10 Ways to Manage Sugar Cravings
Dr. Erica Volk, ND
If you're like me, you have had your fair share of struggles with cravings for sweets! You know what I mean––using ANY excuse to treat yourself to a piece of cake, chocolate bar, bowl of ice cream, or donut––because you deserve it, right?
Sound familiar?
Unfortunately, sugar and refined carbohydrates do very little for our health except increase our blood sugar. Over time, excessive sugar consumption can lead to elevated triglycerides (fatty globules in our blood that get stored as fat), insulin resistance and diabetes. Sugar can cause inflammation, which is associated with many many many chronic diseases. Excess refined carbohydrates can also cause digestive disturbances like diarrhea and bloating and skin issues like acne and several different skin rashes. Brain fog got you down? This, too, can be related to excess sugar consumption. Like I said, sugar is really bad for us.
If you were stuck on a desert island, donuts would be a good thing and would help to keep you from dying of starvation, but unless this is your exact situation, it is more than likely the case that consumption of sugar and refined carbohydrates is working against you.
If you're trying to curb your sugar habit but are having trouble, here are some ideas to increase your chances of success, because sugar cessation is really tough! In fact, sugar is proven to be about nine times as addictive as cocaine! With addiction potential like this, we could use all the help we can get! So here it is.
Sound familiar?
Unfortunately, sugar and refined carbohydrates do very little for our health except increase our blood sugar. Over time, excessive sugar consumption can lead to elevated triglycerides (fatty globules in our blood that get stored as fat), insulin resistance and diabetes. Sugar can cause inflammation, which is associated with many many many chronic diseases. Excess refined carbohydrates can also cause digestive disturbances like diarrhea and bloating and skin issues like acne and several different skin rashes. Brain fog got you down? This, too, can be related to excess sugar consumption. Like I said, sugar is really bad for us.
If you were stuck on a desert island, donuts would be a good thing and would help to keep you from dying of starvation, but unless this is your exact situation, it is more than likely the case that consumption of sugar and refined carbohydrates is working against you.
If you're trying to curb your sugar habit but are having trouble, here are some ideas to increase your chances of success, because sugar cessation is really tough! In fact, sugar is proven to be about nine times as addictive as cocaine! With addiction potential like this, we could use all the help we can get! So here it is.
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Here are 10 tips to help make your journey toward a sugar-free life just a little sweeter!
- Choose fats instead! Why? Fats provide more calories per gram and are very satiating! They also tend to be a slower-burning source of fuel so they sustain our energy and don't cause the spike-crash experience we get from sugar! Plus fatty foods are delicious. I am talking about foods like avocado, olive oil, flax seeds, coconut cream, nuts and seeds -- you get the picture. 2
- Substitute with salt? You won't want to do this if your blood pressure is high, but if your blood pressure is low or even normal, eating a salty snack like salted nuts, olives, or salted roasted vegetables can satisfy a craving. I like to think of it as having our tastebuds occupied by something else!
- Brush your teeth! Seriously! If you are craving something sweet, brush your teeth and you will most likely not want to eat anything -- for a while at least! Try it! Plus, the side effect is your teeth will be cleaner and your oral health will be better, which helps reduce inflammation through our entire body!
- Bengal Spice Tea (Celestial Seasonings). Seriously. If you've never had Bengal Spice Tea, it's a great tea to have in your cupboard for emergency sweet cravings. Its spicy yumminess features flavours like vanilla, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and chicory, but has zero grams of carbohydrate per cup. Add some unsweetened coconut milk or almond milk and you've basically got a decaffeinated chai. Yum!
- Get busy! It sounds silly but just get busy! Go to the gym! Start crafting! Tend to the garden! The average craving only lasts 3 minutes, so if you can get busy doing something for a few minutes, chances are your craving will pass all by itself! Plus you'll be much more productive, which feels good, and these good feelings alone can reduce cravings! Win-win!
- Drink water instead! Often when we are having a food craving of any sort, we are actually thirsty! Try drinking a glass of water when you feel a craving for sweets and notice how full your belly feels and how far away from your mind the donuts get. At the very least, you'll be better hydrated!
- Get sparkly! Unsweetened sparkling water is readily available now in grocery stores through such brands as Perrier, Bubly, La Croix, and many no-name brands, and they have a variety of flavours that are actually really good and satisfying! You can even get a little appliance for your house that carbonates water right at home (called Soda Stream). These options are GREAT for people who have trouble with drinking too much pop. Sparkling water is a zero calorie, zero-aspartame option that will tickle the tastebuds without causing you to put on the pounds or expose yourself to harmful chemicals.
- Purge the house! This is important. If you are trying to avoid sugar while there are still sweets in your house, good luck! I mean it! I have better-than-average will power and I'll even go for bittersweet baking chocolate in a weak moment if I'm desperate! Get it all out of the house if you can. I mean ALL of it -- chocolate chips, all the sweet treats in your freezer, containers of ice cream you've been stockpiling, candy, cookies, chocolate, etc. This will really help. This way when you go searching through the fridge in a weak-moment quest for something sweet, you'll see the olives in there and remember to have one of those instead.
- Probiotics. Many of us crave sweets because of an imbalance of gut flora. We have too much "bad bacteria" and yeast in our guts and not enough of the good bacteria. This imbalance alone can affect our brains and cause us to crave sweets like a bunch of hypnotized robots on a mission to feed our little belly organisms. Just say no! Don't let yourself be dominated by these little bugs. Taking probiotics can help to support the healthy bacteria in our bellies so we are less at risk of having our brains controlled by tiny organisms.
- Get properly evaluated. If you are really struggling with craving sugar, it may be helpful to undergo some more aggressive treatment to get your digestion in check than probiotics alone can take care of. Trust me - I KNOW how hard it can be to avoid sugar, and this is often due to a candida overgrowth, which can be severe in some people. Get help if you need it. That's what I'm here for.
If the above steps just aren't doing it for you, and you really need some extra help conquering your sugar addiction, please reach out for help. There are many other tools available to help you succeed on your quest to a sugar-free life! Life really is sweeter on the other side.
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