About Poonam Goyal

Poonam Goyal is a nutritionist and works towards guiding people to have a healthy lifestyle by following habits such as eating right, exercising and preventing diseases. Armed with a diploma in Nutrition and diet planning, Poonam believes in motivating people to develop skills and confidence to adopt a healthy, positive and lasting lifestyle practices.

April 26, 2019 By Poonam Goyal 1 Comment

Sugar Cravings and How to Curb Them

Do you grab a candy bar to cope with your afternoon slump and then reach for a cola to get out of your post-slump slump? Or have you realized that munching sugary snacks makes you crave for more?

Why Should We Reduce Sugar?

Sugar is called an empty calorie, which means it is a calorie without any nutrients.
Health professionals believe that it is one of the main reasons why it can be so hard to stick to a healthy diet and maintain a healthy weight.
There is a belief that sugar restriction is only for diabetics but the facts are quite different. Excess sugar can lead to coronary heart disease, obesity, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, PCOS, low immunity, cancer, bone issues, etc.
Another effect of excessive sugar intake changes in microbial flora. This can lead to bloating, GI issues, heartburn, etc.

The World Health Organization has recently lowered the recommendation for sugar from 10% to no more than 5% of the total caloric intake. This translates to 4-5 teaspoons a day for a 2000 kcal diet.

You must wonder why we keep talking about excess sugar all the time. This is because sugar is addictive in nature. The more you have, the more you want. The taste of sugar releases endorphins that calm and relax us, offering a natural high.

Causes of sugar cravings

Habitual: Habit can be one of the major causes which are formed deep within our brains
Hard workout: Many people are likely to experience sugar cravings following a workout. As depleted glycogen stores are likely to crave sugar to replenish it.
Your diet is not right: The more you eat these simple sugary things, the more your brain will want them, which can continue the vicious cycle of sugar cravings.
Use of artificial sweetener: The use of these alternative sugars may save on calories but they trick the mind into thinking you ate something that was extremely sweet or far sweeter than sugar. For this reason, the brain will crave for food or beverages that are as sweet as what you had.
Poor sleep quality: The body needs a certain amount of REM and deep sleep as a way to replenish the mind and body. When you have inadequate amount of sleep, the body is susceptible to craving sweets the next day.
Stress: High levels of stress can also cause craving. As stress increases cortisol levels, serotonin, which is a calming and relaxing hormone, is released by sugar.
Meal skipping: Skipping meals can cause you to have sugar cravings due to reduced blood sugar levels.
Boredom: It’s another reason why we end up eating sugar or sugary products.
Sugar is hiding everywhere: Sugar is hiding in many foods you would never think of as sweet from bread to pasta.
Few deficiencies which can cause sugar cravings include:
1. Chromium deficiency can cause intense cravings for sugar.
2. If your body lacks Magnesium, you may have strong cravings for sugar products especially chocolates.
3. Zinc deficiency can result in low insulin levels which may lead to sugar cravings

How to stop sugar Cravings

Give in a little: Eat a bit of what you are craving for. Enjoying a little of what you love can help you steer clear of feeling denied.
Try to combine foods: When you crave for sweets, try combining it with a healthy option. For instance, strawberry dipped in chocolate sauce.
Grab some gum: If you want to avoid giving in to a sugar craving completely try a stick of gum.
Reach for a fruit: Keep fruit handy when a sugar craving hits! Fruits are rich in fibres and nutrients along with some awesome sweetness!
Choose quality over quantity: If you crave for sugar, pick a healthier option but keep it small. For instance, dark chocolate with 70% cocoa.
Eat regularly: Eating meals at regular intervals keeps your blood sugar level stable and help in avoiding irrational eating behavior.
Skip artificial sweeteners: as they tend to increase your cravings
Get support: Stress, depression or anger turns people to eating sweet foods. But food doesn’t solve emotional issues.
Drink a glass of water: Some people say that dehydration can cause sugar cravings
Eat more protein: as proteins increase your satiety level.
Sleep well: It is important for overall health and may help prevent cravings.
Get up and go: When you feel sugar cravings, get up and go for a walk. You can also phone a friend or take a bath to relax.
Avoid certain triggers like places or activities that induce sugar cravings.
Eat more fibers: They help to slow the absorption of the food you eat and also help to curb sugar cravings
Keep and maintain a list of reasons why you want to eat healthy as its hard to remember when you get the cravings.

Few food options to opt for when you get sugar cravings

Fruits: contain sugar along with lots of healthy nutrients
Berries: taste sweet but are high in fibre and low in sugar
Dark Chocolate: swap regular chocolate with dark chocolate
Snack Bars: are made of whole foods and can make a healthy sweet treat
Chia Seeds: are high in soluble fibre so you feel fuller for longer
Cinnamon: because of its sweet taste and it is healthy
Yoghurt: is high in protein and can control appetite and craving
Dates: are very sweet and can fix your cravings
Sweet Potatoes: sweet in taste and give a feeling of fullness
Smoothies: are another healthy nutrient rich option
Prunes: are sweet in taste and good for the stomach
Trail Mix: has the sweetness of dry fruits and nuts with all their benefits

Do Sugar Detox Diets Work?

Sugar Detox Plans urge you to avoid all sweets. That means all fruits, dairy and refined grains. The idea is to purge your system of sugar. Diet changes like this are too drastic to keep up and you will fall back to your old habits.

If you make simple changes to your diet, it is easy to keep them up.

Sugar cravings can be a challenging part of your everyday life. When they set in, they can take over your mind in a hurry. Make these small changes which can go a long way and hopefully, they will help you win the battle against your cravings.

March 6, 2019 By Poonam Goyal 5 Comments

What Alkaline Water Does To Your Body!

A few days back, I was at a store. I came across water filters that claimed they increase energy and regulate the body’s pH level. It tempted me. To add something more healthy to my regimen, I purchased an expensive filter without knowing what I was really buying. Now that I have read up a little on Alkaline Water, I want to share my thoughts on it.

First, let’s understand what Alkaline Water is and how different it is from regular water. Certainly, it boils down to the pH levels. Liquids with a pH closer to 0 are very acidic while liquids with a pH close to 14 are very alkaline. Pure water is neutral and has a pH of 7.0 whereas Alkaline Water has a pH between 7-9.5.

In today’s fast paced world, our gastric acid levels have increased. Due to our dependence on processed foods, artificial additives, refined sugar, increasing stress levels and reduced physical activity, there’s an imbalance in the acid and alkaline environment in our body. So we are moving towards quick fixes like alkaline water.

Advantages of alkaline water

The most important health benefit of alkaline water is to fight acid reflux, which is a common health concern these days
It makes us feel more energetic as our body is able to absorb it more quickly
Healthier gut, as higher pH water protects us from dangerous microorganisms due to its negative oxidation-reduction potential (ORP).
Provides antioxidants
Protection from contaminated water

Disadvantages of Alkaline water

Digestive malfunction – drinking alkaline water can cause steep changes in the levels of pH and can hinder the digestion process
Can cause a condition called hypochlorhydria, that is the reduced absorption of calcium in our body
Presence of too many ions in the body can result in acute dehydration at the cellular level
Exert pressure on the kidney to bring the pH level to ideal

Artificial Alkaline Water

Lot of water ionizers are available in the market these days. In essence, what they do is split the water molecules with electricity to create alkaline water. We get them in the form of water filters or filter bottles.

All water found in nature has a pH that perfectly corresponds to the minerals in water. When we drink alkaline water, our body assumes it is receiving alkaline minerals like calcium and magnesium. The problem with ionized water is that the body thinks it is receiving more alkaline minerals than what are actually present in the water.

Before the body is stressed by the artificial alkalinity, the first 30 days might make you feel better due to the presence of antioxidants and hydration. Other side effects can be erratic heart behavior, hypertension, UTI, infections etc.

It is also advised that if we are drinking ionized water or artificially alkaline water, we should measure our bodies pH daily and regulate the consumption accordingly.

Few Interesting facts about our body’s pH

Our body regulates blood pH in a very narrow range because all the enzymes are designed to work at pH 7.4. If the pH varies too much it will not be able to function
We cannot change the pH of our blood but our diet does affect the pH of our urine. Normally urine is at pH 6, which is acidic but normal and shows our kidney is working fine
The pH of the stomach acid or gastric acid is 1.5 – 3.5 which is required for the proper digestion of our food . Alkaline ions might cancel the acid and neutralize it
It is the job of the lungs, liver and kidney to maintain a normal pH of our body
The most common minerals found in water are calcium, potassium, copper, manganese, magnesium and iron. According to World Health Organisation(WHO), water contributes to 1-20% of the dietary intake of some trace minerals

How to Make Your Body Alkaline Naturally

Start your day with a glass of lemon water
Add a tsp of natural baking soda to water and drink it the first thing in the morning. It helps neutralise stomach acids and provides relief from indigestion in adults
Add some cucumber slices to water to make it alkaline
Store water in a copper vessel and drink it in the morning
Drink cumin water or cumin tea. Cumin water generally stimulates the secretion of digestive enzymes and accelerates the digestion process, thus helping you fight gut issues
Vegetable juice will not only make your body alkaline but add various nutrients to your diet too
Start your day with a glass of water with 1-2 tbsp of Aloe Vera juice added to it. Aloe Vera juice alkalizes the body, balancing overly acidic dietary habits
Drink natural coconut water. The pH acidic level in the body turns alkaline when you drink coconut water and that’s why it’s good for acidity
Add more fruits and vegetables in your diet. According to the Institute of medicine 20% of water comes from food sources

Naturally occurring alkaline water is undoubtedly good for health but what we get in the present times is water that is artificially made alkaline. If our goal is to be healthy why would we drink or eat anything artificial.