Satisfying Your Sweet Tooth

In a previous Miracle Noodle blog about fruit, the lesson to take away was that a small amount of fruit should be included in a healthy, balanced diet, despite what a particular fruit ranks on the glycemic index (GI). Watermelon, for example, ranks very high on the GI, at over 70. Despite its high ranking though, watermelon actually does not raise blood sugar levels all that much, due to its net carbohydrate level.

Watermelon and other fruits should also be included in the diet because of their high vitamin, mineral and antioxidant components.

Miracle Noodle shoppers love being able to eat their favorite noodle dishes without the guilt. Somehow (a miracle?), the root of a plant is able to take on the texture and soak up the taste of typical pasta and rice dishes.

But even some people who have managed to slash hundreds of calories from their diet by replacing high-carb meals with net zero calorie and zero carb Miracle Noodle may occasionally get a craving for something sweet.

If you’re diabetic and trying to control your blood sugar levels, is it ok to satisfy your sweet tooth?

Candy vs. fruit

Sweet food that comes from Mother Nature, i.e. fruit, is your best option for satisfying your sweet tooth. But keep in mind that the key to avoiding high spikes in blood sugar and storing the excess sugar as bodyfat is to have small portions.

It’s actually better for you to have a little piece of candy than to eat, say, 20 strawberries, at least from a blood sugar perspective.

The best way to satisfy your sweet tooth is to have a modest amount of fruit and add a tiny amount of natural fat or protein to reduce the rate that your blood sugar levels would rise compared to eating the fruit alone. Take strawberries again. Hopefully, your strawberries are organic as the conventionally grown ones are sprayed with more pesticides than other fruits. But that’s for another blog.... Three large strawberries combined with low-fat cottage cheese, or the strawberries topped with a dollop of whipped cream provides both fat and protein, both of which will help slow down the digestion of fruit sugar (fructose).

Eliminating cravings completely

If you want to become the master of your sweet tooth and never succumb to sugar’s addictive and seductive pull, and thereby never experiencing the avalanche of problems associated with sugary foods, like energy crashes and headaches, take the snacking advice above to the next level.

In addition to adding a small amount of natural fat like oil or butter or nuts and seeds with a sweet food, you should do so for every meal. You should also eat breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, preferably at the same time every day, never going more than several hours (try to eat your main meals about four or four and a half hours apart).

Here’s an example of optimal nutrition to eliminate sweet craving:

Breakfast, 8 a.m., 1 whole egg (the egg contains both fat and protein) with one slice of low-carb or gluten-free toast (a carbohydrate) topped with a small dab of butter (fat) and half a green apple (carb);

Lunch, noon, spinach salad with assorted veggies (carbohydrates); 5 oz. (fist-sized) chicken breast (protein); tablespoon of olive oil (natural fat) and sprinkle of sea salt;

Afternoon snack, 3:30 p.m., celery sticks (carb) with one tablespoon of almond, sunflower or peanut butter (both protein and fat)

Dinner, 7 p.m., Veggie (carb) stir-fry sauteed with olive oil (natural fat) and added with Miracle Noodle’s latest product, Ziti (fiber), served with a side of baked fish (protein),

Late-night smart snack, 10:30 p.m. handful of blueberries (carb) with three dice-sized servings of cheese (both fat and protein)

Eating this way every single day will help keep blood sugar levels low and energy levels rock steady. As a result, your cravings should significantly subside. Most of your favorite foods, with the exception of junk foods, can be included in your daily diet, as long as you keep portions to moderate amounts.