Foods To Beat Sugar Cravings | with Laura Bond
When your blood sugar is out of balance it can feel impossible to resist that chocolate bar or ‘healthy’ energy ball. But if you fuel yourself with the right foods, you’ll find your blood sugar levels stabilize; and cravings disappear.
The first tip for stabilising blood sugar is to:
Make friends with fat
This is like adding a log to your metabolic fire and will keep you fuller for longer. The latest research is turning decades of diet wisdom on its head and showing us that fat can actually help us to slim down. Studies consistently show those following a high-fat, low carb diet experience significantly more weight loss than those on traditional low-fat diets [1]. Healthy fats provide our brains and bodies with energy and are also crucial for making hormones in the body; some of these hormones, like adiponectin are directly related to fat-burning.
Three Healthy Fat Snacks
Avocado: Next time cravings hit try an ‘avocado boat.’ Slice an avo in half, drizzle with olive oil and add a squeeze of lemon and crack of salt. As well as being a source of healthy monounsaturated fats, avocado's are packed with fibre (13g per avocado), which keeps us fuller for longer and reduce blood sugar spikes; which drives cravings.
Nuts: These are great for on-the-go for when the meeting runs over (or the baby won’t sleep). They are rich in healthy fats, fibre and protein all of which help stabilise our blood sugar levels and keep our brains firing. Women who eat nuts are slimmer than those who don’t. They also have a decreased risk of pancreatic cancer – according to a 30-year study from Harvard Medical School [2].
Coconut Yoghurt: Full of healthy fats and probiotics to keep our inner eco system nourished.
To really cut those cravings go for a yoghurt with added protein. I often recommend Cocobella Protein yoghurt (available from Woolworths) to my clients to take to work to fill a long gap between lunch and dinner.
Eggs: Start the day right with 2-3 scrambled eggs with a side of avocado and spinach. In one large-scale American study having two eggs in the morning was shown to reduce calorie consumption for the next 36 hours [3].
[1] Ketogenic Diet
[2] Nut Consumption and Risk of Pancreatic Cancer in Women
[3] Short-term Effect of Eggs on Satiety in Overweight and Obese Subjects.
Looking for more tips to keep you and your family healthy? You can book a one-on-one consultation with Laura here. As well as offering functional medical tests, Laura provides meal plans and recipes as part of her consultation.
Laura is a qualified Nutritional Therapist who is passionate about pre and post-natal nutrition as well as children’s health. She also loves helping mum’s create meal plans or weaning programmes for fussy eaters as well as tailored diets for those dealing with chronic digestive issues or who are living with or beyond cancer.
