Do you struggle with high blood sugar levels? Chances are, glucose is to blame. Learn what you need to know and how you can live healthier!

Sugar, processed in the body as glucose, has been ingrained in American culture and food for decades, but not exactly for good reason.

Now, many people are hooked on this thing that can be easily avoided - and they're sharing their addiction with their friends, family, children.

The indulgence of this harmful substance leads to low energy, insulin spikes and crashes, and anything from headaches, to poor moods, to diabetes, and more. Blood sugar levels become accustomed to this rollercoaster of sugar intake and eventually crave it and form addictions.

Being a slave to the sugar industry isn't worth the temporary mouth pleasure. Your skin, your teeth, your heart, your liver, your entire body, will thank you if you take the time to understand how to live healthier.

Implementing good dieting techniques into your daily life is key to avoiding the pitfalls of sugar, and switching from sugar to these sugar alternatives can also help. Let's learn how to avoid excess glucose consumption.

Glucose: The Available Enemy

The sugar industry knows that we could benefit without it.

In the 1960s, it even went so far as to downplay all the risks of sugar, instead blaming the issues on fat. From then on, we've been confused into eating harmful things.

When people are out in the groceries, they're reaching for fat-free items when they should be reaching for sugar-free items. They're reaching for something that looks like healthy juice but has 15 grams of added sugar on top of the fruit's natural fructose.

We're ordering Venti drinks at Starbucks topped with whipped cream and caramel drizzle.

It's accessible and it's everywhere. And worse yet, it's legal.

Comparable to cigarettes, but without the age restriction, it's available at every gas station for miles. Children, teenagers, young adults, adults, elderly, all under sugar's spell, reach for bags of candy and cans of soda without a second thought.

Meanwhile, blood sugar levels are rising and falling like crazy, causing consumers to feel angry, sick, unhappy.

Sugar directly relates to mood and behavior, so when these people eventually get road rage on their way home, this could be rooted in something as obvious yet oblivious as a sugar addiction.

Glucose: Blood Sugar Levels and Diabetes

High glucose ingestion directly relates to the cause of diabetes. If you think you're prone, prediabetes lies in the bodies of 86 millions of Americans. Levels spike because there isn't enough insulin to convert, and excess amounts affect the blood, heart, you name it.

Many people, especially those suffering from diseases related to sugar intake, are dabbling in diets such as ketosis.

This state causes your body to make fuel and energy from fats instead of sugars, proving that the consumption can be avoided for those who just crave the energy boost. In fact, your body craves this form of fuel over glucose.

Try a black coffee or an apple instead! For those who can't move past the mocha lattes (we know - it's hard), apples can have the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee, minus the sugar-spiking extras.

Glucose: Bad for the Brain

Glucose isn't just bad for your stomach. It's debilitating to your brain! Addiction-causing drinks and meals cause your brain to become used to the up-and-down blood sugar levels, causing it to yell at you throughout the day.

Overcoming sugar addiction is hard, as your body feels withdraws like severe headaches and even more severe cravings. Relapse is easy because your brain wants you to have it, and getting it is no hassle.

Understandably, glucose isn't just bad for your physical wellbeing.

Your mental state is severely affected when sugar intake is excessive. Those who find themselves not being able to overcome their sweet tooth might be at greater risks for depression later in life, on top of all the physical problems they're bound to suffer.

Glucose: Stop the Craving

We can avoid glucose just as easily as we can succumb to it. With ketogenic diets, practicing self-control and avoidance, replacing cravings with natural fruits, the options are endless, rewarding, and healthier for the body and mind.

Understanding the ways in which we've been taught to crave sugar is a great start to being free from its shackles. Heart disease is connected to sugar in ways that we were concealed from knowing until recently.

There are a number of ways to avoid intake of glucose, and a number of substitutes to satisfy you.

• Eat More: meats, greens, veggies, avocados, nuts, seeds, other healthy fats
• Eat Less: grains, obvious sugars such as honey and syrups, candy, fruits

Anything that tastes too obviously sweet is too good to be true. Resist the bread and go for a spinach wrap instead. Grow to know the rich, roasty, chocolate flavors of different coffees, and the blueberry flavors in others.

See Ya Later, Suga'

Like everything else in this life, moderation is key. Sometimes a once-weekly, guilty-pleasure stop at the frozen yogurt joint is better than suffering on your drive home every day when you pass right by it. We deserve treats every once in a while. 

But the way your body recovers when you begin removing sugar from it is comparable to the way lungs immediately start restoring themselves when a smoker quits.

Right away, your thankful body soaks in the nutrition you feed it, regenerating itself from your organs to your membrane.

Your body is craving a healthy diet with regular blood sugar levels, and only you can do it for yourself. If you're ready to learn more about the benefits of a glucose-reduced lifestyle, we're here for you!