How To Curb Sugar Craving
Do you have a sweet tooth? Most of us will overindulge at times. But the more sugar we consume, the more we want. If you crave sugary foods, you're not alone. Studies estimate that up to 90% of the adult population may experience food cravings. These cravings are often for sugary foods. Desire to improve mood drives cravings for carbohydrates and other sugary foods since consuming sweet treats increases serotonin levels in your brain. Many of us turn to sugar when we are happy and when we are sad or stressed. It is a ‘crutch’ for many.
Sugar is one of the most over-consumed substances in the standard American diet. According to the American Heart Association, American adults consume an average of 77 grams of sugar per day, more than three times the recommended amount for women. That is up to 60 pounds of added sugar annually. The numbers are even worse for American children who consume 81 grams per day, equaling over 65 pounds of added sugar per year. Children are drinking over 30 gallons of added sugars from beverages alone. The American Heart Association’s sugar intake recommendations: men should consume no more than nine teaspoons (36 grams or 150 calories) of added sugar per day and women six teaspoons (25 grams or 100 calories) per day. To put that in perspective, one 12-ounce can of soda contains eight teaspoons (32 grams) of added sugar! Sugar cravings are a formidable opponent to anyone trying to stay on a nutritious path.
The first step in controlling the sugar cravings is figuring out why you have the cravings. Craving and hunger are not the same. Hunger is your body calling for energy, while craving is your brain calling for something that releases a lot of dopamine in the reward system. When you get a craving while you’re hungry, the feeling is difficult to resist.
Insulin signals fat cells to accumulate fat while telling the other cells in our body to burn carbohydrates for fuel. That is why these carbohydrates are uniquely fattening. Since insulin levels after meals are determined largely by the carbohydrates we eat — particularly easily digestible grains and starches, known as high glycemic index carbohydrates, as well as sugars like sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup — diets based on this approach (Glycemic Index Diet) specifically target these carbohydrates. This effect of insulin on fat and carbohydrate metabolism offers an explanation for why these same carbohydrates are typically the foods we crave most.
Here are a few things to consider to overcome this challenge.
Eat a Healthy and Filling Meal
When you experience a craving and hunger simultaneously, have a healthy meal rather than junk food. Eat whole food. Simply put, whole foods are foods that are either not processed at all, or processed minimally. Examples include whole grains, legumes, fresh fruits, and vegetables. Think foods that don't need labels listing countless different unpronounceable ingredients.
Evaluate Your Protein Intake
The initial rush of sugar is quickly followed by a crash, resulting in low energy levels and poor mood. This cycle of highs and lows puts your health at risk. Protein-rich foods, such as beans, nuts, eggs, quinoa, broccoli, and pastured meat, provide a more balanced and steady energy source. You will feel more satisfied, reducing the effects of brain chemicals that cause you to seek food, even when you're not hungry. Sometimes the right way to kick your sugar cravings to the curb is to eat more protein. Protein reduces the speed with which your body processes sugars and helps you need lower amounts to experience that reward. So, get protein in to quench that yearn for sugar.
Avoid Nonnutritive Sweeteners
Replacing sugar with low- or no-calorie sweeteners can help cut calories, but the jury is out regarding the safety of regularly consuming these artificial sweeteners. Weight control is much more complex than the, now debunked, notion of eating fewer calories and spending more to achieve a negative caloric balance. Weight gain happens with artificial sweeteners, despite the reduced calorie count. Artificial sweeteners may encourage eating behaviors that increase cravings for sweets and food in general. They can affect the gut microbiome, which triggers inflammation. Inflammation is the mother of all health problems.
Studies of artificial sweeteners are mixed, indicating that people eat fewer calories and lose weight or maintain a stable weight. However, in several studies, artificial sweeteners were associated with weight gain, which might increase the risk of developing insulin resistance—a condition in which body cells do not respond properly to insulin and thus cannot easily absorb glucose from the blood-stream.
To get a better idea of how artificial sweeteners affect a person's metabolism, researchers have conducted studies in which people drink artificially sweetened beverages and then undergo a glucose tolerance test to measure how efficiently the body uses sugar. Two recent studies have found that beverages containing sucralose (Splenda) and acesulfame potassium (Sunett, Sweet One) increased insulin levels, while drinking water didn't. Neither study lasted long enough to determine whether drinking artificially sweetened beverages would eventually result in weight gain or insulin resistance. But the results suggest that artificial sweeteners may have some of the same adverse effects on insulin and weight as sugar does. It will be some time before the full impact of sucralose, acesulfame potassium, and other sugar substitutes are identified. In the meantime, it's a good idea to limit your use of them, just as you would natural sugar, and to rely on fresh fruit to satisfy your sweet tooth. Artificial sweeteners might momentarily satisfy that sweet craving, but they trick your body into thinking it’s getting fuel when it’s not. Your body soon goes looking for more calories in the form of, you guessed it, sugar, and you’re right back where you started.
It is common to mistake thirst for sugar cravings. We know that we want something fresh and cold, and we usually identify that with sugary drinks. When our bodies have a deficiency in fluids, they can’t efficiently breakdown glycogen, which causes the urge to consume something sugary. Drink water and observe how you feel before you reach for sugar.
Sports drinks can often be mistaken as a healthy choice for those who exercise. However, sports drinks are designed to hydrate and fuel trained athletes during prolonged, intense periods of exercise. For this reason, they contain high amounts of added sugars that can be quickly absorbed and used for energy. A standard 20-ounce (591-mL) bottle of a sports drink will contain 37.9 grams of added sugar and 198 calories. This is equivalent to 9.5 teaspoons of sugar. Sports drinks are therefore categorized as sugary drinks. Like soda and fruit juice, they’ve also been linked to obesity and metabolic disease. Unless you’re a marathon runner or elite athlete, you should probably just stick to water while exercising. It’s by far the best choice for most of us.
Vitaminwater is marketed as a healthy drink that contains added vitamins and minerals. However, like many other “health drinks,” Vitaminwater comes with a large amount of added sugar. In fact, a bottle of regular Vitaminwater typically contains around 100 calories and 30 grams of sugar. As such, despite all the health claims, it’s wise to avoid Vitaminwater as much as possible.
Rethink Social Habits That Drive You Towards Sugar
Many of us have social rituals during our day that help us de-stress amidst countless tasks and meetings. Suppose you have a standing tradition with a friend or coworker to eat a cookie after lunch every day or run to the corner coffee shop to get a sugary, caffeinated iced drink. In that case, rethink those social behaviors. Try to put something else in place that is healthy but rewarding. Cookies and cupcakes are tempting, but avoid consuming sweet at every celebratory event.
Try to Decrease Your Sugar Intake Gradually
Sugar fuels every cell in the brain. Our bodies view sugar as a reward. But too much of a good thing is never good. Overindulgence in sugar consumption reinforces your body’s need for that reward, essentially becoming addicted to it. But like many addictions, it is not a reasonable or sustainable strategy to quit cold turkey. If you feel as though you are out of control or moody without your first soft drink of the day or until you have a piece of chocolate, you need to consider slowly weaning your system off sugar. It’s those small, consistent changes you make in your daily diet that will work the best. Avoid processed food and sugar-sweetened beverages. The common culprits are breakfast cereals, flavored yogurt, and sauces. Ketchup is 25% sugar by volume. Per tablespoon, ketchup contains 4 grams of sugar and 190 milligrams of sodium. Although 4 grams of sugar doesn't seem like a lot, much of it comes from added sugar instead of natural sugar. The breakfast cereal aisle at the grocery store is loaded with colorful boxes featuring cute characters to attract kids. They are also tagged with claims such as "whole grains" or "reduced sugar" to reassure adults. Many of them are still just puffed candy in a box, with a few vitamins added to make them seem healthful. It isn’t very clear. Even cereals that promote themselves as part of a healthy breakfast can be made up of more than 50% sugar by weight. Sugary breakfast cereals can lead to an inevitable sugar rush and slump, which will increase your sugar craving for the rest of the day. Avoid cereals with more than 10 grams of sugar per serving and choose one with as much fiber as possible to stick with a healthy lifestyle. Research has shown that a diet with reduced sugar and increased fiber can lead to weight loss and improved insulin function. Watch your serving size. A serving ranges from 3/4 to 1 cup of cereal. Using bigger bowl results in eating more, as does eating a calorie-dense cereal such as granola. And replacing sugar with artificial sweeteners is like jumping from the frying pan to fire. They adversely affect our body, albeit without calories, just like simple sugars do.
Pick the Right Fruit
There will be times when your sugar craving will be exacerbated by the stress of the day or however many days you’ve gone without consuming it. You may feel like you can have a cheat day. Your best response to a worsening need for sugar is to eat a piece of fruit. If you get to a point where you feel frustrated, instead of eating processed sugar, eat fruit. Fruits are sweet and have natural sugar that can address your sweet tooth without throwing out your entire effort. Whole fruits are better than fruit juices as many of them are devoid of fiber and artificially sweetened. Most whole fruits, with the exception of tropical varieties, are slow-digesting because the sugars are sequestered in the cellular structure of the fruit and it takes time to leach out. It’s very different from juice or soda, where sugars slam into your body, overwhelming the liver and raising insulin too much. Fast-digesting carbs, like potatoes, white bread, and other refined carbohydrates, as well as grapes, papaya, and mango, all have a higher impact on blood sugar, but they still do not pack the same punch as soda and juice.
All fruits contain natural sugars. However, some canned fruits are peeled and preserved in sugary syrup. This processing strips the fruits of their fiber and adds a lot of unnecessary sugar to what should be a healthy snack. The canning process can also destroy heat-sensitive vitamin C, although most other nutrients are well preserved. Whole, fresh fruit is best. If you want to eat canned fruit, look for one that’s been preserved in juice rather than syrup. Juice has a slightly lower amount of sugar.
Cut Back Consumption of Starch
Starches like white rice, white bread, and pasta are complex carbs that the body process as simple carbs. They end up affecting the sugar levels in your body and feeding into your need for sugar as fuel for brain activity and energy. If you have cut out processed sugars but continue to eat an abundance of starches, then your next step is to reduce your consumption of those foods progressively and clean your system of the need for sugars.
Fiber Is Your Friend
Fiber helps clean out your system, and it is processed more slowly by the body. Fiber helps you feel fuller for longer, effectively reducing your craving for mid-meal snacks. Many people will be very deliberate about reducing sugar in their meals but will ultimately cave in when their body needs a snack because many of the snacks we have in our pantry have sugar in them. Fiber and lots of water would help you stay full for more extended periods.
Eat Sour of Fermented Food
Eating foods that are sour and bitter helps to counteract sweet cravings. Daily lemon infused water is beneficial. Fermented food is sour, helping to curve cravings while offering your body additional probiotic support. Be sure to check the nutritional information to ensure there aren't hidden sugars lurking in your bottle of choice.
Avoid Too Much Salt
Eating lots of salty foods can bring on sugar cravings. Salt is useful for seasoning but you should avoid super salty foods. They can trigger a craving for sweet foods, often why dinners out often lead to head straight to the dessert menu. Season food with other spices first before heading to the salt. When you dine out or eat packaged, processed foods, your food has more sodium in it than you probably even realize. This usually remains true even when you’re eating something clean like grilled salmon and sautéed or steamed spinach from your fave “healthy” restaurant. Here’s the kicker: the saltier your food, the bigger your sweet craving. To help avoid sugar crashes and cravings, add spices like cinnamon or clove to your meals and snacks. Try banana, peanut butter, cinnamon on toast, vegetable curry with Indian spices, and baked pear with cinnamon and nutmeg.
85/15
Make sure 85 percent of your meals include innately healthy foods like fresh produce, lean protein, and healthy fats. The other 15 percent can consist of some treats. If you make certain foods forbidden, then you crave them even more. A little treat here and there never hurts.
Go for a brisk walk
Going for a brisk walk or running may help reduce cravings. If you are a runner, running will be even better. It will distance you from the food you are craving and release endorphins, or “feel-good” chemicals in your brain, which can help turn the craving off. If you can’t go outside, do a few exhausting sets of body-weight exercises.
Chocolate, Magnesium, Chromium, and Zinc
Craving chocolate is more common among people deficient in the mineral magnesium (ask your doctor to check your levels). Head off cravings by eating plenty of magnesium-rich food like dark leafy greens, tofu, legumes, and nuts. Increase nutrient-dense foods rich in magnesium, chromium, and zinc may help improve your cells' sensitivity to insulin to maximize the amount of sugar your body can metabolize and burn.
Foods high in magnesium are green leafy vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds, legumes, vegetables, seafood, whole grains, raw cacao, dark chocolate, tofu, chlorella powder.
Foods high in chromium are broccoli, whole grains, wheat germ, brewer's yeast, bran cereal, orange juice, romaine lettuce, raw onions, potatoes, green beans, bananas, apples, raw tomatoes, black pepper, grape juice.
Foods high in zinc are oysters, beef, lamb, spinach, pumpkin seeds, nuts, dark chocolate, pork, chicken, beans, mushrooms.
De-stress
High stress and cortisol levels can also lead to sugar cravings. Try 10 minutes of meditation or deep breathing, go for a walk with a friend or family member, take a hot bath, drink herbal tea, and don't forget to exercise. Combat stress and emotions by exercising regularly. Not only will the exercise improve focus, but it will also boost your energy, which is a significant factor why people look to sugar in the first place.
Spot the Hidden Sugar(s)
Sugar is everywhere. And I am not talking about the obvious ice cream, Frappuccino, and cakes. Refined sugar is in yogurt and ketchup, dressings, and bread. It’s even added in canned beans and applesauce. That’s why learning how to check labels is so important. To keep sugar away from your plate, you need to be well aware of the numerous way sugar hides in our food, with all sorts of different names and shapes (including those artificial sugars like sucralose, saccharin, and aspartame).
Here are the most common processed foods containing refined sugar:
Baked Goods (cookies, cakes, muffins, bars)
Breakfast Cereals (such as granola, corn flakes, rice crisps)
Canned Fruit
Canned Soups and Tomatoes
Condiments (such as dressings, sauces, salsas),
Chocolate Bars (unless they’re above 95%)
Gums and Candies
Yogurts and Ice Creams (not just regular but also plant-based products)
Sweetened Drinks (such as sodas, fruit juices, coffee-based drinks, plant-based milk)
The nutrition facts label is required to inform you how much sugar is in a food. However, the label does not separate the amounts of naturally occurring sugar from added sugar. Sugar is found naturally in many nutritious foods, such as fruits and vegetables. But, you have to be a bit savvier with locating foods that contain added sugar. There are more than 60 names for added sugar.
To identify added sugars, look at the ingredients list. Some major clues that an ingredient is an added sugar include:
it has syrup (examples: corn syrup, rice syrup)
the word ends in “ose” (examples: fructose, sucrose, maltose, dextrose)
“sugar” is in the name (examples: raw sugar, cane sugar, brown sugar, confectionary sugar)
Other examples of added sugar include fruit nectars, concentrates of juices, honey, agave, and molasses.
QUICK FIXES That Will Soothe Your Cravings
Nibble on some frozen fruit: blueberries, grapes. Bananas are the best to blend and quickly whip up a ‘banana ice cream.’
Mix some mashed oven-baked yam or sweet potatoes with pumpkin pie spice. They are deliciously sweet and filling!
Stuff a date or a dried apricot with a piece of 90% dark chocolate and a couple of cashew nuts. It’s so satisfying you will be delighted with it.
Slice a piece of fruit (like peach, apple, or pear) and spread with some almond or hazelnut butter. Sweet, healthy, and extremely tasty!
Combine some unsweetened coconut yogurt with some chopped strawberries and puffed millet, and you have a delicious (and quick) sugar-free dessert bowl ready in seconds.
Healthy Snack Suggestion: Do-It-Yourself Trail Mix
Ingredients
1 cup wheat cereal
1/4 cup dried fruit: raisins, blueberries, cranberries, chopped apricots, plums, or peaches, or a mixture
1/4 cup cashews (1 ounce)
Directions
Mix ingredients, split into two servings and store in sandwich-sized plastic bags. Each serving contains about 192 calories, 5 g protein, 9 g fat, 28 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber, and 115 mg sodium.
Take A Hot Bath or Shower
Anecdotal reports suggest that hot showers or baths for 5-10 minutes may be effective at stopping cravings. It can be invigorating anyway.
Get Your Mouth Busy
Another great way to stave off sugar cravings is to give your mouth another distraction. Whether it's chewing sugar-free gum, drinking a cup of warm herbal tea, or just doing something else, allow the craving to pass. Allow enough time to pass while you drink or wait for the piping hot tea for you to think through the craving: most cravings 30 minutes or less.
Sleep Well
Getting adequate amounts of sleep optimizes energy levels, reduces appetite, and slashes sugar cravings. When you are tired, ghrelin, the hunger hormone, increases, and leptin, the satiety hormone, decreases, leading to a craving for something sugary to give you a quick energy fix.
Create a Backup Plan
If sugar cravings feel uncontrollable, think proactively about what kind of distraction will help you overcome them. Eat a piece of fruit. Go for a walk. Listen to some music. Call or text a friend. Read a fun article. Knowing what we are going to do ahead of time is what makes all the difference.
Talk Therapy and Medication
As a last resort, psychotherapy and medications help curb sugar cravings if all else fails.
Food cravings can feel overwhelming and out of your control. But you’re not in this alone. Conquering your cravings will take time, so don’t hesitate to reach out to an obesity medicine specialist for help and to enlist your friends and family for support.
References
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0119278
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11237349/
https://www.bmj.com/content/345/bmj.e4737
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5515645/
Published 5/31/2020
Updated 2/4/2021
About Us
Dr. Amar Singh, MD, and Dr. Poonam Singh, MD, are board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and American Board of Obesity Medicine. They specialize in preventing, treating, and reversing chronic diseases using an evidence-based holistic approach. They are specifically interested in weight management, hormone re-balancing, and longevity. The American College of Physicians has recognized them as Fellows, FACP, for their excellence and contributions to medicine and the broader community. They enjoy teaching, volunteering, and advocating for their patients. Their mission is to share simple, effective, and proven strategies that lead to meaningful, sustainable, and long-lasting well-being.
