Understanding Blood Sugar, Hunger & Mood

Came across this three part video series that does a really good job in explaining the effects of sugar in the blood stream and how it affects insulin, mood and hunger.

 Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

How strong the need for comfort is?

This morning I had what feels like the wind knocked out of me.

Anyone following Budget 2012 saw that there was going to be {{{{{*****HUGE*****}}}}} budget cuts and loss of jobs in the public service.

This morning I had an interview and I was told that until they figure out how the budget will impact them, transfers were on hold.

WHAM! BHAM! Thank YOU MAM! Bend over and take it like a ?? What exactly? A good egg I suppose.

So I can’t help but feel that my shell is cracking ever so slightly and I am in need of some TLC (totally luscious crap) . I decide to go for a walk to clear the egg whites in the noggin and as I walk along I see a store and I immediately think (chocolate and lots of it! or cake! or anything high in sugar and will get me buzzing forgetting – screw the resolve I need some comfort!)

So I shush that little brat about to throw a tantrum (in my mind of course) and cross the street all the while talking myself off that sugar ledge. I got back to my office, made myself a tea and then ate some of my No Egg Cup For You Layered Broccoli Casserole and then I felt much better…

So, isn’t it interesting the brains need for comfort and what it grabs on to for soothing?

Is it a craving or a habit?

I like most people get what I call evening cravings.

Shortly after supper (usually) I get a flash of needing something sweet. Is that a craving or a habit? Growing up we used to have pudding au chomeur aka welfare pudding (literal translation) aka poor man’s pudding (flour, sugar, butter/lard and water mixed together to make this intensely sweet cake like dessert). Sometimes there was more dessert than there was dinner.

If I ignore the craving, it gets stronger.

I can’t rationalize it away, I’ve tried.

That is usually what derails me because  I go searching for something sweet to quiet that insane urge but I’ll eat anything other than what I am craving until I cave and eat what I am craving, thus eating way more unhealthy calories than if I had had the sweet to begin with. But because I don’t usually keep dessert in the house I would end up eating buttered toast with sugar (white or brown), or syrup or whatever sweet I could make up.

Since I started eggkins and joined the leaving unhealthy behind challenge, I find that these habits of needing something sweet have been dealt with easily by taking a tsp of coconut oil which has totally quashed my cravings for sweets.

So, am I conditioned to want sweets (habituated to eat sweets) or am I really craving sweets? Is there anything in sweets that my body would need to be healthier?

I’m thinking that if a craving for sweets is quelled by a tsp of coconut oil then I would say that my body doesn’t need sugar for anything other than to trap me in an old routine that is a straight way to failure.

 

Pass the (low carb) cake

Let me preface this by saying I am not anti cake or advising anyone to become anti cake (and what does sugar and cake have to do with an egg blog anyway?).

What I want to say is that I can’t have my cake and eat it too.

All of the low carb sites and blogs I go to always feature some version of the delicious cakes and desserts of my previous food choices but in low carb versions. They promise to be as good as, or healthier then, or any number of ways that their dessert is truly low carb, they got it.

I have, many times in fact, derailed my well intentioned weight reducing low carb lifestyle by allowing myself one of these so called low carb desserts. However, my mind quickly jumps to “let’s eat the real thing and not waste anymore time on this pretend stuff” and off I go like a crack addict chasing the high (well I think that’s what crack addicts do). I start to wander the cake aisle at the supermarket. At first I hold onto my dedication to not eat processed desserts, then I let myself enjoy the smell of those sweet, chocolatey, fluffy mounds of sugar and flour, and before I know it, I am scarfing down a package of oreos  and wondering how I got this far off the track, while my brain sizzles in a sugar fueled coma like buzz.

I have had an almost abusive relationship with cakes (specifically) since I was a very young girl. Cake was a rare item in our house (it was expensive) and it was used to quantify my mother’s love of me. The bigger the piece, the more she loved the recipient of the slice (or so I believed as a young child). The roses on the corners were the indicator of favourtism. I could never understand why there couldn’t be four roses, one for each corner, that way everyone could get a rose.  Anyway, I digress (a little). If there was cake left, it disappeared as I would sneak into the kitchen (as did my sisters) and selfishly gobble up my mothers love (oops did I say that out loud?  I meant gobble up more of my share of the cake), until I was sick to my stomach, then I really felt the love. And guilt. And sin of gluttony (thank you catholic teachings).

Once I became an adult and made my own way, cakes became a part of my life. Very rarely was cake not in the house. I would not allow my child to not have cake. I would cut pieces and he would chose the size he wanted, and he always chose a regular piece and never seemed to think that the cake piece was indicative of my love for him. Isn’t that interesting?

Battling cake has been the bane of my adult life and my struggle with health. Even “pretend” desserts are a hook for me and I need to stay away from them. Cutting out sugar is something that I have tried and tried for years to do, and it seems to be a battle that might never be won permanently. But I keep trying.

I know how bad sugar is for me. But it tastes. so. good.

I know that sugar is not love, or that a bigger piece of cake doesn’t equal the amount of love I or anyone else has for me.

Feeding myself sugar is actually a type of self abuse that I recognize, but like addictions rooted in infancy and love and safety and acceptance and rejection, it is a tough “egg” to crack.

I’ll not be including “pretend” desserts here in case there is someone else out there who has the same struggle with cake that I do. Those types of desserts may be “pretend” and quell some peoples need for replacement food, but their effect on me, my physical health, and my mental are real and detrimental.

So for me, I pass (on) the cake and say no thanks before I venture into “pretend” territory and rue the day I ventured that way.

Honey Vs Sugar

What does honey have to do with eggs or the eggkins diet? Read on! You just might be amazed.

What are their differences?

Both sweeteners contain glucose and fructose. However, for sugar, in the process of manufacturing, the organic acids, protein, nitrogen elements, enzymes and vitamins in the sugar cane are destroyed, whereas honey, a natural sweetener, subjects only to minimal heating (unless raw honey is consumed). Also, honey has certain beneficial antioxidant and antimicrobial properties which are not present in table sugar.

Here are three honey nutrition facts that will make you feel good about eating honey:

One:
One tablespoon of table sugar or sucrose contains 46 calories, while one tablespoon of natural sweetener honey has 64 calories. Though honey may have more calories, we actually need to use less of it since it is sweeter than table sugar. As a result, you may in fact consume even less amount of calories that you would with sugar. And in the long run even though honey is more expensive, it may be more economical than table sugar. You may be taken aback to learn how much table sugar is in a can of coke — 10 teaspoons, and a 50g chocolate bar — 7 teaspoons!

Two:
Table sugar is sucrose, which is made up of two molecules bonded together. When we eat table sugar, our stomach has to use its own enzymes to separate the molecules apart before we can use the sugar’s energy. Honey is quite different. The bees have added a special enzyme to the nectar that divides the sucrose into glucose and fructose — two simple sugars for our bodies can absorb directly.

Hence, honey vs sugar, honey has a healthier Glycemic Index (GI) which measures the negative impact of a given food on the blood-glucose level. The lower the GI rating, the slower the absorption and infusion of sugars into the bloodstream and hence a more gradual and healthier digestion process.

Three:
Unlike honey, table sugar lacks minerals and vitamins (hence it’s been often called empty calories), they draw upon the body’s nutrients to be metabolized into the system. When these nutrients are all used up, metabolizing of undesirable cholesterol and fatty acid is impeded, contributing to higher cholesterol and promoting obesity due to higher fatty acid on the organs and tissues. That is why it is not uncommon for fat people to suffer from malnutrition and many other health related problems. So the message is, honey vs sugar, if you are watching your weight, honey will be a smarter choice than sugar. Besides the differences in nutrition, I feel sugar can never compete with honey in taste. Though both are sweet, honey has such a unique flavour that can be very useful and superior in many foods and beverages. The range of honey floral varieties is so vast that experiencing for yourself the uniqueness of each variety and being able to appropriate each variety to exploit every possibility to complement and improve taste of different types of foods becomes a skillful art.

————-

source: http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/honey-vs-sugar.html