Dear Mark: Sugar Cravings
Dear Mark,
I do pretty well in the fitness department, love my veggies and get plenty of protein. My problem is that I can’t seem to shake my sugar cravings. Suggestions?
I get some version of this question on a fairly regular basis. A common theory says that we evolved to crave sweet tastes in order to seek out healthy fruits to diversify our diets. The problem comes in the current age when our inclination is bombarded with the likes of Coco Puffs, Snickers and pudding packs.
Research has found (surprise, surprise) that sugar has addictive properties complete with a serotonin rise and crash as well as some cranky withdrawal symptoms. And high fructose corn syrup? I could write a monolithic rant on the stuff. Though it’s multiple times sweeter than processed sugar, high fructose corn syrup doesn’t trip the satiety signal in our brains like sugar does. It’s the bottomless pit of sugars.
The goal, then, is to feed your body’s real needs. We did a piece on hunger a few weeks ago that talked about the body’s physical instinct to fulfill all its five tastes, sweet being one. Try working in some fruit (preferably a low glycemic option like berries) with each meal. Additionally, use spices like cinnamon, coriander or nutmeg as well as splashes of lemon, lime or pomegranate juices to add naturally sweet flavor to your foods. Additionally, cinnamon, nuts and a chromium picolinate supplement all help stabilize blood sugar, which can help keep those dip-related cravings at bay.
Keep in mind also that sugar cravings can signal that you aren’t feeding your body properly in other ways. Lack of sleep, stress, dehydration, caffeine crashes and plain hunger go hand in hand with sugar cravings. Research has even shown that a deficiency in alpha-linolenic acid (those handy little omega-3s) can dull a person’s perception of sweetness, encouraging him/her to crave more sugar to satisfy the natural taste. You gotta love those ALAs!
Another suggestion I have for battling the sugar beast: learn to enjoy your food more. Cravings often have psychological dimensions. Just two familiar words: comfort food. Step up your game a bit to make your meals even more flavorful and satisfying, and don’t eat on the run. Also, come up with some healthy indulgences like a great tasting herbal tea around midmorning or some strawberries with mascarpone cheese to get you through an afternoon slump.
In addition to plenty of rest, hydration and solid nutrition, exercise is absolutely essential in combating serious and chronic cravings. As I mentioned above, sugar raises serotonin levels, and that boost can easily figure into cravings. But guess what? Exercise raises serotonin as well. If you can, plan your workouts around the time of day when cravings tend to hit. If the cravings descend in the middle of the afternoon (as is common for many people) and can’t get away from work, find an excuse to step away and run up a few flight of stairs for your mission (real or concocted).
Uwe Hermann Flickr Photo (CC)
Further Reading:
The Best Low Carb Fruits (and Worst)
DietHack: How to Manage Your Food Cravings
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
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I’m so glad this came up! There’s something about this I’ve been wondering for a while: is it sugar itself (in all its many forms) that we crave/causes all the trouble or is it sweetness in general?
I’ve completely cut out sugar from my food intake–honey and agave nectar and barley malt as well–but I do use a few drops of stevia occasionally in plain yogurt or with straight cocoa powder. And I do eat fruit regularly, mostly berries, bananas, and apples. I had to fight long and hard to beat my sweet tooth but have recalibrated my sense of taste and no longer crave sugar. (Unless I have sugar, in which case it just makes me want more. Eeeeeevil! Hence my complete avoidance of it.)
So the question is: is using a non-sugar sweetener undermining those taste-recalibration/just-say-no-to-sugar efforts?
This site has been a favorite of mine for some time now. Keep up the great work, Mark!
Incorporating berries with meals is really good advice. It has helped my girlfriend (a recovering sugar junkie) tremendously.
T.
http://www.feelgoodeating.blogspot.com
yunkstahn,
Sorry…it’s the sweetness we crave. So replacing sugar with Stevia still feeds some part of that craving and prolongs the agony. That’s one reason why people who drink lots of diet sodas still gain weight (the body gets the hint of sweetness, but when it doesn’t recognize the calories, it overcompenstaes by wanting more actual calories).
In my world, I have “relearned” to crave the taste of fat more than the taste of sugar. When I’m hungry, a handful of nuts will satisfy me whereas I might have wanted carbs as a snack in the past. Give it a try.
Mark,
I’ve noticed I crave meat more so then fats.
The fats (like nuts) satisfy me longer though.
It seem my body works through the meat/protein a lot quicker.
Thanks again for your great vitamins! They are truly unbelievable.
Marc
So replacing sugar with Stevia still feeds some part of that craving and prolongs the agony.
Stevia itself is agony. I never found it palatable, save for a pinch to lessen the bitterness of black coffee.
Thanks for answering my question! I do only use a few drops of stevia in my morning yogurt but will try to use less and less. (Nonfat plain, soon switching over to the full-fat variety, likely goatsmilk rather than cow. I grew up on skim milk and nonfat yogurt, so even 2% dairy makes my knees buckle with butterfat bliss. I’m processed-”foods” free and have recently gone completely grains-free, so whole dairy–in moderation–seems a logical next step. Chalk up another paleo diet convert!)
I’m with you on the fat cravings–that’s definitely replaced the sugar urge for me. Nuts. Can’t get enough of ‘em. I eat far too many walnuts at morning snacktime and a jar of almond butter does not last long in my fridge. Perhaps this is a problem too? Or does the fat-is-awesome plan achieve its awesomeness as long as it’s in tandem with the carbohydrates-are-for-suckers plan?
Sorry for the tangent. But yes, sugar is a sneaky drug, and I feel much better for having ditched it.
Thanks again, everyone.
J.
I know someone who drinks a diet coke sunup till sundown, has always done this and never loses an ounce. But, she’s not changing her eating habits.
Personally, the more vegetables, fruits, nuts, poultry and fish i eat, the more of that is what i enjoy eating into my daily diet. But, once in a while, “not” often, i do eat a small bite of
70-85% dark chocolate. I do NOT crave sugary sweets. Veggies is my “favorite” snack!
J.,
The “fat is awesome” plan does still depend on low carbs. When you increase carbs, you increase insulin, so a diet that has appreciable amounts of fat AND carbs means that insulin is driving not only the carbs, but the fats into storage. Fats are awesome when they are 1) healthy (not trans or hydrogenated) and 2) calorically equivalent to the eliminated carbs. That means that the jar of almond butter can still be a problem if it represents an extra 600 calories a day you wouldn’t have otherwise consumed. Of course, protein is always first and foremost in my book.
I have been fighting my sugar craving for years. This is the first time that I have been without sweets and chocolates for a month at a stretch. I have written how I have controlled my sugar craving in my blog. Once I learnt to change my thoughts from the chocolates and sweets to some other subject, I could easily forget my sugar craving.
Sonal
http://winwithpersonality.com
There is a herb that I use that helps my sugar cravings. It’s called “Gymnema”. If you get the liquid, you can put it in a bit of water and gargle with it. It temporarily (20-30 minutes) makes you not barely able to taste sugar. I only use it if I know that I am going to be seriously tempted.
I’m sugar sensitive: One bite of sugar gives me cravings where I just want more and more and more and end up bingeing on sugar. Honey, refined sugar, agave: the source isn’t the issue but the need for a “sweet hit.” The only solution for me was abstinence. I learned how to accept my body’s limits and give up sugar for good – gaining the health and wholeness I needed. I share my story at http://www.firstourselves.com, where you can download my free ebook about how I kicked my sugar habit, Overcome Sugar Addiction, which has been downloaded by thousands of readers. You can also take my kick sugar course and find similar freedom. You can break free. If I can do it, anyone can. To your health and wholeness, Karly
Mark mentions a chromium picolinate to regulate blood sugar levels in his post. He doesn’t give any more info on it though. Has anyone had any experience with this supplement. Does it make a noticeable difference?
thxs
Great article as it applies to so many people. I have found that when you give the body what it needs to express health and are eating multiple meals during a day and plan appropriately to make it work in your schedule, the cravings will go down after 3-4 days. Planning is so important, when you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
In response to the person asking about Chromium and cravings, I have not seen research specific to cravings, but there is more positive research than there is negative on chromium improving symptoms and bloodwork in diabetic patients. The fluctuations that come along with poor sugar control could lead to ups and downs with cravings as Mark talks about with the hormonal influences. Chromium could then indirectly affect cravings, but you’re not going to see it in a research study.
Mark, I was just recently introduced to your work, look forward to more!