When your sweet tooth strikes

Did you know that women are twice as likely as men to scarf sugary foods under stress-AND they feel guiltier when they do? THE LIKELY REASON=HORMONES!!!!!

Here's some good advice/info on controlling your sugar intake as well as some low-sugar snack ideas for when that sweet tooth strikes.

The first thing you need to do to control your sugar intake is to find out how much sugar you're actually eating. Read labels for a week and jot down how much sugar you're taking in (Beware of and include other forms of sugar such as dextrose, rice syrup, and cane juice). You'll probably find that it far exceeds the approximately 10% of your daily caloric intake the federal dietary guidelines recommend (that's about 20 grams, or five teaspoons, per 1,000 calories consumed). This will open your eyes when you realize that many products touted as healthy are still high in sugar. There are no laws regulating the use the words "all natural" on food packaging, so manufacturers can label their products with abandon. For example, one ounce of dried pineapple has about 21 grams of sugar, compared with 2.6 grams for the same amount of fresh pineapple. Once you know how much sugar you're really eating, you can control your intake. Here are some tips for cracking down on the most seductive tabletop substance known to man:

1. Eat breakfast. Pure and simple. Ninety percent of sugar addicts skip breakfast. When you eat breakfast, you prevent the drop in blood sugar that makes you crave sugar later.

2. Pick fruit. Satisfy your sweet tooth with apples, bananas, peaches, berries, etc which will temper natural sugar with fiber and loads of antioxidants. Dried fruit and fruit juices will also do the job, but they don't have nearly as much fiber and are more concentrated with calories.

3. Think 100. When you simply must have a cupcake or candy bar, stick to 100-150 calorie portions and 16 grams of sugar or less.

4. Indulge right after dinner. Late-night ice cream fixes give you a pure, unadulterated sugar rush. Have a small scoop after dinner instead and you'll reduce the insulin-spiking effect (plus, you won't consume as much because you're still full from dinner).

5. Cut out "overt" sugars. Take the worst offenders first: sucrose-laden treats like candy, ice cream, and soft drinks.

6. Enter sugar rehab. Like any sugar addict, you need to detox before you fully recover. It takes five days to fully overcome your cravings for sugar, and you'll feel awful for three of them. Prepare to be edgy and irritable starting by day two; by day five, you'll feel like a whole new person. After you've recovered, you'll find that a little sugar goes a much longer way.

REACH FOR THESE SNACKS WHEN THAT SWEET TOOTH STRIKES:
1. Swiss Miss Milk Chocolate Hot Cocoa- 8.5 g of sugar, 60 calories
2. Kashi GoLean Chocolate Caramel Crunchy bar-14 g of sugar, 150 calories, 6 g fiber
3. Edy's Orange and Cream bars-15 g sugar, 80 calories
4. Breyer's All Natural Vanilla ice cream-14 g sugar, 130 calories
5. Skinny Cow Skinny Dippers ice cream bars-7 g sugar, 80 calories, 2 g fiber
6. Bare Fruit Bake-dried cinnamon apple chips-7 g sugar, 29 calories, 1 g fiber

SOURCE: Women's Health