Fight stress with Dr Coy’s sugars
When we feel stressed, we might reach for high-sugar snacks, which create a cycle of dependence that’s bad for our body. Dr Coy’s sugars can be used to combat cravings, reduce stress and maintain our health.
Too much classic sugar can be a disaster for our health, leading to tooth decay, weight gain, and a higher risk of health problems like diabetes, heart disease, memory loss, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer. When life gets stressful it’s tempting to indulge in food – many of which contain hidden sugars that actually make cravings and health problems worse.
Why do stressful situations make us want to eat unhealthy food?
The fast world we live in can put us under immense pressure. When we feel stress, our cortisol levels increase, to help us prepare for whatever ‘danger’ lies ahead. High cortisol levels over the long term can promote ageing, so we want to do our best to avoid this.
During periods of stress, our body and especially our brain craves extra energy to prepare itself for a ‘fight or flight’ response. We can get this energy from sugars in our food and drink, and when we choose products that contain classic sugar, we get this energy much more quickly. An immediate sugar hit will temporarily suppress cortisol, and release the happiness hormone serotonin, which feels good.
When we eat classic sugar (which causes high blood glucose levels) our sugar level drops lower than it was before we started eating sugar, and as a consequence we keep craving more and more sugar. A vicious cycle starts. In addition, sugar causes the release of the renumeration system of our brain giving us a good feeling for consuming sugar. The insulin-caused drop of blood glucose after consuming normal sugars destroys the good feeling and reduces glucose as the fuel we need in our brain and the rest of our body.
How can Dr Coy’s sugars help break the sugar-stress cycle?
Combining Dr Coy’s sugars with other stress management strategies, such as meditation and regular exercise, can lower stress levels without causing cravings for sweet food. For example:
- Trehalose and isomaltulose release glucose when digested, giving the body the sugar hit it needs to lower your cortisol levels. They do this without spiking your blood sugar, making them a healthier option for people with diabetes. Trehalose and isomaltulose can also help prevent hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia by enabling a safe and stable supply of glucose.
Adding Dr Coy’s sugars to your diet to counteract stress
- Look at food labels to see which foods contain high levels of added sugars. Lowering your daily classic sugar intake could help keep day to day stress under control.
- Switch refined sugar in caffeinated drinks for Dr Coy’s sugars such as trehalose and isomaltulose.
- Swap high sugar processed foods like cake, cookies and chocolate, for alternative cakes, cookies and chocolate made with trehalose and isomaltulose.
- Swap artificially sweetened yoghurts for a natural variety and add Dr Coy’s sugars.
Our recipes page is packed with ideas for incorporating Dr Coy’s sugars into your diet.
Learn More…
Further reading on using Dr Coy’s sugars to tackle stress
- Angela Jacques, Nicholas Chaaya, Kate Beecher, Syed Aoun Ali, Arnauld Belmer, Selena Bartlett, The impact of sugar consumption on stress driven, emotional and addictive behaviors, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, Volume 103, 2019
- Ulrich-Lai YM, Ostrander MM, Thomas IM, Packard BA, Furay AR, Dolgas CM, Van Hooren DC, Figueiredo HF, Mueller NK, Choi DC, Herman JP. Daily limited access to sweetened drink attenuates hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis stress responses. Endocrinology. 2007 Apr
- Parker MR, Feng D, Chamuris B, Margolskee RF. Expression and nuclear translocation of glucocorticoid receptors in type 2 taste receptor cells. Neurosci Lett. 2014 Jun
- Michels N, Sioen I, Boone L, Clays E, Vanaelst B, Huybrechts I, De Henauw S. Cross-lagged associations between children’s stress and adiposity: the Children’s Body Composition and Stress study. Psychosom Med. 2015 Jan
Get in touch with Intelligent Sugar
Got a question about Dr Coy’s sugars? Contact info@intelligentsugar.info
If you have a question about a specific health condition, please speak to your doctor.