Sugar: Where to Find It. How To Avoid It.
Every low carb diet available tells you to avoid sugars, which are the simplest form of carbohydrate, and destined to send your body on that roller coaster called a “spike” followed by hypoglycemia, which is the drop that can lead you feeling shaky, head achy, cotton-mouthed and desperate.
This awful state is what happens to many people who are on low fat diets because it just goes without saying that low fat means high carb, and a good many of those carbs will be simple sugars, in one guise or another.
Sugars Can Be The Body’s Cocaine
Scientific studies have shown over and over that sugar hits the part of the brain that registers pleasure, in much the same way that sex, or a ride on a real roller coaster, or even a good laugh does. And, of course, the evil twins of sugar are cocaine and methamphetamine drugs. But that’s another story.
But for those of us who have long-time issues with weight control, it is often shown, through keeping a food diary, that we’ve been getting our fix by regular hits of sugar throughout the day, in one form or another.
You know sugar is sugar, but the food manufacturers are known to disguise sugar in processed foods under a variety of labels. Here are just a few. This list of some of the possible code words for sugar which may appear on a label. Hint: the words “syrup”, “sweetener”, and anything ending in “ose” can usually be assumed to be sugar. If the label says “no added sugars”, it should not contain any of the following, although the food could contain naturally-occurring sugars (such as lactose in milk).
Sugar Under Any Name
- Agave Nectar
- Corn sweetener
- Corn syrup, or corn syrup solids
- Dehydrated Cane Juice
- Dextrin
- Dextrose
- Fructose
- Fruit juice concentrate
- Glucose
- High-fructose corn syrup
- Honey
- Invert sugar
- Lactose
- Maltodextrin
- Malt syrup
- Maltose
- Maple syrup
- Molasses
- Raw sugar
- Rice Syrup
- Saccharose
- Sorghum or sorghum syrup
- Sucrose
- Syrup
- Treacle
- Turbinado Sugar
- Xylose
What To Do About Sugar Cravings?
Remember, your body doesn’t care what the label says, it’s all just sugar!
So beyond, avoiding processed foods, and keeping every form of sugar out of your house, what can you do when you get that inevitable sugar craving?
First of, take heart from the fact that if you will stick with the Silver Cloud Diet detox for up to a week, the cravings will go away. Yes, they will.
Meantime, don’t ever deny yourself food when you feel hungry. Eat five times a day. A handful of nuts, a piece of cheese, some left over roast beef. Try to give yourself a fat and protein heavy-duty snack followed by plenty of water and see if that doesn’t help.
I’d like to hear from you. What have you found to deal with sugar cravings? For me, my secret weapon is Lemon Water, which, as I’ve told you is a tall glass of water with a squirt of fresh lemon juice, a lemon wedge and a bit of Stevia thrown in for sweetness. That does it for me. What works for you?
