Are You A Sugar Addict?

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Sugary doughnuts for breakfast, biscuits for morning tea, a fruity caramel sauce coated snack bar later – hang on surely that’s got to be healthy right?  Who are we kidding here, are you 'addicted' to sugar?

It’s the same as owning 30 pairs of shoes in black and believing that you only own 5 pairs.  First it’s addiction and then denial.  Then there’s indulgence, addiction and further denial.  Notice how I consider owning 30 pairs of shoes as normal, but 30 pairs of black shoes a little bit indulgent.  I guess it’s all about where you draw the line.  After all, who does not own 30 pairs of shoes these days?

So where do you draw the line with sugar intake? 

It all really starts with how well fuelled you are.  Starvation increases food cravings and the likelihood of stuffing your face with the sweetest thing around.  Sure the festive delights taste phenomenal when you are starving, but with Christmas parties around the corner, never leave the house without breakfast.  If you really are not a morning person and struggle to exit the house with at least matching ear rings, have breakfast cereals or fruit and yoghurt ready to eat once you do get a moment to eat.

Contrary to common belief, a study in Clinical Nutrition concluded that there is no support from human literature that sugar is addictive.  This is great news, but that’s not to say that the dieter who plans his or her meals carefully will be less likely to be caught beside the biscuit tin at 4pm. 

It’s bitter sweet but the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs in 2010 described that in some brains, the consumption of sugar rich foods or drinks prime the release of euphoric endorphins and dopamine.  For this reason, it’s not surprising that there is a natural preference for sweet foods.  

So how do you overcome ingrained bad habits?

YOUR ACTION PLAN

First of all, get rid of the cookie jar and replace this with a large bowl of gorgeous fruits.

Eat just enough at meals to be at least 80%, full but with enough space for the next meal.  Ensure that your meal is comprised of complex carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates are not evil.  If you need to be convinced, then read The Purple Carb Diet - How Low Do You Go?

Sugars are also carbohydrates but because they cause a yo yo type effect on your blood ‘sugar’ or glucose levels, it is preferable to stock up on low glycaemic index (GI) foods. 

The glycaemic index is a ranking of carbohydrates on a scale of 0 to 100 and how quickly they raise your blood glucose levels after eating.

 

Low GI carbs are:

• fruit and vegetables
• boiled white rice such as easy-cook rice or basmati rice
• breads made with whole grains
• high fibre bran cereals
• oats prepared with skimmed milk
• some fruity yoghurts
• dried apricots and peach
• lentils
• nuts
• Fusilli pasta
• tagliatelle egg pasta 
• and some fruit or nut based cereal bars

Remember, foods that are high in protein or fats can also have a low glycaemic index; like nuts.  That’s why digestive biscuits may appear to boast a low GI, but this is predominantly due to its high fat content.

It may be comforting to know that even dietitians eat sugary foods but the key is, eat these in moderation and in small amounts.  If your diet is primarily made of complex carbohydrates at breakfast, lunch and dinner, a small serving of that dark chocolate or the rich tea biscuit with your cup of tea is unlikely to send you on sugar frenzies.

So it’s not even a question of knowledge, because I know that you are already aware of these key facts.  

The trick is to kill bad habits and replace these with satisfying and rewarding ones.

Make friends with your diet and fill it with long lasting carbohydrates.  The short acting carbs in baking are tasty and fun I agree, but they really are not designed to stick around and will certainly leave you wanting for more.  Evil.  Oops, I meant, highly undesirable.

Here’s a quick GI checklist

Is your diet predominantly based on at least one of these low GI food items at every meal?

Breakfast

Oats

Yoghurt

Fruit

Reduced fat milk

Lunch and Dinner

Vegetables

Wholegrain breads

Pasta

Lentils

Snacks

Fresh fruit

Dried fruit such as apricot or peach

Yoghurt

Fruit or nut based cereal bar

If your heart simply cannot give up baking, then ensure that these are based on fruit, oats and slow releasing carbohydrates such as polenta.  If you have never baked with polenta see The World's Sexiest Carb - Italian Polenta.

Have a great week lovely readers.  How do you combat sugar cravings?

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My Kitchen Disaster: Tamarind Prawn Soup With Pineapple

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Have you ever had a kitchen disater?  Let me tell you about mine.  I discovered this gorgeous Vietnamese recipe on Tamarind soup by the Ravenous Couple.  Had I followed the instructions I probably would have ended up with a very delicious result.

The original recipe called for ingredients such as okra, elephant ear stems, bean sprouts and  rice paddy herbs.  I also wanted to manipulate the sugar and salt content of this recipe, so what did I do?  I omitted the ingredients that I didn't have and substituted with 2 garlic cloves sliced, a teaspoon of peppercorns for punch and a thumb sized piece of ginger.

I then reduced the sugar to a tablespoon and used only 2 cups of fish stock and 1 cup of boiling water (instead of 2 tablespoons of sugar and 3 cups of fish stock).  I wasn't entirely sure what the final amount of tamarind pulp that the recipe recommended so I used approximately 50g.  I also threw in chopped mint and 1/4 cup of quinoa for extra protein.

The final result was an extremely sweet soup that was not balanced with sourness and savoury flavours.

I wanted to share this experience with you as I wondered how many of you have tried to manipulate a recipe in an effort to increase it's nutritional profile.  I clearly am no expert in Vietnamese cuisine and hence my kitchen disaster.  When attempting to control the salt content in this recipe, consider reducing the sugar content too.  In hindsight, I could have done without the sugar completely and used only a 1/4 of the pineapple.  This may have led to a more favourable outcome.  Cooking experts, what do you think?

This is a perfect example to illustrate that sometimes, following the original recipe is best if you are not sure what the final product should taste like.  It may also be in your best interest to simply have a smaller portion of the original food item and fill up on vegetables or fruit for dessert.  It's not always easy to do this.  For example, if you have kidney disease and require dialysis, soups are tricky as they need to be counted within your fluid allowance but are also very high in salt.  And then of course there's the potassium from the pineapple and tomatoes that need to be considered.  Recipe manipulation is necessary but in this case, perhaps tricky.

And so you have it my lovely readers, my kitchen disaster!  Have you had any that you are willing to share?