3 Steps to Alleviate Sugar Cravings
What is the best way to stabilize blood sugar?
Fruit salad, green juice or strips of cold seared steak?
Steak, seared and sliced so you can grab and go in the morning is my top go to food to prevent sugar cravings. In order to prevent the survival instinct from kicking in and craving sugar, you have to consume protein and fat foods 6 hours before the cravings. These foods take time to digest and get into the bloodstream where they provide even stable blood sugar for hours. In order to prevent the 3 pm crash, consume a good dose of protein and fat within 2 hours of waking.
Click below for printable pdf of the protocol
No, it doesn't have to be this exact meal, but if you're really exhausted, depressed and craving sugar then steak is my go to breakfast to start. Think eggs with spinach and cheese, turkey sausage with sauteed greens, miso soup with fish. What would you order if you went out to breakfast? Enjoy the protein and skip the carbs - pancakes, toast, potatoes etc.
Your nutritionist is not telling you to eat meat all day long forever. This first step is designed to stabilize your blood sugar, improve your energy and mood. In the long run people consume more vegetables, having more energy and actually losing weight after stabilizing blood sugar by enjoying protein for breakfast.
By consuming protein in the morning you're telling your whole body that food is plentiful, there is no risk of starvation. The body is free to burn calories for energy and doesn't feel the need to store calories and doesn't feel the need for extra sugar to rapidly correct low blood sugar.
Steak won't correct low blood sugar at the moment, which is why it's enjoyed in the morning - hours before those cravings hit. It takes a lot of time and work for the body to break down and store meat and fat to use for energy and stabilize blood sugar. However sugar works immediately, which is why you crave it!
Bonus - protein is also the raw material to make happy neurotransmitters in the brain. It's common to see people tired, depressed and craving sugar until they implement this one tip of protein for breakfast.
Have you heard that Americans consume too much protein? It's not fair to state that any large group of people needs to consume more or less of anything. If you're feeling just dandy without breakfast then that's fine for you. If you're here, reading this then I'll be you aren't feeling fine and dandy. If you begin eating protein within 2 hours of waking and you feel way better, then guess what? Steak for breakfast is only temporary. Protein can build up so you have plenty in storage to stop the cravings and make happy neurotransmitters.
Eventually you will get a heavy feeling, that you just don't want to eat protein for breakfast. This is your sign that you're ready for the more conventional nutrition recommendations - adding more vegetables, more water, going for a walk etc.
Trust yourself... Trust your experience... Trust your cravings and learn what they mean. do you crave sugar, steak, salt, water? Each one of these cravings tells a story about your health that can be improved with separate recommendations.
Conventional nutrition has been doing you an injustice by preaching more fruits and vegetables, avoid meat, fat and sugar. You will be able to enjoy more vegetables and fruits if you start with enough protein and good fat. These things stabilize blood sugar so you have the energy and inclination to make more vegetables.
It's an interesting predicament - avoid the two things that prevent sugar cravings and avoid sugar?
Remember, sugar cravings are a survival instinct. Consuming sweet things is the fastest way to fix low blood sugar. Actually avoiding all protein and fat and expecting the body to not crave sugar is disordered eating. It's preventing the body's natural survival instinct from keeping you alive.
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