Have you every had a sugar hangover? No, you don’t need to run out and get a greasy breakfast sandwich and home fries to cure it. But there are steps you can take to rid yourself of a sugar hangover.
It Happens To The Best Of Us
Had too much sugar today? Did that one tiny little taste turn into an all-out assault on your sweets stash in the back of the cabinet? On a regular basis, this can lead to very serious health risks. On this one occasion, it can lead to a less serious, yet very unpleasant, “sugar hangover”.
What is a Sugar Hangover?
Symptoms of a sugar hangover include achiness, brain fog, headache, gas/bloating, constipation and skin issues. Let’s figure out what that sugar binge is really doing to your body and how to avoid it.
Sugar is absorbed very quickly into the bloodstream. It signals the pancreas to excrete insulin, increasing your appetite- more specifically, your appetite for sugar. Being absorbed so fast, sugar causes your blood sugar levels to spike and to, inevitably, crash. This instability in blood sugar can lead to insulin resistance and obesity.
Sugar also does a number on your liver. It is the only organ equipped to transport fructose. A diet high in sugar can lead to inflammation of the liver and, eventually, fatty liver disease.
While succumbing to your sugar craving once will certainly not cause diabetes or fatty liver disease, it can leave you with what’s called a sugar hangover.
An overconsumption of sugar causes drastic changes in blood sugar and hormone levels that can last several days. The effect is an increased appetite and greater cravings for even more sugar. One day of indulgence can lead to a continued cycle or “treating” your hangover with more sugar in an attempt to balance your plummeted blood sugar and to satisfy the overwhelming cravings.
Curing Your Sugar Hangover
The answer here is certainly not the “hair of the dog”. Consuming high amounts of sugar will leave you craving even more sugar the next couple days. The hair of the dog approach is not the answer! Here are some tips to stop this vicious cycle dead in its tracks.
Green Juice
If you’ve overindulged in sweets, be sure to consume either a green juice or a healthy smoothie with a greens powder mixed in before you go to bed that night. Sugar strips the body of minerals. By adding those minerals back in right away, you can halt the vicious cycle of craving sugar the next few days before it can even start.
Chia Seeds 
Add chia seeds to your juice or smoothie too. This power-packed little seed will help stop the hormonal shifts happening in response to the sugar in your bloodstream that make you crave even more sugar.
Consume Protein
Eating protein will help to slow down digestion. This will, in turn, slow the absorption of sugar, creating a less drastic spike in blood sugar levels.
Today’s A New Day
Don’t let the fact that you overindulged or caved one time ruin all the good that you’ve been doing for your body. It happens. It might have happened yesterday. However, today is a new day. Don’t beat yourself up. Just move forward and get back to your healthy ways. Maybe throw in some extra greens today to remineralize your body, but you certainly don’t have to “pay for your sins” of last night for days to come. One slip up shouldn’t leave you feeling that all is lost. Simply get back on track and let it go.
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