The season of indulgence is here, the time of year when we all see and smell some of our most past time favorite dishes and treats. For some, it may start with the first pumpkin spice or peppermint mocha latte of the season, and before you know it everything ‘holiday flavor inspired’ is justifiable. But with half the population in America known to having type-2 diabetes and another 84 million with prediabetes, being more mindful about the foods we consume is crucial. This explains why most of us should look for how to avoid sweet cravings and carb overload during the holidays. The good news is that you have options, with information at your fingertips and food hacks that keep your belly and heart happy, the holidays can still be full of your favorite delights. Even through the season of indulgence there are ways to avoid those torturous sweet cravings and food comas that come with holiday festivities. Most of us can maintain healthy blood sugar balance and avoid sweet cravings, for example, with better food choices and quality supplementation that keep your body thriving. It’s just a matter of understanding and taking up good practices that come into play with eating.
Make Effort To Find A Support System For The Holiday Season
Whether it be a co-worker, a friend, or a family member, see if anyone else you find yourself around a lot wants to also join the eating better train. More often than not, there is always at least one person we can find on the same page for better eating and living. If you work in an office, I can practically guarantee you that you are not the only one who would like to stay on track with keeping treats and temptations at bay. For example, you can make a pact with co-workers and agree on areas where the holiday temptations will and won’t be. Or how about that sibling at the family get togethers that will keep you motivated and help remind you of your shared goal. Perhaps someone who’d like to spend their break taking a brisk walk instead of smelling the sugary treats as they make their way to the table. Looking for a support buddy keeps you both on track, and can help each other stay strong during the tempting holiday season!
How To Avoid Sweet Cravings And Temptations
It can come as no surprise to know that many sugar cravings stem from an imbalance of blood sugar levels. When your body ingests sugar, your blood sugar spikes and your body releases insulin to lower it to a safer level. Therefore, if the insulin brings your blood sugar level a bit too low, as often happens, your body craves foods that will raise it and in-turn increase your energy. What can be dangerous about this process is that sugar can have an addictive hold on us, especially during the holidays. The effects of sugar tickles the pleasure centers in our brain, making us want even more. Rare and over-the-top treats can quickly become a slippery slope into a holiday habit. From a science standpoint, when we eat foods that contain sugar, a neurotransmitter or chemical called dopamine is released in the brain. Dopamine is one of our “happiness” signals or the chemical that makes us feel happy and good. Which is why after we take that first sip of our peppermint mocha latte a smile appears on our face, as though liquid heaven has touched our lips.
Therefore, replacing sugary foods with others more complex nutrient packed is one of the best ways to stabilize your blood sugar levels, leading to less cravings. Fruit and sweet nutritious snacks are the most popular and easiest foods people reach for to satisfy sweet cravings as well. Berries, dark chocolate. snack bars, chia seeds, chewing gum or mints, are all examples of foods that can satisfy a sweet craving and still deliver nutrients to the body for satiating hunger. A personal favorite that came as a surprise- chocolate hummus! Anybody craving those decedent holiday brownies or chocolate treats, well this hummus is no joke! How to avoid sweet cravings and carb overload during the holidays doesn’t mean eating less of what you love. It just means eating more mindful and satiating your body with what it needs to feel satisfied, so you can actually enjoy your favorite holiday foods you love. Nothing kills enjoying Grandma’s apple pie faster than guilt, and by doing your part in eating mindful before indulging that pie you can eat with peace of mind.
Resistant Starches Can Help You Feel Satiated
We’ve all heard about starches in food in one way or another, but in relation to avoiding sweet craving in some way? Resistant starch is making waves in health platforms recently, especially in the weight-loss sphere, due to its unique effects on metabolism. Fermentation of resistant starch has been shown to promote satiety, or what we all know as that feeling of being full. Resistant starches do this through alterations in the production of neurochemicals that are responsible for giving us a feeling of “fullness”. When resistant starches reach the colon, the microbiota can convert these starches into short chain fatty acids that can provide energy for colonic cells, and promote feelings of fullness. Hence perhaps another way in how to avoid sweet cravings and carb overload during the holidays, by helping to curb your appetite. Some examples of foods containing resistant starch are; Pumpernickel bread, Toasted or stale breads (think charcuterie board), bananas, plantains, uncooked rolled oats(think no-bake cookies), cooked/cooled rice (homemade rice pudding), cooked/cooled potatoes, white beans, and cooked lentils. With the healthiest sources of resistant starch choices being cooked/cooled rice, and cooked/cooled potatoes, as these provide low glycemic index-carbohydrates or ‘safe carbs’. Additionally, adding an acidic dressing such as some type of vinegar to the rice or potatoes cooked in this fashion seems to also help enhance the resistant starch content and formation. Did you know that dishes made with cold rice or potatoes have been staple foods of many cultures? Perhaps our ancestors subconsciously knew more about healthy foods for a happy body than we have given credit for. Another reason as to why and what makes the holiday season more special as we all celebrate and share our favorite foods together.
How To Avoid Carb Overload During The Holidays
Although nothing beats devouring your favorite holiday feast with family, needing to lie down on the couch immediately after to digest can be a real drag. Before heading to any family get together or holiday party it’s always best to dine on something that will keep you from going on carb overload in a hurry. Having a nutritious and fulfilling meal and or snack before heading out allows you to enjoy the holiday treats experience at your leisure. It will take the edge off your appetite, hence helping to avoid sweet cravings and carb overload during the holidays. And of course the most dangerous one, keep you from overeating. By having a satiated stomach, you can feel less guilty one or two hours later about snacking or indulging in small high calorie treats. Keeping your eaten foods and calories in balance tends to keep your digestive system running smooth, and cuts out the ‘food coma’ feeling during the party. This great strategy also keeps you in wearing your dancing shoes, so to speak. With a stomach less full and stressed, energy levels stay higher. Dancing sounds much more appealing all of a sudden, versus talking with friends on the couch after festive feasting. Dancing at a party or taking a walk with a friend afterwards are both great ways to burn some extra holiday calories and enjoy yourself to boot. Exercise and movement have been proven to get our body functioning and blood pumping, and help keep our thoughts off the food!
Now let’s talk about those dangerous cravings that can send us into carb overload. When learning how to avoid sweet cravings and carb overload during the holidays, it’s all about that magical swap. When having those pumpkin pie cravings- reach for the yogurt, dollop some pumpkin puree and spice on top, drizzle with honey and your favorite granola to satisfy those cravings and load up on nutrients. Craving that Sunday Morning biscuits and gravy holiday tradition- try a fancy sourdough with grass fed butter and avocado slices, topped with a fried egg, and drizzled with olive oil and dash of salt and pepper. For sandwiches and holiday brats, have fresh (not shelf stable, as those lack the beneficial bacteria needed in our gut) sauerkrauts on hand to add for a nutritious and delicious kick. Making the holiday ham and/or turkey? Pile on those fresh herbs and spices, not only do they fully enhance a meats flavor, but are packed with beneficial properties for the body as well. Sometimes a good sauce or dip is the key. Try buffalo sauce drizzled on roasted cauliflower, or marinara sauce dolloped over sautéed zucchini and eggplant. A wonderful revelation is your favorite salad dressings repurposed as a veggie dressing (chopped celery mixed with blue cheese is a favorite), or pesto and hummus for raw veggie dipping.
Supplementation For Food Cravings And Carb Overload During The Holidays
Our bodies do their best to signal their needs, all year round and not just the Holidays. Just as thirst is the first sign of dehydration, your body signals that it needs water and hydration. Or tiredness and fatigue show that you might not be getting enough sleep, or vitamin B12. So goes with food cravings, as these kinds of cravings can be linked to nutrient deficiencies. For example, if you are constantly craving sweets then it may be that your body is deficient in magnesium, chromium, and tryptophan. Did you know that about half of all Americans are deficient in magnesium? This is where supplementation may be helpful in how to avoid sweet cravings and carb overload during the holidays. For many of us life is always on the go. Whether it be due to a busy work schedule or taking kids to places they need to be, balancing our time day to day in eating consistently and healthy can be challenging. Especially during the holiday season, when we are bombarded with beautiful looking sugar and carb loaded treats plastered on TV, magazines, windows, and online advertisements. But one way to ensure you and your family are getting the nutrients they need is through supplementation.
Hence utilizing quality supplements is one way how to avoid sweet cravings and carb overload during the Holidays. Bloat No More is on a mission to help educate consumers on the benefits of taking supplements to help care for the body from the inside out! As we live in an environment full of chemicals, toxins and disease, the importance of giving our body everything it needs is crucial. The founder of Bloat No More offers high quality supplements that help remove harmful toxins in the body and reduce the risk of disease and obesity. What more of a motivation could there be with the increase in illnesses globally, childhood obesity and diabetes on the rise, and harmful chemicals infused in what we consume? “Bloat No More” was created to aid people in eliminating toxins in their body promoting wellness and vitality. Why should you choose us? Taking a steady flow of supplements makes your body really start to feel the difference. More focused, more alert, more energized, more regular and overall more feeling good inside. The idea of our product line is to take all 3 supplements daily and continue each day to have that overall healthy digestive, focused and energized feeling. With supplements providing what the body needs to feel satiated, avoiding sweet cravings and carb overload becomes more natural. Taking a steady flow of supplements is when your body really starts to feel the difference. More focused, more alert, more energized, more regular and overall more feeling good inside. With 10 years of research and development under our belt, we deliver quality products you can afford right to your doorstep.