Today, I want to share with you my secrets on how to stop sugar cravings so you can beat this addiction, improve your health and lose weight.
Sugar addiction is a big problem for many people and I was one of them. I remember every month before my period I had the most intense sugar cravings. It was
Cravings is the main reason why people fail to stick to a diet and can’t lose weight. They self sabotage themselves by binge eating sugar over and over again. They just can’t seem to break the addiction. If you are struggling with this I totally understand you. I couldn’t lose weight for years because my hunger was huge and due to my hormonal issues I had constant sugar cravings. It really sucks!
But luckily there is hope. You can stop sugar cravings by following the steps from this post. I did dozens of researches, I tested everything on myself, I figured out what worked and what didn’t work. So I suggest you only the things that really help!
Why you need to stop sugar cravings
Cravings for sweets make you eat too much sugar which is not beneficial for your health. When we eat lots of calories that are high in fructose our liver stores it as fat.
Excessive fructose is linked to many illnesses such as diabetes, acne, high blood pressure, obesity, inflammation, infertility,
That’s why it’s better to cope with your sugar cravings and start eating more nourishing, healthy foods instead.
The benefits of a low-sugar diet:
- No more brain fog and increased alertness
- Reduced bloat. Sweeteners are notorious for causing bloating.
- Fewer aches and pains. As sweets cause inflammation you may want to quit sugar to relieve your symptoms.
- Weight loss. Many people have reported losing weight and there is a lot of good evidence that supports weight loss when we quit sugar. This reduces the consumption of excess calories. The impact sugar has on our bodies and most importantly our hormones. One of the hormones greatly influenced is insulin. And by reading above you will know how insulin is a fat storing hormone.
- Reduced anxiety and depression
- Better overall health. Prevention of diabetes, obesity, heart diseases.
- Clearer skin. Sugar triggers inflammation in the body that leads to acne, rash, and other skin problems.
- Better dental health. Sugary sodas, juices, and candies create an acidic, cavity-promoting environment in the mouth
Causes of sugar cravings
- Poor diet. If you don’t eat healthy your body may lack certain nutrients that’s why you may crave food. In order to prevent cravings make sure your diet is rich in protein, healthy fats and fiber. You also want to avoid processed foods and manufactured sweets.
- Artificial sweeteners. They are extremely low in calories while are usually 100-1000x sweeter than actual sugar. This can confuse your body and make you addicted to sweets. It messes with our hormones so we don’t receive the signal telling us we are full.
- Gut imbalance. When you have an imbalance, you will naturally crave sugar and carbs. If your body is having troubles to digest food properly it can make you crave sweet things. Candida is a major cause of sugar cravings. But there are also many other reasons. So it’s crucial to support your gut health all the time by eating healthy and including probiotics in your diet.
- Hormonal fluctuations. Insulin, a powerful growth hormone, works as an appetite stimulant. It also causes weight gain easily and makes it difficult to lose weight. Estrogen swings can also be blamed for increased appetite and cravings.
- Poor sleep. This is very important as when you don’t have enough quality sleep, your cravings are all over the place. I personally crave sweet breakfast every time I haven’t slept well.
- Salty foods. The more salty foods you have, the more sweet foods you want to have afterward to change up the taste that’s in your mouth. Sweet and salty go well together. So if you want to stop sugar cravings try to add less salt to your meals.
- Magnesium deficiency. This nutrient is very important for your body to work properly. Make sure you get enough magnesium or take in in supplements.
- Sensory stimulation. If you
are constantly see sweets and candies around you it’s almost impossible to resist even if you don’t have any other reasons for cravings. Like if you love to work at a cafe you may end up ordering and eating sweets every time. The same happens when you have a lot of sweets available in your home. The best solution is to avoid situations when you are surroundedwith sweet meals. - Stress or tiredness. Sugary foods release endorphins that make you feel more relaxed and especially after long, stressful day you may want to indulge to feel better. You don’t need to restrict yourself but choose to eat relatively healthy sweets like dark chocolate, raw desserts, homemade fruit pies etc.
How to stop sugar cravings
If you feel addicted to sugar (you want to snack all day long, you crave sugar during or after meals, you crave carbs in the morning or late at night) follow the tips from this article and it will definitely help you to reduce sugar cravings.
To stop sugar cravings (and feeling fine doing so) you need to keep blood sugar levels stable.
Sugar is an addiction. That’s why going completely sugar-free is the best recommendation. Because you will be withdrawing from an addiction. Many experts believe it will take about 8-12 weeks for your blood sugar to stabilize and to go through the detox period.
But if you don’t feel ready to go through complete sugar detox right now you may want to follow these steps to stop sugar cravings significantly:
1. Have sufficient protein and fat with meals and snacks.
We tend to crave sugar when we’re not getting enough protein. Protein actually will help balance out blood sugar and so that really helps reduce sugar cravings.
The best vegetarian sources of protein: cheese, eggs, yogurt, nuts, seeds, beans.
Fat can also helps to reduce hunger and balance hormones. Adding healthy fats to your meals will kick sugar addiction and promote a weight loss.
The best sources of healthy fats: avocado, seeds, nuts, olives, coconuts.
You will also need to eat foods that are nutrient dense to avoid cravings and help with detoxification. The foods you eat must also support your hormones, specifically insulin, cortisol, ghrelin, and Leptin. These are the hormones responsible for regulating appetite, good metabolism, and fat storage.
And I am a big advocate of savory breakfast to start the day as it was the main solution for my sugar cravings. Check out my collection of “High protein vegan breakfast” recipes to get an idea of what you can eat to start your day right.
2. Consume sour foods
Things like probiotic yogurt and kefir are, in fact, sour because of the good bacteria found in them. You may start consuming apple cider vinegar and lemon juice as well as pickles and kombucha. You may find the full printable list of probiotics and prebiotics in my post “How to get rid of bloating”.
3. Eat more vegetables
Load up on vegetables as they contain healthy fiber. Fiber helps you stay fuller longer and it
Fiber occurs in fruits, vegetables
Vary what you’re eating from day to day, and meal to meal. You’ll get all sorts of micronutrients that your body and brain are craving, and may find you’re not that interested in sweets after all.
4. Skip sugary drinks/foods
Limiting the amount of sugar in your diet will result in
5. Eat healthy sweets
In order to prevent cravings in
As for the sweetener I recommend to use stevia, monk fruit, rice malt syrup. These sweeteners don’t spike your blood sugar as much and are very low/contain no fructose.
6. Take supplements to balance insulin.
If you have any issues with insulin you can take Inositol which may reduce cravings and regulate blood sugar levels. Berberine is also a good supplement to regulate insulin and promote a healthy weight loss. But be sure to consult your doctor first as any supplements may have side effects.
7. Have enough sleep
Make sure you are not sleep deprived. So start prioritizing your sleep and your cravings will start to balance themselves back out. Going to bed on time is the easiest thing you can do! Be sure that your sleep is of high quality. This means you don’t get interrupted during the night, you are not distracted with lights or noises.
8. Take stress under control
Anything that causes your body chemistry to become out of balance is going to affect your cravings. Let’s face it, we can’t eliminate stress completely. But we can reduce its
9. Reduce amount of salt you eat
The less salty stuff you have, the less sweet stuff you’re bound to crave. If it’s difficult to do this right away try the following trick: take a jar, put 50% salt and 50% seasonings (like sesame seeds, garlic powder, mix herbs) and blend together well. This way you won’t notice the difference but you will eat 50% less salt.
10. Include anti-inflammatory foods in your diet
Eat kombucha, kefir, flaxseed, avocado, fresh veggies, coconut oil, and olive oil every single day. These foods are very healthy and can potentially reduce cravings for sweets.
Also include foods that combat sugar cravings (Chia Seeds, Yogurt, Sweet Potatoes, Fermented Food).
11. Drink herbal teas
One of my all-time favorite rituals is drinking tea – especially at night! Drinking hot tea almost every night before bed really relaxes me and takes away any cravings. I love mint, ginger, or spicy cinnamon teas, as these are amazing at blasting away sugar cravings.
I really hope these tips help you to stop sugar cravings. I’ve been suffering from this addiction even though my personality is more salty than sweet. I mean if you offer me a handful of pistachios or a chocolate bar I would choose pistachios by all means!
But as I’ve mentioned before at times I became obsessed with sweets and couldn’t stop eating lots of pancakes and cookies for weeks. I didn’t like the feeling especially because it ruined all my fitness goals and made my health weaker.
Please, try to follow at least some tips from this post and you will see the results. It’s important to find a way to stop sugar cravings that works the best in your case! For me, it was eating protein breakfast and control my insulin levels in the first place. But you may find other ways extremely helpful in your situation.
So give these tips a try and let me know what helps you in the comments below!
If you find this information helpful please share this post so more people can find it and improve their conditions as well.
xo Jane 🙂
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