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Sugar cravings are caused by addiction to refined sugar. To end sugar addiction, you must nourish yourself so well that you don’t feel the need for the stimulation of refined sugar. Here are five techniques that will end cravings and improve your overall health and vitality.

1. Eat as much fruit as you can. Eat fresh fruit and dried fruit; drink fruit juices and smoothies. Just make sure that all are 100% fruit and have no added sugar or sugar substitutes. Read the label for this information.

The natural sugars in fruit are healthful, and have been consumed by healthy people for thousands of years. Refined sugar, in contrast, is created in an industrial process and is inherently unhealthful.

Also, fruit contains the vitamins, minerals, and enzymes necessary for health, while refined sugar has none. Thus, fruit increases your energy, while refined sugar ultimately drains it.

Fruit and natural fruit juices do not have the addictive quality of refined sugar.

Diabetics should consult their physicians. For others, refined sugar is so harmful that it is worth eating “too much” fruit in order to eat less refined sugar.

2. Don’t allow your blood sugar to fluctuate. Low blood sugar, known as hypoglycemia, provokes uncontrollable sugar cravings.

Don’t skip meals. Eat frequently. Eat enough food. Get enough protein.

Healthy exercise that gives you a good appetite will help. However, over-exercising will deplete you and cause hypoglycemia and cravings.

3. Healthy fats, especially unrefined coconut oil, help prevent blood sugar fluctuations. Fats slow the absorption of carbohydrates, increase the absorption of vitamins and minerals, and make you feel full.

Unrefined coconut oil is reputed to help correct hypoglycemia and sugar addiction. Because of the ease with which the body absorbs coconut oil’s unique medium chain fatty acids, it is perfect for people who have trouble digesting fat. It is also an excellent healthy fat for vegetarians.

Other healthy fats include olive oil, butter, avocados, nuts, and nut butters.

4. Complex carbohydrates also prevent blood sugar swings. They are filling and have a subtle sweetness. These include carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, brown rice, whole grain bread, and other whole grains.

White bread and white rice are not complex carbohydrates and will not have the beneficial effects. They will tend to increase cravings.

5. Try superfoods, which are foods with extra nutrition that can correct vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Those deficiencies are an additional cause of uncontrollable cravings. Examples of superfoods include: superfruits such as acai and mangosteen; wheatgrass juice; seaweed.

These techniques help defeat sugar addiction and provide other healthful benefits. Generous nourishment is an enjoyable way to permanently end sugar cravings.

Heidi Boudro is the editor of Getting Started With Healthy Eating, a web site at http://www.getting-started-with-healthy-eating.com dedicated to ideas, techniques, and information for beginning and maintaining healthy eating with whole foods. More information about Sugar Addiction can be found there. Copyright: You may freely republish this article, provided the text, author credit, the active links, and this copyright notice remain intact.