HOW TO KICK YOUR SUGAR HABIT.

We love sugar. We love the sweet taste. Sugar has been around a long time. And much of our plant foods contain sugar, or substances which are broken down into sugars in our bodies when we eat those plant foods. No wonder some of us think we have a sugar addiction.

Stand in front of a mirror and stick out your tongue. Look closely. Can you see what looks like a lot of pin pricks all over your tongue?

They are called taste buds and are responsible for our sugar love. The ones in front are stimulated by ‘sweet’  and a signal is sent to the brain by particular nerve fibers, to the reward center. It is not an accident that the sweet taste buds are at the front. Mother’s milk is very sweet so the very first meal we ever have as a newborn baby contains sugar. That first taste is sweet.

We have to learn to like other tastes later. If we don’t then ‘sweet’ is what life is about. It’s like having a sugar addiction.

But all is not lost. Chapter 2 of the book starting at page 15 explains how you can develop your other tastes, how sometimes spices like vanilla or cinnamon can take the place of sugar and also give your brain the reward signals. So that sugar addition weakens with time.

But you must not use various sugar substitutes because you are then just teasing your taste buds.

Cut down your sugar intake slowly and develop your reward center for all sorts of complex tastes. Food will taste even better and be more interesting. You will be able to discriminate between the various varieties of banana for example. What an easy and fun way to kick your sugar habit. And weight control!

I have fallen into the sugar addiction phase several times in my life. But when you know and understand what it is, it is easy to kick the sugar habit. Just follow the suggestions in the book. Good luck!

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