How to crush those sugar cravings

Who doesn’t love sweets?  Always fun to enjoy some desserts like cookies, cake, candy.  But Americans eat way too much sugar, not just in desserts but in so many foods.  And it is the added sugar in foods that we need to cut back on, not the natural sugar found in fruits or even real cow’s milk.  What are some ways that we can cut back on all that added sugar and those cravings for sweets?

Psychologists have studied how sugar affects our brains and body weight as noted in the Frontiers in Psychiatry.  The article notes that “studies have linked sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) to an increase in body weight in children and adults”.  What are sugar-sweetened beverages?  Think sugar-sweetened sodas like Coke, Mountain Dew, Sprite, sports drinks like Gatorade, Powerade, sweet tea, sweetened coffee drinks like Frappuccino, energy drinks like Red Bull and Monster and fruit drinks like lemonade or fruit punch.  These beverages not only contain a lot of added sugar but provide a lot of calories and few, if any, nutrients.  Why might these beverages be linked to weight gain?  As noted in Young Men’s Health:

When you have a sugar-sweetened drink, you likely do not feel full afterwards compared to how you would feel from eating food that has the same amount of calories.  The non-filling calories from these beverages can cause a person to consistently consume more calories than their body needs for energy, which over time can lead to a body weight increases beyond what is normally expected.  

 

What are some ways to cut back on foods high in added sugar including those problematic sugar-sweetened beverages?  Eat This, Not That! has some suggestions. 

• Eat a complete breakfast of real foods.  Skip the sweet rolls and those grab and go muffins at Fast Food places.  Focus on whole grain cereals (all General Mills cereals are whole grain), whole grain toast, bagels, or English muffins, fresh fruit and high-quality protein like eggs or yogurt.  How does eating breakfast help fight off those sugar cravings?  Because it will help prevent sugar lows later in the morning.  Skip breakfast and around 10 or 11 AM you may be at the vending machine buying a candy bar or some other snack loaded with added sugar.
• Snacks – no need to skip snacks but opt for some healthy choices like peanut butter on whole wheat toast, hummus and carrots, yogurt and some fruit, a cheese stick and fruit.  These will fight off the hunger and don’t contain a lot of added sugar.  Eating foods with some protein and fiber will help fill you up and stave off those hunger pains.

A great snack for kids.

• Don’t get too hungry.  Remember to eat meals and snacks throughout the day.  If you get too hungry, you may be more tempted to eat something that will immediately boost your blood sugar level like a donut, sweet roll, candy bar.  Skipping meals isn’t healthy especially when it leads to eating foods loaded with added sugar and few nutrients.  Dietitian Amy Goodson says, Eating more often and balancing that meal or snack with carbs and protein can prevent you from blood sugar drops and ultimately help you avoid those sugar cravings.
• Snack on some naturally sweet fruit like watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe.
• Eat some foods high in magnesium – sugar cravings may mean your body is low in magnesium.  Dietitian, Lauren Manaker, says, One side effect of having magnesium deficiency is experiencing sugar cravings.  And being low in magnesium can lead to feeling more tired.  (See Feeling tired?  Maybe you need more magnesium.)  NIH provides a list of many foods high in magnesium including: 

• Nuts:  almonds, cashews, peanuts and peanut butter
• Seeds:  Pumpkin and chia
• Vegetables:  spinach, potatoes, edamame, kidney beans
• Fruit- banana, raisins
• Whole grains:  oatmeal, whole wheat bread, shredded wheat
• Dairy – cow’s milk, yogurt made from cow’s milk

• Exercise and go outside:  to improve your mood and boost those feel good, serotonin, instead of grabbing a food loaded with added sugar, take time for some exercise.  Manaker recommends, Exercise and exposure to sunlight can elicit happy feelings too, and it may possible help cut your sugar craving for good. 

This week before reaching for that sugar-sweetened beverage or that sugary snack, try some of the above ideas and see how you can keep those sugar cravings under control.

 

Sources:  Frontiers in Psychiatry , sugar-sweetened beverages , Young Men’s Health , Eat This, Not That! , Eat This, Not That! , Dietitian , Feeling tired?  Maybe you need more magnesium , NIH , recommends  Image Sources:  Healthy butterfly snack , Sugary Drinks , Exercise