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How to Curb Cravings Naturally & Make Better Food Choices
Let’s talk about that one thing we all love to do, that isn’t always good for us: eating. We know what we’re supposed to do, eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full. So, why are these rules so hard to follow when we often feel strong cravings for more unhealthy foods? A lot of the time cravings strikeout of boredom or adrenal imbalances that are caused by stress and anxiety, leading to emotional eating and weight gain. When we are (literally) feeding into this, it can throw off blood sugar, mood, and you can kiss any sort of craving control goodbye. 4 Ways to Curb Cravings Naturally 1. Outsmart Your Triggers Are you stressed? Lonely? Bored? It's important to be able to acknowledge what emotions are driving you to make bad food choices. Sometimes it's not even an emotional trigger, but a sight or smell that makes you crave certain foods, take the movie theaters for example... many people can't resist the buttery popcorn. A good strategy is to be prepared with a healthy alternative before you encounter a triggering event. Healthier swaps of your favorite foods is a great way to outsmart your triggers. 2. Get Rid Of Artificial Sweeteners Did you know that many artificial sweeteners are actually up to 600 times sweeter than real sugar? Artificial sweeteners are not a healthy alternative since they overstimulate your tastebuds and brain to think that you want and need more sweetness. These artificial sweeteners actually activate your hunger centers in your brain to make you want to keep eating and usually reach for the unhealthy food options. 3. Don't Skip Breakfast We've all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and while it is important to refuel our bodies after sleep, it's more important to eat the right foods to start our day. Instead of reaching for your sugary cereal and milk, try a breakfast full of protein and essential fatty acids like eggs and avocado for example. When you start your day by eating whole and nutrient-dense foods then you will feel fuller longer and have fewer cravings for sugar or simple carbohydrates. 4. Get Help with Natural Supplements If you are trying to regain control of your waistline and overcome your unhealthy habits, try BrainMD’s Craving Control. Formulated and developed by Daniel Amen, MD, and Parris Kidd, Ph.D. to deliver the right nutrients to your hunger centers in your brain and help you to curb cravings in a natural way. Reducing Cravings Starts in Your Brain Craving Control works by helping to balance your brain chemistry. For example, when you have a stressful day it causes your cortisol levels sky-rocket, and you’ll be tempted to eat comfort food, but what if you didn’t have to worry about reaching for that guilty pleasure? We might be able to help. That is because Craving Control contains six active ingredients that work synergistically to help calm the craving centers in the brain, support healthy blood sugar and insulin levels and promote a positive mood with clinically studied, all-natural ingredients. When taken as directed, with a healthy diet, and proper behavioral strategies, it can help you re-focus on what is important when it comes to your diet, promoting a positive mood and healthy emotional balance. Here is why customer Lura, loves taking her Craving Control: “So great to have the support with the CRAVINGS, not the appetite. Also, it helps me with other impulsive-type cravings as well. I love the fact that I don't *feel* like I have taken something. No nausea or restlessness. It's one of those things that you forget you have taken, and then at the end of the day realize how much of a difference it actually made.” If you ever struggle with hard-to-control cravings that take over your willpower and ruin your health goals, you know that when you’re being overcome by temptation and stress, you just wish you could find something to help. It may sound too good to be true, a supplement that helps you resist cravings, but it might be worth trying if it means you find the help you need! It’s worked for others, why not for you?
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6 Ways To Kick Sugar To The Curb
Back in 2014, in order to address a serious problem that is out of control, Berkeley, California became the first city in the United States to tax sugary drinks. Subsequently, many other U.S. cities followed suit. Americans consume the 2nd highest amount of soft drinks per capita in the world, contributing to our country's dangerously-high obesity and diabetes rates. This is not surprising considering that sugar is more addictive than drugs like cocaine and heroin and is everywhere. By some estimates, sugar is found in 75-80% of all packaged foods in the United States. Additional studies have shown that Americans consume as much as ½ pound of sugar per day! And the amount of sugar in just one can of soda is more than most people consumed in an entire year just a few hundred years ago. Eating too much sugar can damage your health and threaten your life in number of ways: Chronic high blood sugar leads to type 2 diabetes High blood sugar in people with diabetes can lead to skin ulcerations and nerve damage Can cause elevated cholesterol, high triglycerides, vascular disease and heart disease Can lead to hypertension and stroke Is toxic to the liver and can lead to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease Promotes chronic inflammation Suppresses the immune system You don’t have to be addicted to sugar! In fact, the good news is that you don’t even have to crave sugar. With a few small changes to your daily habits, you can free yourself from sugar cravings and embrace a way of eating that is health-promoting and naturally energizing. Some of our favorite suggestions are: 1. Boost Your Serotonin People who are naturally low in serotonin, a.k.a. the "happiness hormone,” often intuitively crave sugar-filled, carbohydrate-rich foods such as pies, cookies, candy, and chocolate because carbohydrates raise serotonin levels and increase feelings of well-being. These are “mood foods” and are often used to self-medicate an underlying mood issue. Avoid these quick fixes because they can cause long-term health problems. Serotonin can be boosted through a healthy diet, exercise, and the right sleep schedule. When you have plenty of serotonin, you are less likely to seek out sugar. 2. Keep Your Blood Sugar Stable What we and other researchers have found is that when your blood sugar drops, the blood flow to your brain decreases. This means you are more prone to making bad decisions because you do not have full access to your brain function. So how do you keep your blood sugar balanced? Eat frequent small meals throughout the day. Make sure to start your day with breakfast – skipping it only makes you more likely to make poor choices later on. Stay away from simple sugars and refined, processed foods because they cause your blood sugar to spike and drop erratically as well as work on the pleasure centers of the brain leading to addiction. Additionally, consider trying BrainMD’s Craving Control which contains six active ingredients that work synergistically to help to balance blood sugar and insulin levels while calming the craving centers in the brain. 3. Eat More Protein Eating protein chases away hunger by balancing the hormones of metabolism. It also causes your body to release hormones which improve your body’s ability to know when you are full and should stop eating. Protein also stimulates the release of glucagon, which stabilizes blood sugar and prevents energy crashes. After eating a protein-containing meal or snack, you feel fuller longer. Think of protein as medicine you should take in small doses every three to four hours – it belongs in nearly every meal and snack. 4. Drink Plenty of Water Approximately two-thirds of the adult human body is made of water. You may sometimes think that your body is asking for sugar, when in fact it's dehydrated and really craving water! Drinking water also acts as an effective appetite suppressant so you will feel fuller and eat less – all with zero calories! 5. Avoid Artificial Sweeteners Artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose, are calorie-free food additives used to add sweetness to sugar-free candy, low-calorie foods, and soft drinks. Unfortunately, contrary to what popular marketing would have you believe, artificial sweeteners are also bad for your health. Research indicates that artificial sweeteners dangerously alter our gut bacteria and can actually lead to obesity. Additionally, artificial sweeteners can actually increase sugar cravings. The empty calories prime the brain’s appetite centers to expect something good, and when nothing comes, it wants more. Artificial sweeteners also desensitize your taste buds so that naturally sweet things, such as fruits and some vegetables, are not enough to satisfy you. 6. Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth Naturally If your sweet tooth needs some soothing, choose foods that will not cause your blood sugar to spike, such as: Mashed or baked sweet potatoes Healthy smoothie Cherry tomatoes Baby carrots Sliced pear with almond butter A square or two of dark chocolate (at least 70% cacao) w/almonds
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