You may want to think twice the next time you reach for that midday candy bar or pop. This sugar quickly turns into glucose in your bloodstream, spiking your blood sugar. Your body needs to move glucose out of the bloodstream and into your cells for energy. To do this, your pancreas makes insulin and as a result, your blood sugar level may have a sudden drop. This rapid change in blood sugar leaves you feeling wiped out and shaky and searching for more sweets to regain that sugar “high”. So that midday sugary treat has set you up for more unhealthy eating. Starchy foods such as bagels, pretzels, crackers or pasta, when eaten alone, can have the same effect as sweets. While the average U.S. adult eats 19 teaspoons or more of added sugar daily, the American Heart Association recommends no more than 6 teaspoons daily for women and nor more than 9 teaspoons daily for men. So what’s the solution? Should we all go on sugar detox diets? Probably not. Many sugar detox plans urge you to avoid all sweets including fruit, dairy, and refined grains to purge your system of sugar. Diet changes like this are too drastic to keep up and you’ll likely fall back to your old habits in no time. We need to retrain our taste buds. Over time, try cutting out one sweet food from your diet each week. For example, pass on dessert after dinner. Skip the bread with dinner. Put less sugar in your coffee or cereal. Over time, your cravings for sugar will decrease. After a few weeks you’ll be surprised how little you miss it. Although fruit naturally has sugar, it also provides us with many vitamins and minerals and fiber, making it less likely to spike our blood sugar. High-protein foods should be included in the diet such as lean chicken, low-fat and low-sugar yogurt, eggs, nuts or beans. These foods do not make your blood sugar spike, and they also keep you fuller, longer. Should you replace your sugar with artificial sweeteners? Some studies suggest artificial sweeteners may actually leave you craving more sugar. Artificial sweeteners don’t help you break your taste for sweets. Pay attention to your body, if the sweeteners make you crave more sugar, you may want to avoid or limit them as well.
The following is a tasty mid-day snack to enjoy that won’t leave you feeling sluggish later.
In a food processor or blender, add in the avocado, garlic clove, shallot and Greek yogurt and juice from ½ the lime. Process until smooth and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, add the crab meat, bell pepper, cucumber and cilantro. Then add in the dressing and mix well. Lastly, add the other half of the lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy with cucumber slices, crackers or on whole wheat bread for a sandwich!
Ingredients
Directions
In a food processor or blender, add in the avocado, garlic clove, shallot and Greek yogurt and juice from ½ the lime. Process until smooth and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, add the crab meat, bell pepper, cucumber and cilantro. Then add in the dressing and mix well. Lastly, add the other half of the lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy with cucumber slices, crackers or on whole wheat bread for a sandwich!