Have you considered how much sugar you may be consuming in your diet? We add sugar to our morning coffee and in our cereal. It’s already in our orange juice and a lot of our ready-to-eat breakfast foods. At the start of our day, we introduce sugar to our bodies. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), women should only have about 6 teaspoons of sugar a day (100 calories of sugar) while men should have only 9 teaspoons of sugar (150 calories of sugar). Tracking sugar can be difficult because it’s in everything and it’s everywhere. Once we digest our carbs, guess what? They convert to sugar also. It’s in our drinks, baked goods, processed foods, low fat dairy snacks, sauces etc. We desire sugar without giving it much thought and that can pose a significant problem. Here are 3 sure signs that you have a sugar addiction.
You LOVE carbs a little too much
We need some carbs for energy, although our bodies recognize an excess of carbohydrates as glucose. These carbs break down to sugar fairly quickly because the body isn’t able to use them effectively. Glucose travels to the cells to be used for energy, which is why we need some of it. When you find yourself craving carbs all of the time, you are essentially craving sugar.
You experience constant cravings
A definite sign that you have to assess your sugar consumption if you constantly crave it. You are addicted to sugar if you find that:
You have to add sugar to coffee for it to taste appealing
You can’t eat your food without sauces like BBQ, ketchup and other sauces with high sugar contents
You randomly crave breads, pastas and other grains
You need to have juice to eat with your meal
When sugar builds up in the bloodstream your blood glucose levels rise. According to Healthline, Insulin, a hormone produced by your pancreas, unlocks cells so that glucose can enter them. Without insulin, glucose keeps floating around in your bloodstream with nowhere to go, becoming increasingly more concentrated over time. When the body’s insulin levels spike and drastically drop back down, we crave more of it.
Your body fat percentage is increasing
If you’re suddenly packing on body fat, it may be time for you to cautiously watch your sugar intake. Eating sugary foods can put on unwanted weight that will put you at risk for diabetes. Being that excess glucose has nowhere to go in the bloodstream after being used in these cells for energy, it’s stored for fat in the muscles until used later. If you’re overloading with sugar, you’re not giving the body time to use that stored fat for energy. By tracking the sugar that you get from drinks and foods, you can avoid packing on body fat.
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