Be aware of the signs of sugar addiction

Have you noticed high sugar consumption throughout your day? Do you want to stop eating sugar but cannot do it? Have you ever felt uncomfortable when you missed a meal? You are not the only one. High-sugar foods have high palatability, which leads to high consumption. As a result, people tend to overeat sweets, chocolates, and candies.

We tend to indulge in sweets as a festive treat or a self-reward. But everything in moderation is good. Going too far can cause issues! Consumption of sweets activates the happy hormone, which makes the experience of eating sweets more pleasurable. Over a period of time, this can cause the brain to crave sweets. That’s when habit starts turning into an addiction.

Here are the most common signs of sugar addiction: 

1. You crave something sweet after meals

Do you go to your kitchen cabinets and look for something sweet after your meal? Sweets should be consumed as a treat, i.e., from time to time and not every day. For most people, it’s an acquired habit of finishing a meal with sweets, it seems normal, but it is not. Many of these sweets contain refined sugar that can cause various health complications. Thus, it is important to keep these post-meal sugar cravings in check.

2. You have low sensitivity to sweet food

We lose sensitivity to sweet taste as we consume more sweets, i.e., the more sugar we consume, the less sensitivity we have to sweet taste. This increases the sweet food tolerance. As a result, naturally sweet food starts to feel tasteless and less sweet. So, when you feel like you need to add extra sugar, it might be a sign of sugar addiction.

3. Carbohydrate-rich foods appeal to you

Do you like pasta, pizza, bread, burgers and other similar products? Because these foods contain refined carbohydrates, they are digested and absorbed very quickly, making a person hungry very soon, which leads them to consume more of them. Due to this reason, our body starts to depend majorly on sugar for its fuel requirement, leading to further addiction to sugar.

4. You experience dramatic fluctuations in energy and mood throughout the day

Refined sugar tends to get absorbed into our bodies more rapidly, increasing blood sugar levels. This sudden increase in blood sugar will give you an energy boost followed by a dip in energy level as the sugar will be eliminated from the bloodstream. These continuous fluctuations can cause changes in moods, and can cause you to crave for more refined foods.

5. You are bloated after meals

Bloating can be caused due to the presence of the bad bacteria in the gut. Our gut is home to various bacterias, which help to maintain our digestive health. But consuming refined sugar can disrupt this gut ecosystem, and helps in the growth of bad bacteria, which can cause bloating.

6. You have the urge to eat frequently

Do you eat in between your meals? Having small and frequent meals with a gap of 3-4 hours is known to be healthy. But mindlessly munching on snacks like processed foods (cakes, candies, puffs) can be a sign of sugar addiction.

To know how to break your sugar addiction, join us for the #SmitSaysQuit campaign.

Download the Smit.fit app and get in touch with your nutritionist today!