Bitter herbs against the habit of sweets. How to get rid of addiction to sweets. What to do to not depend on sweets

Addiction to sweets is the scourge of modern residents of big cities, especially women, although men are increasingly guilty of the same thing. A piece of cake, chocolate, candy, these delicacies sneak into our daily menu. The result is the same - an ugly figure, indigestion, loose skin, bad feeling. Something needs to be done urgently! But what? If addiction to sweets can be compared to real addiction, your hand naturally reaches for the next portion of sweets!

• How does addiction to sweets occur? What reasons and mechanisms within the body attract us to sweets?
• Why is addiction to sweets so strong and seemingly insurmountable?
• Which people are susceptible to sugar addiction? Why are some of us completely indifferent to sweets?
• How to get rid of addiction to sweets once and for all?

Food is the simplest, fastest and affordable way experience pleasure in life. A sweet food- doubly so. Of course, this method is primitive. The result cannot be compared with the feeling of conquering Everest, or with a well-deserved promotion at work, or with the feeling of pride in a child who received a certificate with only A’s. For this it is necessary make an effort, and in order to eat today, right now - almost none. A couple of centuries ago - Yes! Every man was forced to earn his daily bread by the sweat of his brow. Today No!- it’s simple - open the refrigerator, take out a jar of jam and gobble it up until you feel sick. Tasty and enjoyable without any restrictions. Our work is not dusty or difficult, somewhere at the computer, and the salary allows us to buy almost any tasty treat available on the market.

We would probably enjoy food without any question “how to get rid of addiction to sweets?”, if not for one problem - the human body is limited a certain set functions given for life. That is, for those very achievements and achievements, such as conquering Everest or advancing career ladder. Our body functions only to maintain life, and our personality itself is a desire of a higher order.

For example, the human pancreas produces a special hormone that lowers blood glucose levels - insulin. I drank some sweet tea - my blood sugar jumped, my pancreas began to growl, produced insulin and equalized the amount of sugar in my blood to normal. And everything is fine, live at least 100 years without getting sick. But when we are heavily dependent on sweets and day after day we eat a whole range of tasty treats: chocolate, cottage cheese, ice cream, cake, a piece of cake, a sandwich with jam, strawberries and cream, cookies with condensed milk, sweet tea (everyone can make a list on their own) the body begins to fail, unable to withstand such pressure. For some, the pancreas is the first to give way, for others, the venous system, and for others, the figure is spreading to the point of horror. And in the end, we run into the same problem - how to recover from addiction to sweets? And what’s interesting is that everyone puts a sense of limitation into this, but no one understands that they will get rid of addiction to sweets impossible if you just limit sweets.

Why is addiction to sweets so strong and irresistible?

The reasons for addiction to sweets are clear - tasty food brings pleasure to a person and precisely this factor leads to dependence on it. Actually, when you feel your dependence on sweets and starchy foods, then you are not so far from the truth, the mechanism of occurrence is the same - there is a desire and there is its fulfillment. It is almost impossible to break this chain. If we suddenly simply forbid ourselves from eating sweets, then sooner or later we will lose this battle (with the exception of a small number of people who are able to derive pleasure from self-prohibition itself, but they also need to reach self-prohibition - more. Simply because, together with With the ban, we will be deprived of that small, but so accessible, piece of happiness that was just yesterday.

Just analyze your day. You come home from work, where you’re tired as a dog, your boss yelled at you, your bonus was cut, you come to school to pick up your child, and the teacher hits you on the head - your child is fighting. And then they were rude in the store, in the parking lot, and even in the elevator - when you come home, you no longer want anything. And then a piece of cake or chocolate. The hand naturally reaches for it, ate it and experienced pleasure. It’s a tiny little thing, but it’s nice. What happens when we start “treatment” for sugar addiction? The whole first part is damn work, little money, everyone around is bad, etc. stays in place, but a cake or a chocolate bar is self-prohibited. That is, there is not even that primitive pleasure that a person received from life. Double misfortune and no consolation. How long will you be able to withstand such bullying?

Naturally, sooner or later any treatment for sweet addiction will go to dust. Because a person can suffer, but not for long. It ends either badly or very badly. Therefore, it is not surprising that all knowledge about the harm to the pancreas somehow gradually fades in the mind, and cakes and chocolates quickly and imperceptibly return to their usual places in the kitchen.

Why are some people not addicted to sweets?

Our taste preferences are formed under the influence of various factors: familiarity with certain foods in childhood, habits, metabolic characteristics, etc. If someone is not addicted to sweets, this does not mean at all that he is somehow different from you, who suffers from this problem. He may love flour, fried or over-salted, hot or peppery foods. You won’t be able to find the answer from those people who don’t eat sweets, because that’s not the essence of the problem.

Addiction to food in general (and sweets in particular) is the scourge of the 21st century, which affects almost every one of our contemporaries. The number of people, including children, is constantly growing every year. And it is impossible to stop this neither by prohibitions, nor by willpower, nor by self-punishment. We will always lose to the nature of our desire. Always, except for one single case...

How to avoid addiction to sweets once and for all?

There is only one single way to get rid of addiction to sweets. This is to finally start enjoying life. From real life: from work, from walking, from communicating with friends and relatives. From accomplishments and achievements. It's time to get rid of resentment, anger, hatred and start living happily.

More always beats less. The pleasure of achieving in life is a million times greater than the pleasure of food. By the way, this is why fulfilled people are less likely to overeat.

Most often our problems are psychological character. Even when it seems like it's not.

For example,

• We can’t find a job we like and are tormented in a job we don’t like for an unworthy salary.
  • Seems that there is a lack of qualifications, education, experience, acquaintances,
  • and in fact there is no ability to communicate with people, but there is shyness, tightness, fear of the new or the loss of the old, etc.
• We cannot cope with the child, no matter what educational methods we use, but he is unbearable
• Seems that there is a negative external influence on the child (streets, friends, films, games),
• In fact , we do not understand his characteristics and educate him not with carrots, but with sticks, thereby revealing his negative qualities in him.
• We don’t understand our closest, beloved person, we often quarrel and take offense at each other
  • Seems that HE doesn’t understand anything, doesn’t make contact, doesn’t want to change,
  • In fact , it’s I who don’t understand him or myself, I close myself off, I get angry, I’m offended, I’m hysterical.

And so on - thousands of such examples can be given. But behind each of them there is an acute feeling of lack of happiness. Therefore, as long as a person has internal psychological tension, there can be no talk of any struggle with addiction to sweets - he is doomed to lose.

At the same time, if a person will find, how to fill yourself with higher standards of desires: at work, in love, in hobbies, in education, then addiction to sweets, starchy foods, and indeed any food in general will go away quite easily. It will already feel like an unpleasant habit that spoils your health, so after a little effort, addiction to sweets will dissolve into the past, as if it never existed.

Today there is a technique that allows you to solve almost any psychological problems– this is the system-vector psychology of Yuri Burlan. Here are some results from the training participants. Please note that leaving food addiction, and therefore leaving excess weight, they associate it precisely with changes in psychological states (!), and not with weight loss due to self-prohibition or special diets.

Scientific research proves that sugar, sweets and starchy foods are quite addictive - a person gets used to sugar both physically (the natural taste of products begins to seem too bland to him) and psychologically (a habit appears of eating away problems with candies and other sweets). This is why many people cannot give up sugar.

Unfortunately, overconsumption Eating sweets not only harms your figure and leads to excess weight gain, but also seriously disrupts the normal functioning of your metabolism, increasing the chance of developing diabetes and other diseases. In fact, complete failure from sugar (at least from pure form) - the first step towards healthy image life and proper nutrition.

Why do people love sweets?

The problem with sweets and starchy foods is not only the high calorie content. A spoonful of sugar in tea contains only 20-25 kcal - however, such tea can cause a feeling of hunger, forcing you to look for a “snack”. At first, sugar will sharply increase the level of glucose in the blood, but after half an hour this level will decrease - with symptoms of low glucose.

If you try to “kill the worm” with another cookie or other flour product, then the glucose level will again first increase and then decrease, bringing even more intense hunger. The situation will be aggravated by the fact that regular changes in blood sugar levels will disrupt the metabolism, making the body less sensitive to insulin and provoking the development.

How easy it is to give up sugar

It is important to understand that giving up sugar, sweets and starchy foods is a gradual process. Expect that you will need approximately 3-4 weeks to combat acute phase dependencies. After this time, you will begin to look at sugar calmly, allowing yourself sweets and baked goods from time to time, but without overeating. The benefit will also be that you will most likely be able to reduce body weight.

• First week: give up sugary sodas and juices (FitSeven wrote that even), stop adding a few teaspoons of sugar to tea and coffee. If you can't drink black tea completely without sugar, drink it with a drop of honey (but not with a sweetener) or switch to herbal teas. It is acceptable to drink coffee with milk.
• Second week: get rid of your stocks of flour and sweets, stop baking or buying new sweets and reconsider your eating habits. Do not keep sweets and cookies within sight - especially close at hand in the kitchen or near the workplace. Remember that they are not at all a “safe” substitute for sweets and contain a large amount of sugar.
• Third week: Learn to see the “hidden sugar”. Pay attention to the composition of the products (breakfast cereals, ketchup and other sauces contain sugar), and also study its synonyms - food manufacturers are often misleading by labeling them “sugar-free”, but using substances related to sugar. , glucose, maltodexin, dextrose, sucrose, agave syrup, honey - all this is sugar.

“I can’t refuse sweets...”

Typical consequences of abruptly quitting sugar are Bad mood and a feeling of clouded consciousness. If in the first days it seems to you that all your thoughts are exclusively about sweets, you cannot concentrate and there is a fog in your head, then everything is fine and your body is recovering. He just needs to get used to it reduced level blood sugar.

Use sweeteners carefully - in fact, they will only remind the brain of how pleasant sweet taste can be. In acute moments of withdrawal, take hot shower, do some cleaning or go for a walk. The ideal solution would be one that will literally bring you back to life. It is also important that cardio is the best way to return insulin to normal.

How natural sweeteners different from chemical ones? Which ones are safe for health? .

Is it possible to give up sugar forever?

Contrary to popular myth, the human brain does not need sugar at all to function - the body is able to synthesize glucose from complex carbohydrates(for example, other cereals). In other words, no negative consequences giving up sugar simply cannot happen. The main positive consequence will be improved well-being and loss of body weight.

The main health benefit of giving up fast carbohydrates (that is, sugar, sweets and starchy foods) is that after just a week you will learn to distinguish real hunger from “false” hunger caused by sudden changes blood glucose levels. Essentially, you'll start eating less without experiencing any of the discomfort associated with dieting or calorie restriction.

Is it necessary to give up sugar completely?

Since it is almost impossible to completely give up foods that contain sugar or other fast carbohydrates in one form or another, it is better to learn to be as calm as possible about their periodic consumption in adequate quantities. However, it is important to see sweets not so much as a source of pleasure or reward, but rather as a “moderately dangerous poison.”

If you eat one small cake or drink a cup of coffee with sugar, nothing fatal will happen to you, but eating chocolate candies boxes or eating a bucket in front of the TV is a completely different matter. Remember that it is not so much sugar itself that is harmful to health, but its regular and excessive consumption.

***

Quitting sugar is a gradual process of fighting addiction, as a result of which you must, first of all, change your attitude towards sweets to be as indifferent as possible. After all, in fact, it is not so much the sugar itself that is harmful, but its regular use(even in small quantities) and “eating” with sweets for various emotional problems.

A person is designed in such a way that he follows his desires, tries to give himself as much pleasure as possible, improving his emotional condition. Often this ends in addiction and causes harm to the body, and sometimes even destroys it. Sweet addiction is one of its forms, which causes so much harm to health that it is incommensurate with fleeting pleasure.

Excessive consumption of sweets leads to diabetes, obesity, harms teeth, pancreas, liver, thyroid gland, provokes cardiovascular diseases. Nowadays, culinary experts cannot even imagine preparing food without added sugar, but just over 200 years ago it did not exist at all. Production on an industrial scale has significantly increased the dose of consumption. Scientists and doctors are sounding the alarm.

ICD-10 code

F10-F19 Mental disorders and behavioral disorders associated with psychoactive substance use

Epidemiology

Statistics show alarm signal- almost 80% of the inhabitants of our country are addicted to sweets. They claim that it occurs 8 times faster than from cocaine. Considering the steady growth in sugar consumption from two kilograms per year in the 19th century to forty currently, this is a very alarming trend. Since business is interested in the growth of sugar production, we will continue to be hooked on the sweet “igloo,” especially since it is so easy to do. If there is more sugar in half a liter of carbonated drink daily requirement human, and sugar is also found in other food products, then all that remains is to “turn on” your own brains and resist this expansion with all your might.

Causes of sweet addiction

The reasons for addiction to sweets often lie on a psychological plane, but ultimately have a physiological basis. Whenever various problems, people's need for sweets increases. Eating their troubles with sweets lifts their mood; stress and various failures seem less significant. Why does the need for sweets arise in these circumstances? This is where the laws of physiology come into force.

Negative emotions reduce the level of serotonin and endorphin in the body - hormones of happiness, joy, pleasure, and sweets promote their synthesis. Another reason for cravings may be a lack of microelements in the body: chromium, magnesium, calcium. Considered to be the cause of pathology digestive organs: Fungi and yeast that grow in the intestines also cause sugar cravings. The need for sweets may be due to a decrease in blood glucose levels, which is typical for diabetes. Its contents constantly fluctuate between 2.8–7.8 mmol/l depending on the time of food intake, physical and emotional stress. Eating causes an increase in sugar levels in the body, while simultaneously releasing insulin - vehicle through the cells of the body for glucose. With insufficient insulin production, glucose does not reach its “destination”, and its lack of supply to the central nervous system causes hypoglycemia, which gives a feeling of hunger.

Risk factors

Risk factors include individual addiction to sweets. Not everyone has a craving for it, but who is partial to cakes, pastries, sweet water, candy lovers need to be especially careful not to become addicted. The effect of sugar on the formation of cholesterol has been established, so hypertensive patients and people with cardiovascular diseases are also at risk. But the most important risk factor is diabetes.

Pathogenesis

Pathogenesis this phenomenon lies in the chain of reactions that accompany sweets from the moment they enter the mouth. At the tip of the tongue there are taste buds that sense a pleasant sweet taste and transmit a signal to the brain through the glossopharyngeal nerve. He, reacting to the “message”, produces serotonin.

Sucrose is a carbohydrate that, when ingested, is broken down into glucose and fructose. Glucose is the main source of energy, food for the brain. Thanks to gluconeogenesis, it is produced from proteins and lipids. It happens slowly without disturbing natural processes metabolism. Taking pure sugar instantly speeds up its breakdown and leads to the release of insulin, whose role is to carry glucose to the brain and other organs. The brain completely converts it into energy, and other cells can partially use it for their restoration, or they can, having turned it into glycogen, accumulate and turn into fat. In addition, a powerful release of insulin gives a feeling of lack of carbohydrates, although in fact this is a deceptive feeling. The circle is closed, dependence is formed.

Symptoms of sweet addiction

If addiction to sweets has a psychological basis, then its first signs are a bad mood, constant thoughts about sweets in stressful situations, their implementation. This is reminiscent of the behavior of a smoker who, nervously, smokes one cigarette after another. If the reason is physiological, associated with poor production or complete cessation of insulin synthesis by the pancreas, then the body signals dizziness, drowsiness, and weakness. Symptoms that indicate that hypoglycemia is approaching include excessive sweating, fatigue, tension, cardiopalmus, constant feeling hunger. May also appear neurological symptoms: irritability, aggressiveness.

Addiction to sweets and starchy foods

They have the same background, because. all flour confectionery products contain sugar in various forms: in dough, creams, fillers, syrups. Most often, women show a weakness for desserts and fall into a sweet tooth. flour addiction. This is explained hormonal surges, which women experience monthly, during pregnancy, after childbirth. There may be a psychological condition of addiction and other reasons related to health.

Psychological addiction to sweets

Psychological addiction to sweets, like any other, is fraught with real threat influence lifestyle, self-esteem, mood. People susceptible to it are unable to control the amount they eat and feel unwell without another dose of sweets. Moreover, this may lead to serious problems with health, obesity, because not only affects our will, but also disrupts metabolism. Sometimes addiction to sweets reaches such a degree that not only desserts are eaten during the day, but night meals also become traditional. A person expects psychological relaxation, but is faced with overweight, worsening health problems. Resorting to various diets, he breaks down again without defeating his “sweet enemy.”

Complications and consequences

Except psychological consequences resulting in self-doubt, decreased performance, sometimes depression, complications associated with the liver, pancreas, digestive tract, heart diseases. Greater risk of developing diabetes.

Diagnosis of sweet addiction

Diagnosis of addiction to sweets begins with finding out your medical history. The main task is to exclude diabetes mellitus and its inherent hypoglycemia syndrome. To do this, determine the concentration of glucose in the blood. Since hunger is characteristic of hypoglycemia caused by a number of other diseases ( hormonal disorders, enzyme deficiency, tumors, alcoholic and drug addiction etc.), then it is necessary psychological dependence differentiate from them.

Sweets addiction test

To determine the degree of a person’s addiction to sweets, a special test for sweet addiction was developed. When answering questions, he forces you to see the problem more meaningfully. The test may contain various questions, here are some of them:

1. How often do you feel the need for sweets?
   1. daily;
   2. few times a week;
   3. several times a month.
2. Do you resort to sweets in stressful situations?
3. Do you feel like dinner is unfinished if you don't have dessert?
4. Can you even go a day without sugar?
5. Can sweets be stored in a vase on a shelf for some time?

If sweets are eaten every day, and all other questions receive a “yes” answer, then addiction is obvious.

Treating sweets addiction

If addiction to sweets is caused by some kind of illness, the doctor will make a diagnosis and prescribe treatment. If the reason is psychological factor, then you can try to handle it yourself. Refuse immediately bad habit It’s unlikely to work, but it won’t be difficult to reduce the portion by replacing it with sports or another physical activity. The fact is that exercise stress produces the hormone endorphin, the same as when eating sweets. In addition, a large number of calories are burned, which will also benefit the body. If you replace sugar in its pure form with fruits and vegetables, you can simultaneously get pleasure and replenish your supply of vitamins and minerals. There are also sweeteners; at first, they will help ease your addiction to sweets.

Your diet should include slowly digestible foods that have low glycemic index and high protein content. It’s good to have a friend’s reliable shoulder nearby in the fight against any addiction. If you can find a partner in getting rid of sweets, this will be a good incentive to compete in strengthening your willpower.

Drugs for sweet addiction

Chromium preparations help overcome addiction to sweets. Thanks to his ability to participate in carbohydrate metabolism, increase the permeability of cell walls for glucose and increase sensitivity to insulin, maintaining blood sugar levels. A large amount of sweets removes chromium from their body. To break this vicious circle, you need to include foods containing chromium in your diet, or take pharmaceutical drugs. Fish are rich in this microelement, the best are tuna, liver, chicken, duck, broccoli, and beets. Taking brewer's yeast - good method replenishing the body with chromium.

On the advice of a doctor, you can buy vitamin-mineral complexes containing chromium, special biologically active additives. In their reviews, many women note the dietary supplements chromium picolinate, garcinia forte, fat-x as means that significantly reduce cravings for sweets. Another drug, glutamine, has also proven itself well in the fight against addiction. It is an amino acid found in animal proteins and plant origin. The drug was synthesized for the treatment of gastritis, known for its ability to heal inflammation well gastrointestinal tract. Along the way, the ability to have a calming effect on the brain and nervous system and cope with harmful desires was discovered.

Prevention

The best prevention addiction to sweets is physical activity, doing what you love, distracting from bad addictions, motivation to have beautiful figure and healthy children. IN healthy family, where adults are not involved in unhealthy habits, a self-sufficient new generation will grow up that will not need to “eat up” their complexes.

Forecast

Forecast for getting rid of sweet addiction favorable for people with a strong will and the desire to overcome it. Others, following their desires, may develop obesity and pathologies of various organs.

Why do you want sweets so much? After all, it seems that the body literally demands a muffin with chocolate syrup, a cappuccino with caramel or, say, a lemon tartlet with whipped cream. We know how harmful sugar is, but we can’t control ourselves. “At the heart of this obsessive need are both physiological reasons, (for example, a lack of microelements or an unbalanced diet) and psychological - many of us turn to sweets as a tranquilizer in order to relieve anxiety or anxiety,” explains nutritionist Elena Morozova.

The first reason: stress

Products containing sugar, when entering the body, stimulate the production of the hormone serotonin. It's biological active substance improves mood, calms, relieves anxiety. In fact, it is a natural antidepressant for any of us. And chocolate also contains magnesium, a microelement that has a calming effect. That is why, in a state of anxiety or depression, the hand reaches out for something sweet.

What to do: get magnesium and speed up serotonin synthesis with more healthy products nutrition.

Serotonin. In the body, serotonin is produced from its precursors, in particular from tryptophan, one of the essential amino acids. You need to consume about 1-2 grams of tryptophan per day. In a state of stress, the consumption of tryptophan increases, therefore the daily norm of this amino acid should be twice as much. Here is a list of products that are leaders in the content of this valuable amino acid:

LEGUMES (per 100 g): peas, beans – 260 mg, soybeans – 714 mg, lentils – 284 mg GRAINS, POTATOES (per 100 g): buckwheat– 180 mg, pasta– 130 mg, wheat flour (grade I) – 120 mg, oatmeal – 160 mg, millet – 180 mg, rice – 80 mg, rye bread – 70 mg, wheat bread – 100 mg, potatoes – 30 mg DAIRY (in 100 d): Dutch cheese – 790 mg, processed cheese – 500 mg, low-fat cottage cheese – 180 mg, full-fat cottage cheese – 210 mg MEAT (per 100 g): beef, turkey – 200 mg and even higher MUSHROOMS (per 100 g): champignons , oyster mushrooms – 210–230 mg EGGS (1.5–2 pieces): 200 mg

Magnesium. Like tryptophan, magnesium burns very quickly under stress. We should receive about 300–350 mg of magnesium per day. What products are best to get it from? First of all, among grains, for example, based on the magnesium content in 100 g of product, bran (350 mg), buckwheat (150 mg), and oatmeal (130 mg) are rich in it. One of the leaders in magnesium content is watermelon - 100 g of product contains from 220 to 440 mg of this trace element. In fact, a piece of watermelon is your daily requirement for magnesium!

Second reason: lack of microelements

An irresistible craving for sweets may be associated with a deficiency of chromium in the body. This microelement is involved in the regulation of carbohydrate metabolism and blood glucose levels. It normalizes the permeability of cell membranes to glucose and the processes of its use by cells. Also, thanks to chromium, the sensitivity of cells to insulin increases and the effect of this hormone increases. In other words, the body will produce less insulin, but there will be enough hormone to meet the body's needs. Chromium deficiency causes a significant increase in blood glucose levels. In order to maintain it at this level, simple carbohydrates must be supplied to the body uninterruptedly, which significantly increases cravings for sweets and increases the feeling of hunger.

What to do: enrich your diet with chromium through food and dietary supplements.

The daily requirement of an adult for this microelement is 150 mg. A lot of chromium (about 50 mg per 100 g) is found in fish and seafood, offal (30 mg per 100 g), chicken eggs (22 mg per 100 g), broccoli (20 mg per 100 g). After consultation with a specialist, you can take dietary supplements with chromium picolinate.

Third reason: unbalanced diet

Paradoxically, the craving for sweets is most often due to the fact that a person abuses these same sweets. Almost immediately after dessert, your body's blood sugar levels rise sharply. The body tries to “accumulate” this sugar faster, for which the pancreas produces the hormone insulin. At the same time, we feel an unprecedented surge of energy. However, this condition quickly passes, since simple carbohydrates are utilized very quickly. To maintain such energy, another portion of sweets is required.

Sugar addiction is aggravated by irregular meals. When there are long periods between meals, blood sugar levels drop significantly. You can quickly raise it with the help of simple carbohydrates; every person knows this on an intuitive level, which is why the desire to eat something sweet arises.

What to do: maintain a balance of carbohydrate intake with food.

You shouldn’t give up simple carbohydrates completely, especially abruptly. Such a strategy will lead to irritability, decreased mood and performance. Moreover, with psychological point In our opinion, running away from temptations is not the best way to deal with them. How should you structure your nutrition plan?

The diet must contain a sufficient amount of complex carbohydrates and proteins, which will help maintain even blood glucose levels. In particular, in the diet of people who do not lead a physically active lifestyle, the daily allowance of carbohydrates is 400–500 g, of which complex carbohydrates should account for about 80–90%. The daily protein intake is on average 1–1.2 g per kg of body weight.

Eat small meals. This will avoid sudden spikes in blood sugar. Eat small meals about 5 times a day. The volume of each serving should not exceed 200–250 g.

Distinguish between true and false hunger. Often we experience not hunger, but thirst (in the brain nerve centers, responsible for these sensations, are very close). So before you eat something sweet, drink a glass of water.

pay attention to protein products. When you want something sweet, it’s better to eat a piece of cheese, yogurt or boiled egg. Such products stabilize blood sugar levels after 15–20 minutes, and cravings for sweets subside.

Eat sweets for dessert. After lunch, a piece of cake or cookie will not cause sharp jump glucose in the blood, which means you will be able to maintain a sense of proportion. If your meal includes only sweets, you will feel the urge to eat more within half an hour.

about the author

• Elena Morozova, nutritionist, psychologist, CEO"Weight loss clinics of Elena Morozova"

Sweets are a source of so-called simple, or fast, carbohydrates. This directly reflects their effect in the body: sweets are immediately and completely absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract, glucose quickly enters the blood and spreads to all organs. Most often, you want to sweeten all sorts of problems with such goodies: overwork, stress, hunger and decreased blood glucose levels. At the same time, sweets quickly relieve hunger and give a rush of vital energy.

When eating sweets, the body receives not only energy: endorphins are produced in the brain - substances that bring calm and tranquility to a pregnant woman. I want to repeat this feeling of emotional peace, and therefore, when a woman’s mood worsens, her hand subconsciously reaches for a sweet to repeat the pleasant feelings of serenity and joy. This is how addiction to sweets develops.

In addition, addiction to sweets may also indicate a lack of pleasure mediators in the body - dopamine and serotonin. This is due to the fact that the intake of glucose in sweets leads to the release of insulin into the blood, which stimulates the formation of these pleasure mediators from the amino acids tryptophan and phenylalanine.

Thanks to dopamine, a pregnant woman becomes active and feels protected. A decrease in dopamine levels causes a deterioration in memory and concentration, a decrease in vital energy, a woman stops enjoying life and becomes susceptible to fear, anxiety, etc. A lack of dopamine in the corresponding areas of the brain leads to a loss of initiative (to “sitting and daydreaming”), while a more serious deficiency leads to a complete inability to take an active action.

Serotonin is involved in mood regulation, suppresses anxiety, affects sexual desire and appetite. With its deficiency, phobias, sleep and memory disturbances, as well as cardiovascular and cardiovascular disorders can be observed. endocrine functions. Low level serotonin can lead the expectant mother to a depressed mood, anxiety, decreased energy, migraines, sleep disorders, fear and anxiety, feelings of tension and irritation. To avoid such anxious states, we often seek to sweeten our lives. act here as a sedative and antidepressant.

Sometimes a craving for sweets and cakes can indicate an unbalanced diet, in particular when the diet contains very few simple carbohydrates (for example, sucrose and glucose). So the body asks to replenish them with the lightest and in a fast way, over time it turns into a real addiction to sweets.

Also, the desire to constantly eat sweets may be due to a lack of chromium in the body. The main function of chromium is to maintain normal blood glucose levels. It is involved in carbohydrate metabolism, increasing the permeability of cell walls to glucose. This microelement also increases the sensitivity of cell receptors to insulin, the pancreatic hormone responsible for carbohydrate metabolism. The more sweets, the more chromium is removed from the body, and, closing vicious circle, I want something tasty even more. Therefore, sufficient chromium content in the body helps reduce sugar cravings and speed up metabolism.

Sweets: harmful or beneficial?

Benefit. Is it possible to say that sweets are an absolute evil and it is advisable to give them up altogether? Of course not, these products, like any other, are needed by our body, but it’s important to remember that everything is good in moderation. In addition to the fact that sweets affect mood, carbohydrates, combining with proteins and fats, are necessary for the formation of hormones and enzymes, as well as for the construction of cell membranes and connective tissue. In addition, carbohydrates take part in the synthesis of immunoglobulins, supporting immune protection future mother. Carbohydrates are also necessary for normal operation the central nervous system, the cells of which are very sensitive to a lack of glucose in the blood. Simple carbohydrates are a quick source of energy. This quality is important when a woman needs to quickly restore her strength after intense physical and mental stress.

A lack of sweets can lead to disruption of the metabolism of fats and proteins, resulting in the accumulation of harmful products incomplete oxidation of fatty acids and some amino acids and are disrupted metabolic processes. If there is a severe deficiency of sweets, a pregnant woman may experience weakness, drowsiness, dizziness, headaches, hunger, nausea, sweating, and trembling in the hands (so-called hypoglycemia).

Harm. Systematic excessive consumption of sugar and other easily digestible fast carbohydrates contributes to the manifestation of latent type 2 diabetes mellitus due to overload and then depletion of pancreatic cells that produce insulin necessary for the absorption of glucose. Also, excess simple sugars can be converted into fats, causing obesity and fatty liver.

Sweet environment promotes growth pathogenic microorganisms, yeast-like fungi and disrupts the functioning of normal bifid flora in the intestines and can lead to thrush in the vagina. Also, due to the abundance of sweets, the skin suffers.

In addition, the abuse of sweets contributes to the development of caries, disruption of excitatory and inhibitory processes in the nervous system, supports inflammatory processes, promotes allergization of the body of both mother and child.

Remember that when diabetes mellitus, obesity, allergies, skin diseases, inflammatory processes, it is necessary to strictly limit the consumption of sweets.

How to cope with sweets addiction

Step one. You need to know the “enemy” by sight

Awareness of the problem is the first step towards freedom from sweet excesses. In order to understand that you are abusing confectionery products, start keeping a food diary indicating the sweets you eat - in this case, it will be easier to control the quantity and quality of “sugar pleasure”. You can conduct it only for yourself, or you can do it on social networks, which will allow you to share your problems with many other expectant mothers: exchange impressions, find advice and recommendations, make friends, and, without leaving home, receive new positive emotions.

Step two. Love for sweets is not “cut from the shoulder”

If you have an addiction, you shouldn’t suddenly and radically prohibit yourself from eating sweets. This path is fraught with breakdowns and can lead to stress. It is best to reconsider your sweet addictions and replace harmful sweets with healthy ones.

Step three. Find alternative ways mood improvement

To increase endorphin levels in a “non-sweet” way, you need to be physically active (walking on fresh air, feasible work in the country, swimming) and try to get positive emotions (communication with children and animals, reading, music). This will help compensate for the body’s needs for pleasure hormones and distract you from sweets.

Try to get enough sleep. The fact is that lack of sleep leads to constant fatigue and stress that intuitively you want to eat something sweet. Among other things, as a result of lack of sleep, hormonal disorders appear, leading to increased appetite.

Step four. Share sweets individually

Mental perception has a peculiarity: the brain counts not the grams eaten, but the individual amount of sweets. That is why the chocolate bar should not be laid out in front of you as a whole, but after having been separated. daily dose– 5–6 cloves. It is also better to divide gummies and marshmallows into small pieces. Gradually, you will notice that your hand reaches out to the extra tasty morsel less and less often.

Step five. Use antidepressant products

To increase serotonin levels, you need to follow a diet rich in amino acid tryptophan, B vitamins, zinc, omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids. Tryptophan is found in meat, eggs, cheese, bananas, tomatoes, milk, and yogurt. And for the correct conversion of the amino acid tryptophan into serotonin, you additionally need Rye bread from wholemeal flour, buckwheat, oatmeal, wheat sprouts, seeds, eggs (sources of B vitamins), as well as sea ​​fish, nuts, seeds, avocado, unrefined vegetable oil(sources of omega-3 fatty acids).

To increase the amount of dopamine in the body, which affects mood, you should increase the content of the amino acids tyrosine and phenylalanine in the diet, which are used to build it. Large amounts of dopamine precursor amino acids are found in beets, soy, meat, almonds, grains and eggs.

The formation of dopamine is also facilitated by a sufficient amount of folic acid, which is rich in green vegetables and herbs: lettuce, spinach, bell pepper, green onions, parsley dill.

As a source of chromium, which will help reduce the craving for sweets, it is advisable to regularly consume tomatoes, green onions, broccoli, radishes, grapes, plums, beans, beans, peas, chicken, turkey, beef, tuna, herring, mackerel, crucian carp, shrimp, squid, cheese.

Are there any healthy sweets?

If you want sweets during pregnancy, do not deny yourself, the main thing is that the dessert is healthy. As healthy sweets You can recommend dried fruits, fruit cocktails and salads, candied fruits and berries, fruit jelly, marmalade, marshmallows and dark chocolate.

Bitter chocolate

– this is chocolate without added milk, with a minimum amount of sugar (or without it), containing at least 35% cocoa beans. However, the highest quality and healthiest chocolate will be one that contains at least 70% cocoa beans.

What's the benefit? The benefits of chocolate are due precisely to the composition of cocoa beans. It contains theobromine, which relaxes the muscles of the bronchi, blood vessels(mainly brain vessels, skin and kidneys), improves renal blood flow. This means that for bronchitis with cough, for kidney diseases and for headaches associated with vasospasm, a piece of dark chocolate is very recommended. In addition, theobromine, normalizing respiratory function, helps saturate the blood with oxygen and also stimulates cardiac activity. During mental stress, theobromine from chocolate will have a psychostimulating effect - it will enhance attention and memory.

Dark chocolate also contains flavonoids that are similar to those found in red grapes. They are good for the heart and blood vessels: according to a study by the German Institute of Dietetics in Potsdam, regular consumption of 6 g of chocolate per day reduces the risk of stroke and myocardial infarction by 39% and reduces blood pressure on average by 1 mm Hg. Art. This is due to the fact that flavonoids have a beneficial effect on platelet function, preventing them from “sticking together” and preventing the appearance of dangerous blood clots in the vessels of the brain and heart. In addition, flavonoids neutralize the effect free radicals, protect cells from destruction, and therefore prevent premature aging the body, save from the development of atherosclerosis. Flavonoids can also normalize the functioning of the immune system, slow down inflammatory processes and prevent the formation of cancer cells.

In addition to cocoa products, chocolate also contains soy lecithin, which is responsible for the uniform consistency of chocolate. Lecithin is part of the group of phospholipids that are necessary for building the membranes of all cells, especially the nervous system and brain tissue. The consequence of this is positive influence lecithin for memory, thinking, mental performance. In addition, lecithin prevents fatty degeneration of the liver and normalizes liver function, and also has anti-atherosclerotic properties (reduces cholesterol levels in the blood and prevents its deposition in the walls of blood vessels).

Thanks to lecithin, chocolate is classified as an aphrodisiac product, since lecithin normalizes the function of the sex glands and has a positive effect on sexual activity.

Advice. Dark chocolate should always be of a uniform dark color, with a shiny front side, clearly defined edges and patterns on them, homogeneous structure and solidity in the fracture. In addition, in good dark chocolate there are absolutely no foreign tastes and odors, a large number of bubbles, “greying”, deformation or graininess at the break.

Marmalade

The most useful is jelly-fruit marmalade, since it combines beneficial features pectin from fruit puree and agar (a substance made from seaweed).

What's the benefit? Marmalade owes its usefulness to two substances: pectin and agar (agaroids). The maximum amount of pectin is found in apples and plums, which are used as raw materials for marmalade. Thanks to pectins, they bind in the intestines and are excreted from the body. heavy metals, radionuclides, and pesticides. In addition, pectin helps reduce cholesterol in the body and is used for diseases associated with metabolic disorders, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver and pancreas.

Agar contains a large amount mineral salts, vitamins, polysaccharides, agaropectin and vegetable acids. Agar is not absorbed by the body, but it serves as food for beneficial microorganisms in the intestines, which protect it from penetration pathogens. In addition, agar helps reduce cholesterol levels, normalizes blood glucose levels, and reduces high acidity gastric juice, stimulates intestinal motility, providing a mild laxative effect.

Advice. Choose marmalade in transparent packaging to see its quality. The shape of the marmalade must be correct, without deformation; structure – transparent, glassy; the contour is clear, and when pressed it quickly restores its shape. If the marmalade has retracted sides and a crunch when breaking, then these are signs that it has been stored for too long. The surface of the marmalade is dry, non-sticky, the sugar coating should not be melted, otherwise this indicates that the product has been stored in wet conditions. If marmalade has a dense, hard consistency, then this indicates that it contains a lot of fruit puree. But the sugary and low-elastic consistency shows that the product contains a lot of sugar.

Marshmallows and marshmallows

Marshmallows and marshmallows are confectionery products obtained by boiling fruit and berry puree and then whipping it with sugar, egg white, agar, pectin, etc.

What's the benefit? The benefits of these confectionery, like marmalade, is due to the agar, pectin they contain, as well as egg white - a source of essential amino acids for our body.

Advice. When choosing marshmallows and marshmallows, pay attention that their surface is dry, with a soft crust, without rough hardening and syrup release, and when cut, it is finely porous, without large voids. High-quality marshmallows and marshmallows should break easily. It is better to choose sweets that are white (there are fewer food colors) and without a rich smell (only the smell of vanilla is welcome). Not allowed foreign odors, pungent taste and smell of the essences used. If the marshmallows and marshmallows are too dry, hard and crumbly, this means that they were stored incorrectly.

Sweets: how many can you have?

Carbohydrates must be supplied to the pregnant woman's body within reasonable limits. The total amount of carbohydrates per day should be 350–450 g (including fruits, vegetables, cereals), but sweets should not exceed 40–50 g. This amount of sugars is contained in 5–6 teaspoons of sugar, 4–5 teaspoons honey or jam, 5 caramels, 50–60 g of marmalade or marshmallows and 5–6 slices of chocolate. Only from this list you can choose one thing and eat it throughout the day or combine it, but at the same time reduce the amount: for example, 2 teaspoons of honey per day and 2-3 slices of chocolate.