Yes, You Can Curb Your Sugar Cravings
Key Points:
Sugar cravings vs. sugar addiction.
How long until your cravings will subside.
How to minimize your cravings in the meantime.
If you have a sweet tooth, it may feel impossible to curb your sugar cravings. It may not be easy, but the tips below help. Like most things, the first step is identifying the cause of your craving. Give the changes below at least 2 weeks. This is long enough for your body to grow new taste buds, which influences what you crave.
Do You Have a Sugar Addiction?
Sugar addiction may be the reason why you can’t stop eating sweets, but it’s far from the only cause. You may have a sugar addiction if you have headaches or feel irritable, foggy, moody, or low on energy when you reduce your sugar intake. If you’re just ruminating on the sweet you want, it’s likely a craving.
Top Sugar Craving Causes
Stress: Stress contributes to emotional eating, but you’re also more likely to make rushed and unhealthy nutritional decisions when stress is high.
Emotional Eating: If you’re experiencing anxiety, depression, or boredom, you may self-soothe with high-fat, high-calorie, and high-sugar foods.
Sleep Deprivation: Sleep deprivation is a type of physical stress that disrupts your ghrelin and leptin hormones, often leading to overeating to boost your energy levels.
Hormonal Fluctuations: Fluctuating estrogen, progesterone, insulin, and other hormones can increase hunger and sugar cravings.
Imbalanced Microbiome: If you have an overgrowth of “bad” bacteria, they may be signaling your brain for the unhealthy foods you crave.
Deprivation Dieting: Deprivation dieting isn’t sustainable. It leaves you hungry and irritable, and more likely to overindulge when you hit your tipping point.
Habitual: Consider if you’ve fallen into a daily pattern. For example, ordering a café coffee with 2 times your daily sugar intake every morning before work.
5 Ways to Reduce Sugar Intake
1. Have a Healthy Sweet Bite
Blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, and cherries are sweet and antioxidant-rich. Make a fruit salad or sprinkle fruit on salad, cereal, or yogurt. You could also drink 6 to 8 ounces of freshly squeezed juice. Or make your own Maple Pecans to sprinkle on salads or yogurt.
2. Curb Your Sugar Craving with Allulose or Monk Fruit
Swap the sugar in your coffee and tea for allulose or monk fruit sugar, or eat allulose or monk fruit chocolate or candy. These sugar alternatives curb your craving without spiking your blood sugar. The selection of allulose and monk fruit sweets is impressive, but read the label to ensure there’s no sugar alcohol, and that all other ingredients are natural. Maybe just cacao and sea salt.
What About Other Sugar Alternatives?
Many sugar alternatives, including some stevia products, contain added chemicals. Or they contain sugar alcohol (including erythritol, xylitol, and sorbitol), which pose a range of potential health risks.
3. Address Your Stress
If you’re a stress eater, carry healthy snacks with you, such as veggie chips, carrot sticks, roasted chickpeas, or “healthy” popcorn. This gives you something to munch on while the stressful period passes or you identify ways to reduce your chronic stress.
4. Increase Your Fiber Intake
Fiber helps you feel fuller longer, which minimizes all types of food cravings. Most Americans don’t consume enough fiber, which is a top cause of microbial imbalance. Eating a diverse range of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and legumes feeds a wider range of “good” gut bacteria. Aim for no less than 25 grams of fiber a day.
5. Take a Walk
If you’re bored, stressed, or anxious, get up and get out. Take a 20-minute walk, complete a micro workout, or enjoy your favorite hobby. Even better if you can socialize with a friend or participate in a group activity. Like sweet bites, this boosts your feel-good hormones. Unlike sweet bites, none of these activities spikes your blood sugar.
Can’t Stop Your Cravings? Let’s Talk
As a dietitian, my role is to tailor your meal plan to support your whole-body health. I’ll work with you to identify satisfying sweets and meals built around the foods and flavors you love most. My goal is to switch your cravings to healthy foods!