreover, xylitol these gums contain is a safe sweetener
- drink a glass of water (or lemon water if you like better). Sweet cravings are often induced by dehydration: so what a cheap, zero-calorie remedy!
5 When you've finished your meal brush your teeth or gargle with an antiseptic mouthwash. The minty taste will wash away the taste of the food you ate and you won't look for any extra snack.