Skip to content
- Increase your fiber intake. Regularly eating a variety of fruits and vegetables prevents sugar cravings that are a result of nutrient deficiencies. Fiber-rich foods, such as broccoli, beans, jicama, dark leafy greens, berries and sweet potatoes are particularly satiating, keep your body in balance and less prone to cravings, and also help to boost your mood, releasing natural feel good chemicals that benefit your emotional health. I recommend a minimum of 30 grams of fiber per day, spread out throughout the day.
- Take a probiotic. There are unhealthy bacterial strains which feed on the sugar in our bodies, causing an imbalance in the gut. When you reduce this bacteria, you will help reduce sugar cravings and your body's dependence on sugar.
- Include an L-glutamine supplement. L-glutamine is an amino acid that supports numerous functions, especially within the gut. When blood sugar levels drop, this amino acid can easily be converted into glucose. This helps to curb sugar cravings without exposing your body to harmful sugar.
- Drink a green juice or smoothie without sugar every morning. Swap your morning muffin or white toast for a green smoothie or green juice. When you have a green juice or smoothie each morning, you get antioxidants, phytonutrients, and live enzymes at a cellular level. The more nutrients your cells get, the less you'll crave sugar and beat sugar cravings.
- Eat sour foods. When you crave sugar, eat foods that are sour and bitter. This helps to counteract sweet cravings. Include bitter ingredients like endive, dandelion greens and kale into your green smoothies or green juices. I also recommend drinking lemon-infused water daily.
- Eat fermented food. Not only are fermented foods sour, helping to beat sugar cravings, but they also offer your body additional beneficial probiotic support. Foods like kefir, tempeh, sauerkraut, and kimchee help counteract the bacteria that thrives on sugar and contributes to sugar addictions.
- Improve your sleep. A study found that daytime sleepiness may affect your will power over high-calorie, sugar rich foods. If you don’t get enough sleep, you will be more prone to reach for foods that support your sugar addiction. Lack of sleep is also believed to strengthen the brain's reward center, making it much more challenging to stay away from sweets.
- Reduce stress. When we feel overwhelmed or stressed, we often comfort ourselves with foods that tend to be high in sugar. These foods actually worsen levels of stress and anxiety since they affect your blood sugar and hormone levels. Managing stress levels helps to crush cravings and minimize overeating. Practice yoga, deep breathing, meditation, or whatever helps to personally calm and relax your mind.
- Consciously increase fat and protein. When you eat sugar rich foods, it causes an initial rush of sugar that 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. Incorporating protein and healthy fat foods can provide a more balanced and steady source of energy. You will feel more satisfied, reducing the effects of brain chemicals that cause you to seek out food, even when you're not hungry. I say consciously increase because a cheeseburger might have fat and protein, but it’s not good for you! I prefer plant-based protein sources like beans and lentils, edamame, and tempeh along with wild caught salmon. When it comes to fat, I add healthy fats into every meal and snack to satiate me. A go-to healthy fat is avocado, but nuts and seeds, coconut oil, olive oil, and walnut oil are other favorites. For that morning green smoothie? I love a splash of coconut milk.
Want to read more?
You Finished The Sugar Detox! NOW WHAT?
How Sugar Causes Inflammation Explained by a RD … and 5 Easy Changes To Make Today
Curb Sugar Cravings With These 11 Foods
7 Reasons You Crave Sugar And How To Stop According to a Health Coach
