Are You Addicted to Sugar?

Have you ever tried to control your weight, health or lifestyle but struggled to replace the bad habits with new, good ones? Are you constantly bouncing from one fad-diet to another, and just can’t seem to stick to one thing than longer than a few weeks?

As someone who has tried various diets and who is constantly trying their best to maintain a healthy lifestyle, it would be a lie to say I’ve never had those moments where I miss my favourite indulgences. Let’s be honest: although sugary sweets, chocolate, cake and pudding can make you feel really bad (not necessarily in terms of guilt, but in the way they actually affect your digestive system and can make you feel bloated and sluggish etc) it can be really hard to go completely cold turkey and cut these treats out for good. I’m sure many of you have asked yourself, ‘why is it so hard?’

We Don’t Even Know We’re Addicted!

Part of the problem is that we’re often actually addicted to the things we struggle to cut out of our diets. Dr Mark Hyman has been studying the effect of sugar on humans for over 20 years, and points to the now relatively well-known claim that sugar has proven to be more addictive than cocaine in animal studies. More interestingly is that it’s not the one or two spoons of sugar in your morning coffee or over cereal that causes the damage; rather, the hidden sugars found in most processed foods. We’re not just trying to change bad eating habits, we’re trying to overcome addiction. No wonder we find it so hard to kick the sugar habit!

Change Your Mindset

Not to undermine the seriousness of addiction (which is incredibly serious, even when it comes to food), but approaching and overcoming a reliance on any substance requires a shift in mindset. You will never stop craving sugar if you see your whole future as being ‘deprived’ of something amazing and delicious. Instead, you need to see it as entailing a complete lifestyle change; one which will benefit you in ways you can’t even imagine before you’ve kicked the habit. Sure, this new lifestyle may not have sugar in it, but it’ll have other things in it that’ll make you feel like a better, healthier, happier version of yourself. You won’t live in a constant state of deprivation: there are actually other things that can scratch that itch that are good for you!

Where do you get your fix?

There are a lot of things you can make yourself at home, but one of the things people trying to leave sugar behind struggle with is that there aren’t very many readily available treats for purchase in store that taste great and hit the same sweet spot that sugar does. Slowly, this is changing, and healthy, delicious options are becoming available on the shelves of not only health stores but mainstream grocery chains, too.

A Chocolate ‘Substitute’ That’s Good for You?

One of my favourite healthy treats available on the shelves is MoonBean Unbakery’s ridiculously delicious Macaroons. The Double Chocolate flavour will seriously hit the spot if you’re a chocoholic in need of a fix. These are some of the few healthy sweet things I’ve encountered that (a) don’t taste like a substitute and that (b) make you feel fantastic! Packed with raw, organic superfoods, MoonBean Unbakery’s products will cure your craving and inject your body with goodness. When you don’t have time to whip up homemade goodies, MoonBean’s products are the answer to treating yourself while remaining firmly on the health wagon. Have a look at their incredible selection of tasty snacks on their website, right here, or look out for them at health shops and in supermarkets like Spar.