You’ve heard it time and time again, but the truth is that the facts cannot be disputed about sugar intake. Cutting back on sweets is beneficial for you for a variety of reasons.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t deprive yourself of something sweet from time to time. After all, a candy bar or an ice cream isn’t going to hurt you, in moderation of course.
According to Healthline, “Up to 97% of women and 68% of men report experiencing some sort of food craving, including cravings for sugar.” So, it is okay to treat yourself out occasionally. But the key is to limit the intake of sugar from sweets in your diet.
Sure, it’s easier said than done at times. All too often, especially with most jobs conducting work from home operations and a pantry that may store a sweet snack or too, it is too easy to cheat yourself out of a healthier choice.
Why eat a strawberry or grape when a cookie can get your taste buds watering instead? But resisting the temptation and substituting things like yogurt, berries, smoothies, and chia seeds can fight the craving and boost your overall health in the long run.
Here are 4 reasons to cut back on sweets and how they can be crucial for you.
1. Reducing sweets can leave you with more energy.
Scaling back on sugar from sweets can leave you feeling less sluggish. Why not get that extra boost of energy to keep you going? Your body needs the proper nutrients to function properly, and that doesn’t come from sugary foods. In fact, you can suffer a “crash” of energy and can feel lethargic when too much sugary foods are consumed.
2. It can help with weight management.
This is probably the most common reason you’ve heard of. Sugary foods stack on “empty calories,” so to speak, and that leaves your body depleted of the nutrients it needs to thrive. Eating healthy food, combined with exercise, can make it easier and safer for you to lose weight.
3. It can positively contribute to your mental health.
Your body is a balance between mental and physical health. Medibank states in their article that, “Some studies also suggest a link between the spikes and crashes of blood sugar levels to symptoms of mood disorders such as depression, possibly because sugar suppresses the activity of a hormone called BDNF, which is low in people with depression.” The balance within your mind and body all relates to one another and impacts of sugar intake are apparent.
4. Less sugar can give you clearer skin.
Though rarely mentioned, clear skin has been said to be a benefit of cutting back on sugary foods. Medibank states that, “Blood sugar spikes and falls create inflammation or internal stress in the body, which can lead to breakouts and dull-looking skin.” If that isn’t a perk to the benefits already mentioned, then feel free to keep reading.
One final thing to keep in mind is that cutting back on sugar will help break addiction to sugar.
That sounds ironic. How is that so? According to My Fitness Pal, it states that, “The problem is that eating too much sugar shuts down healthy dopamine signaling, meaning it takes more and more sugar to fire off those pleasure signals.”
They further compare sugar addictions to other studies that show that addiction to sugar is like addiction to drugs such as cocaine. In other words, if you can sustain control of your sugar absorption, you can also fight the addiction to sugary sweets.
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It isn’t an easy battle to combat sugar and limit sweets in your diet but is something you can manage. Better health, easier weight management, clearer skin, reduced cravings and lower addiction to sugar are just some of the motivational factors to help you on your journey of scaling back on sugary foods. You can start pursuing change today. What are you waiting for?
Reflect & Refresh 