The Sugar Smart Diet: Stop Cravings and Lose Weight While Still Enjoying the Sweets You Love by Anne Alexander, Julia VanTine Page B
Authors: Anne Alexander, Julia VanTine
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restricted sleep (4 hours). The scans were performed as the researchers showed their volunteers pictures of both healthy foods (fruit, veggies, oatmeal) and unhealthy foods (candy, pizza). The reward regions were more active when the volunteers were sleep deprived than when they were well rested—especially when the sleepy subjects viewed the pictures of the candy and pizza.
Worse, the parts of your brain that usually put the brakes on cravings aren’t as active when you’re tired, research conducted at the University of California, Berkeley, found. Scientists had 16 people rate their desire for various foods—once after a night of normal sleep and once after 24 hours without sleep—as they administered brain scans. The volunteers expressed a stronger preference for junk food when they were deprived of sleep. But the scans didn’t just show more activity in reward regions. They also showed less activity in regions involved in decision making. The upshot? When you’re tired, you may be drawn to sugary, fatty foods partly because your ability to process information and make sound decisions is impaired.
If there’s anything humans should know how to do perfectly, it’s sleep. However, our tech-heavy, stress-laden lifestyles can make it hard to do what should come naturally. Each phase of the plan offers simple ways to slide into the restful slumber you deserve—every night.
SUGAR SMART RULE # 7
Move away from cravings.
Exercise has a positive effect on appetite and blood sugar metabolism. But I know how tough it is to fit a workout into a busy day. That’s why I worked with the
Prevention
fitness team to create a workout that was convenient, pleasurable(nothing too sweaty or grueling), and effective at helping to shrink a sugar belly. The Sugar Smart Workout in Chapter 12 combines cardio exercise, strength training, and yoga for a triple whammy attack on blood sugar and cravings.
If you’re plagued by strong sugar cravings, getting more active may help deactivate them. According to a study published in
Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism
, the more you sit, the greater your appetite—even if your body doesn’t need the calories. In fact, sedentary subjects felt 17 percent hungrier than those who moved around during the day, possibly because inactivity spurs secretion of ghrelin.
Moderate exercise also helps keep muscle cells sensitive to insulin. Even better, strength training builds muscle density—stronger muscles that use more glucose. And, like cardio, strength training aids weight loss.
Even if you don’t want to follow the Sugar Smart Workout, any physical activity that you actually enjoy will help get sugar off your brain—and belly. Brisk walking and tai chi both rev metabolism as they quiet and divert the mind. If you’d rather swim, cycle, do yoga, or dig in your garden, that’s fine, too. The point is: The more you move, the faster your sugar belly will melt away.
SUGAR SMART RULE # 8
Soothe what’s really bothering you.
You don’t remember this, but from the moment you were born, you associated sugar with comfort. Held to the breast, newborns derive comfort from skin-to-skin contact, sucking, and mother’s milk, rich in lactose and naturally sweet. (Even if you were a bottle baby, you got the sweetness of lactose in your formula.)
The link between comfort and sweets is primal—and persistent. Rewarded with candy while growing up? You may still treat yourself to dessert for a job well done. Handed cookies so you’d stop crying? You may unknowingly have linked sweets to being soothed. Do you associate sweets with periods in your life when you felt safe and loved? You may try to re-create those positive feelingsevery time you pick up a fork. Did you push back the confusion and loneliness of adolescence with candy bars? Are you doing it today, to push back those same feelings? You may not know the answers to these questions, yet intuitively know they’re worth exploring.
We’ve
Worse, the parts of your brain that usually put the brakes on cravings aren’t as active when you’re tired, research conducted at the University of California, Berkeley, found. Scientists had 16 people rate their desire for various foods—once after a night of normal sleep and once after 24 hours without sleep—as they administered brain scans. The volunteers expressed a stronger preference for junk food when they were deprived of sleep. But the scans didn’t just show more activity in reward regions. They also showed less activity in regions involved in decision making. The upshot? When you’re tired, you may be drawn to sugary, fatty foods partly because your ability to process information and make sound decisions is impaired.
If there’s anything humans should know how to do perfectly, it’s sleep. However, our tech-heavy, stress-laden lifestyles can make it hard to do what should come naturally. Each phase of the plan offers simple ways to slide into the restful slumber you deserve—every night.
SUGAR SMART RULE # 7
Move away from cravings.
Exercise has a positive effect on appetite and blood sugar metabolism. But I know how tough it is to fit a workout into a busy day. That’s why I worked with the
Prevention
fitness team to create a workout that was convenient, pleasurable(nothing too sweaty or grueling), and effective at helping to shrink a sugar belly. The Sugar Smart Workout in Chapter 12 combines cardio exercise, strength training, and yoga for a triple whammy attack on blood sugar and cravings.
If you’re plagued by strong sugar cravings, getting more active may help deactivate them. According to a study published in
Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism
, the more you sit, the greater your appetite—even if your body doesn’t need the calories. In fact, sedentary subjects felt 17 percent hungrier than those who moved around during the day, possibly because inactivity spurs secretion of ghrelin.
Moderate exercise also helps keep muscle cells sensitive to insulin. Even better, strength training builds muscle density—stronger muscles that use more glucose. And, like cardio, strength training aids weight loss.
Even if you don’t want to follow the Sugar Smart Workout, any physical activity that you actually enjoy will help get sugar off your brain—and belly. Brisk walking and tai chi both rev metabolism as they quiet and divert the mind. If you’d rather swim, cycle, do yoga, or dig in your garden, that’s fine, too. The point is: The more you move, the faster your sugar belly will melt away.
SUGAR SMART RULE # 8
Soothe what’s really bothering you.
You don’t remember this, but from the moment you were born, you associated sugar with comfort. Held to the breast, newborns derive comfort from skin-to-skin contact, sucking, and mother’s milk, rich in lactose and naturally sweet. (Even if you were a bottle baby, you got the sweetness of lactose in your formula.)
The link between comfort and sweets is primal—and persistent. Rewarded with candy while growing up? You may still treat yourself to dessert for a job well done. Handed cookies so you’d stop crying? You may unknowingly have linked sweets to being soothed. Do you associate sweets with periods in your life when you felt safe and loved? You may try to re-create those positive feelingsevery time you pick up a fork. Did you push back the confusion and loneliness of adolescence with candy bars? Are you doing it today, to push back those same feelings? You may not know the answers to these questions, yet intuitively know they’re worth exploring.
We’ve
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