It is never a surprise to find yourself craving for the next meal or snack. Many people do have very healthy appetites all throughout the day. But, do you ever find yourself craving for food that is particularly sweet? Like, chocolate, candies, caramels and the like? Ah yes, a good number of people do enjoy a special appetite for sweets.

Now, don’t feel guilty. For most people, the association of sweets as a reward for a good day’s work has its roots to childhood rearing. Do you remember when your doctor offers you a lollipop in exchange for a well-behaved check-up with him? Or, do you recall your mom giving you an extra slice of cake after you’ve helped her tidy up the house? These little efforts of reward have slowly but steadily laid the foundation of your appetite for sweets during your adult years.

Nevertheless, just like almost everything in the world, there is a scientific explanation to this appetite for sweets. It was discovered by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, constant stress inflicted on lab rats initiated a natural desire to seek pleasing activities like eating sugary foods. To relate this to humans, sweet cravings may be triggered by tensions that consequently result in your body’s release of hormones called epinephrine and cortisol. These hormones create energy in the form of blood sugar. As a result, your body reacts to stress by increasing your appetite for sweets.

ALTHOUGH THERE IS REALLY NOTHING WRONG WITH AN OCCASIONAL SWEET TREAT, A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN ITS DESIRE AND INDULGENCE WILL RESULT TO UNHEALTHY CONSEQUENCES TO YOUR BODY — LIKE UPSURGES IN BLOOD SUGAR LEVEL THAT LEADS TO UNWELCOME MOOD SWINGS AND, MORE EXCESSIVELY, TO TYPE 2 DIABETES.

HERE ARE A FEW SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO CURB THAT APPETITE FOR SWEETS:

-TRY TAKING AN AYURVEDIC HERB KNOWN AS GURMAR (GYMNEMA SYLVESTRE). THIS ‘DESTROYER OF SUGAR’ SLOWS DOWN THE ABSORPTION OF SUGAR INTO THE BLOOD VESSELS, THEREBY, STAVING YOUR APPETITE FOR SWEETS AS A RESULT.

-Take a serving of bitter foods like arugula, endive, radicchio or chicory. Chinese herbalists believe that bitter foods curbs appetite for sweets.

-Enjoy healthy servings of carefully selected fruits. Some fruits help keep blood sugar steady like berries, apples and pears. Stay away from excessive intake of pineapple and watermelon.

-Take a hike. When you are hit with the next sweet craving, distract yourself by taking a stroll until the craving passes.

Lastly, if your appetite for sweets has taken over your will power, ask for help. Behavioral therapy can help.

There is no better time clock than your own body. Have you noticed how efficient your body is at letting you know if it is time for breakfast, snack, lunch or dinner?

It must be understood, however, that people generally have two reasons for eating. The first is hunger and the second is appetite. Please note the emphasis that these two are not one and the same. Hunger is completely different from appetite.

Let’s take hunger first. Hunger is defined as the ‘need for food’. Your body lets you know that you are running low on fuel and that a meal is needed to help the body provide the necessary energy it requires to perform an activity. Hunger instinctively protects the body from depleting energy reserves.

Furthermore, hunger is a sensation produced by your body as a result of chemical changes in your body. When your body has reached a low level of glucose in the blood stream which is a natural fluctuation several hours after eating, the body reacts in terms of ‘hunger pangs’ to let you know that it is time to ingest food to regain the balance of glucose level in the blood.

Appetite, on the other hand, is defined as the ‘desire for food’.

Have you ever heard of the term ‘respondent conditioning’? A Russian physiologist named Iven Petrovich Pavlov who won the Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine in 1904 coined this term. Through an experiment done with his dogs, Pavlov proved that a person can be trained to respond emotionally or physically to a thing or stimulus that is plainly reminiscent to them of something that they love or hate. In the experiment, Pavolv created the strong association of food and the sound of a ringing bell among his dogs. He proved that once the correlation is established, even an absence of food after the ringing of the bells still resulted to the dogs salivating in anticipation of the food.

In the same way, appetite may be explained as a conditioned response to food. Imagine seeing a sumptuous photograph of a juicy steak or smelling the smoky scent of barbecues on the grill. These stimuli easily result to salivation and a tingling sensation in the pit of your stomach that aggressively urges you to grab a bite. That is appetite.

They say a practical example of the difference between hunger and appetite is this. If you are hungry, you eat one hamburger. It is appetite that can trigger another order of a hamburger just because they look delicious or smell scrumptious.

Eating more fruit and vegetables is one of the most common changes that successful slimmers make to their diet, and many report that it is the single most important change they make.This is because fruit and vegetables can truly claim to be ’superfoods’ for anyone who is trying to lose weight.

The main reason for this is that most fruit and vegetables are bulky and watery, which means that they are low in energy density - in other words, they can provide a large and filling volume of food for relatively few calories.Many fruit and vegetables are also in high fibre, which is filling and helps maintain a feeling of fullness.In addition, many have a low glycaemic index (GI) rating, and this means that they release energy slowly into the bloodstream, which can help reduce the need to snack between meals.

People who eat lots of fruit and vegetables also tend to eat fewer fatty and sugary foods, which is a big help in controlling overall calorie intake and creating the energy deficit necessary for losing weight.For all these reasons, a healthy eating plan for weight loss can include generous amounts of most fruit and vegetables, with five portions a day as the minimum, as long as no fat or sugar is added in cooking or serving.

With so many types of advice and suggestions floating in the market about weight loss, it is not surprising that many are completely confused as what is the right diet for a quick and substantial amount of weight loss. Whatever experts and celebrities might say, you have to remember that calories count, when it comes to losing weight safely and quickly.

This means that if you know what your ‘right’ calorie intake should be, you should work out some diet plan, in consultation with your dietician and continue to have your ‘calorie-counted’ diet. Of course, follow it up with regular and a methodical physical exercise plan. Here are some suggestions of really low calorie food, which are by nature, high on fiber content.

These types of food is full of nutritive value, would give you a ‘full’ feeling which will help you to stay from ‘nibbling’ small amounts of foods and the wrong time. Depending on your own calorie needs, you could give these foods some thought as they help in rapid weight loss:

- Foods which are rich in fiber, also work as an appetite suppressant as they take longer time to get digested, leaving you with a feeling of fullness without any accompanying feeling of drowsiness. Horse radish with 3 calories per ounce or freshly chopped cucumber with a sprinkle of lime juice could be a good appetizer before any meal. This would make you eat less during a major meal.

- Replace your mid-morning or evening snack from coffee and biscuits to fruits and boiled or raw vegetables.

-The saying that an apple a day keeps the doctor at bay – holds true if you want rapid weight loss that is also safe. The fruit is rich in essential vitamins and fiber while low in calories – one apple is just 45 calories.

-Some vegetables, whether you have it raw or boiled are excellent for weight watchers. These include cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, celery, eggplant, leeks or asparagus, a cup of which would just be approximately 25 calories. After consulting your doctor, you could replace all your meals with one or two cups of such vegetables. Not just helping you with weight loss, these vegetables are also great for cleaning your bowels everyday – another essential component for successful weight loss.

-Did you know that black or green tea has zero calories? Avoid sweetened biscuits or cookies with your morning or evening tea as they are extremely rich in calories, to the extent of 80 calories.

-One slice of whole wheat bread provides about 55 calories so you need to restrict its consumption to a maximum of two slices per day.

-One boiled egg provides 75 calories and a glass of skimmed milk can provide just 75 calories which can help you tackle your breakfast.

-According to many health experts breakfast is the most important meal of the day and skipping this meal would mean an increase in your tendency to have mid-morning snacks as you will run out of vital energy needed to take you through the day. Also have frequent small feeds instead of gorging food during meal times.

-Chew your food properly with every mouthful – as it helps in quick digestion.

-Most importantly, follow a strict diet plan containing just the right amount of calories your body needs everyday and follow it up with adequate physical exercise.

How to buy it: Skip limp asparagus and opt for straight stalks with compact, bright green tips. Snip off the stalk ends of fresh asparagus with a pair of kitchen sheers, then stand them upright in a jar with about an inch of water in the bottom. Cover them up with a plastic bag and they’ll keep up for two days. To maintain the spears crispness, don’t wash or soak them until just before preparing.

Why you need it:

-Like almost all vegetables, asparagus is low in calories and high in fiber. Just 12 cooked stalks supply your entire recommended daily dose of vitamin K, a nutrient that’s essential for maintaining healthy bones as well as proper blood clotting and circulation.

-Asparagus is also one of the few stellar natural sources of glutathione, an antioxidant that defends your cells’ DNA against damage, detoxifies pollutants, destroys carcinogens, and extinguishes inflammation.

-The folate in asparagus bolsters the production of red blood cells, the workforce that carries oxygen to working muscles. Folate also helps head off heart disease, as well as providing raw materials for the production of DNA.

-Asparagine, an amino acid in asparagus, prevents fluid retention, ensuring you look as buff as possible while also helping to lower your risk of high blood pressure.

-Those long green spears are packed with copper, a mineral critical for making connective tissue such as collage. This precious metal also helps to keep your skin and muscle taut, and bones strong.