Is your sweet tooth leading you astray?

You're not alone. In 1820, before milled sugar became widely available, the average American consumed only 20 pounds of sugar in a year. But over the last two centuries our sugar consumption has exploded. According to Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, MD author of Beat Sugar Cravings Now!, the average American eats about 150 pounds of added sugar each year in processed foods and drinks.

And this isn't sweet news for our health . . . Excess sugar can lead to obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and even attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Sugar weakens immune cells. And sugar can cause your body to age prematurely. It binds with proteins in your body through a process called glycation. Glycation damages your body's tissues, robbing you of vitality and health.

It also may be as addictive as major drugs like heroin.^[1]

Now, to be fair, craving sweetness is not always a bad thing. Our simian ancestors depended on sweet fruits for easy energy.

The real problem is that our craving for sweet is too easily catered to in this day and age. Where natural scarcity put some limits to our sugar consumption in earlier generations, these days we can eat sugar to our heart's content. It's so easy to get some!

Fortunately there are some tactics you can use to keep your sweet tooth in check . . .

Sugar cravings can often be due to dips in blood sugar levels. Slowly-digested proteins help stabilize the level of sugar in your blood, quelling the urge to get some sugar in you.

This is particularly critical in the morning, when you serve up breakfast. After a long fast while you were sleeping, your body reacts more dramatically to any sugar you feed it. Remake your breakfast to focus on proteins, vegetables, healthy fats and whole grain carbs - like a scrambled eggs, spinach and avocado sandwich - and you'll get your day off to a great start.

While fruits can contain a lot of sugar, their fiber helps slow down your body's absorption of sugar so you are less prone to sugar highs and lows.

But just to be clear, fruit juices don't cut it. Don't get deceived by the juicing fad. With juices you lose out on most of the fiber in fruits, leaving your body vulnerable to a sugar overload.

If you prefer to slurp your fruit, make use of the whole fruit and try a smoothie. Add some sugar-moderating veggies and proteins, and the sweetness in your fruit will go down even slower.

Thanks to overuse of antibiotics and germ-killing soaps, we've done serious damage to our internal ecosystem - the helpful probiotic bacteria that are a part of our digestive system. As these bacteria dwindle, often the yeast, candida, takes over inside of us. Candida is notorious for causing us to crave sugar - its favorite food.

To bring your bacteria count back to a healthy number, consider taking a probiotic supplement. And feed these bacteria well with their favorite food - prebiotics. Chlorella is a terrific probiotic-boosting prebiotic.

In women, sugar cravings can sometimes be linked to our hormonal fluctuations. By mediating these shifts with some hormone balancers - like licorice root tea, eleuthero or raspberry leaf - we can help our body recover its hormonal balance . . . and reduce our craving for sweet.

We turn to sugar instinctively when we need an energy hit. Unfortunately, while sugar can give you a temporary lift, it drops you hard soon after.

Instead of turning to sugar to wake up, get moving. Exercise is one of the best energizers. Or drink some clear water.

And finally, get proactive about feeling tired. If you're craving sweets, check yourself to see if you really need an earlier bedtime or a nap instead.

Eating something sweet can give you an immediate rush. But if you pay attention, you'll notice it has long-term consequences - mood fluctuations, low energy, even headaches and bad breath.

On the other hand, if you can take a bite out of your sugar consumption, you'll experience some very positive changes. Along with fresher breath and more stability in mood and energy, less sugar means less weight gain. And we're not even touching on how less sugar can also reduce your risk for heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

Reducing your sugar intake is one of the best things you can do for your body.

So don't see cutting down on sugar as a deprivation. See it as a gift to yourself. By putting these 5 tactics to work, you're giving your body a delicious sweet treat that sugar just can't match: Excellent health!

About Dr. Michael E. Rosenbaum, MD 
Dr. Rosenbaum is a 35-year veteran and widely recognized pioneer in the field of nutritional medicine, alternative healthcare and medical acupuncture. As one of America's most respected experts in natural health and healing, Dr. Rosenbaum has been a frequent lecturer to professional medical groups and has participated in numerous television and radio talk shows. He is also an esteemed member of the Sun Chlorella Advisory Board, which helps guide the medical innovation behind Sun Chlorella products.

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Sources: 
[1] Avena NM. Examining the addictive-like properties of binge eating using an animal model of sugar dependence. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2007 Oct;15(5):481-91.