It's five o'clock and you can't think of anything but shovelling a chocolate, a doughnut, an icecream, and if all else fails, a sachet of sugar into your face. It's all well to say you have a sweet tooth, but urgent sugar cravings could be symptomatic of many diseases. According to macrobiotic expert, Shonali Sabherwal, bad bacteria loves feeding on glucose. And the more it thrives, the more persuasive the sugar cravings get.
Experts say our bodies were not designed to take such a sugar overload. Not only is sugar addictive, it is also cunning. It creeps in through alcohol, breads, packaged juices, not to mention coffee and tea.
Gradually, it may comprise onethird of our meals and become an invisible crutch. Our body is not equipped to process so much sugar and this can lead to diabetes and cancer. It affects the functioning of the adrenalin and thyroid glands, energy levels and emotional well-being.
Recently, researchers from Yale University found that dramatic falls in blood sugar occur after eating 'bad' carbohydrates such as biscuits and affect the brain's ability to control impulses. This leaves you with more cravings for unhealthy food.
Symptoms
Sugar overload can show up in a host of seemingly unrelated symptoms:
Red pimples
Acne is closely related to fungi that feeds on sugar. You may owe those pimples to your love for sweets.
Candida infection
A reoccurring yeast infection in the vaginal area is an indicator of too much sugar in the diet. This may be accompanied by an irritable bowel syndrome (wind, bloating, diarrhoea and constipation). Bad bacteria thrive in sugar abundance.
Antibiotics
A long run of antibiotics or antacids can also trigger an overgrowth of bad bacteria. The former kills the good bacteria that keeps the bad one in check. As a result, the yeast goes off multiplies and feeds on sugar and expresses its craving through you. Bread and sugar are their dope of choice.
Mood swings, highs and lows
Are you often irritable when hungry? Does your mood change after you feed yourself? Do you reach out for a bar of chocolate when you are feeling low? Adrenal glands pump out the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol during times of stress. But if stress is a constant in your life, these glands may become burdened and sluggish. This makes us reach for our frenemy, sugar. Sugar sends our mood soaring, but only temporarily. It crashes to depression and anxiety as quickly.
Hair loss
High blood sugar levels can also cause hair fall, even in women. This is often seen in diabetics. If you've seen more than normal amount of strands in your hair brush or shower drain, get your blood sugar checked.
Tummy weight
If you tend to put on more weight around your stomach, blame your sugar addiction. Sugar substitutes, which are found in alcohol, low calorie, low carb foods and processed sweets such as pastries, cookies and candy, can't be absorbed by your GI tract completely. They cause a pot belly, bloating and gas.
Puffiness in the face
Too much sugar causes you to retain water, causing puffiness. Alcohol is sugar-fermented. When you mix your drink with aerated beverages or packaged juice, you add to the sugar content. It makes you feel dandy in the night, but come morning and your sins are written on your face.
Eat sugar away
Sabherwal looks at the yin and yang equation of sugar. Sugar is Yin (associated with expansion) and to control your sweet tooth, you need to balance it with Yang (associated with contraction) foods.
-Whole grains release naturally sustaining sugar through mastication.
-Cabbage, carrots, onions, red pumpkin and sweet potatoes are sources of natural sugar.
-Green vegetables also come under yang foods and help control sugar cravings. If you don't like the Indian garden variety of spinach, methi or shepu, eat broccoli or lettuce.
-Sugar also slips in through alcohol. Meat is the yang to this yin. If you are drinking, order a side of fish or lean chicken for balance.
-Quitting cold turkey will only lead to bingeing later. Shonali suggests the following measures as sugar rehab. Chop half a cabbage, half a red pumpkin, half a carrot, and an onion finely.
-Boil it in five cups of water on slow flame for two minutes. Strain and drink warm. Do this once a day, for a month. The ideal time would be in the afternoon, between 3 and 5 pm, when sugar cravings hit. It is supposedly a miracle drink that brings down sugar cravings.
-Jaggery and honey are simple sugars, but sugars nonetheless. You could use them to replace processed sugar, but it would be like replacing heroin with LSD.
-Switch to stevia, a natural sugar substitute. Stevia has a lower impact on blood sugar glucose and is 300 times more flavourful than normal sugar.
