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Sugar cravings. How we love to hate them. You go to the store with perfectly good intentions to buy healthy food only to find yourself speeding toward the candy. I repeatedly hear from people “but I just can’t control my sweet tooth.”
A sugar craving is your body’s way of telling you something. Read on to find what your sugar craving is telling you about your health and what you can do about it.
Here’s another post about the nutrition you need to have to get rid of sugar cravings.
Does your body need sugar?
The answer is yes. Everyone needs sugar to maintain proper blood sugar levels in the body. Sugar is energy for your brain, muscles and organs. They all need glucose to function. The best form of this energy is from fruits, vegetables and complex carbohydrates that have fiber, vitamins and other minerals our bodies need.
How much sugar do you need?
The American Heart Association recommends 6 teaspoons a day for women and 9 for men (24 grams and 36 grams) yet the average adult is consumes 24 teaspoons a day and the average child 32.
What happens when you eat sugar?
The pancreas releases insulin to round up sugar and triage it. The first place your body tries to store sugar is in muscle, but when muscles are full it stores excess sugar in fat cells. The more sugar you eat, the more work your pancreas and liver have to do to clean things up and maintain equilibrium. 
What happens when you eat too much sugar?
With frequent insulin spikes, comes insulin and leptin resistance. This means more insulin production, more fat storage and more insulin resistance. Leptin is the other factor. This hormone controls hunger, satiety, manages fat metabolism, and monitors how much energy is circulating in the body.
Leptin is produced by fat cells, and what’s ironic is those who have difficulty losing weight generally have leptin resistance. Leptin resistance is perceived by the body as starvation, which causes the body to store more fat. Leptin resistance also stimulates formation of reverse T3 (thyroid hormone) which blocks thyroid effect on metabolism.
To summarize, a person’s body can believe it’s starving and keep telling them to eat more even though they’re eating excess calories. It’s a horrible, vicious cycle! Causes of high leptin include stress, high insulin levels, overeating, over exercising, and lack of sleep.
Insulin and leptin resistance means you’re at greater risk for type II diabetes if you’re overweight, sedentary or have an unhealthy lifestyle and it can happen to anyone. Skinny or fat. Diabetes does not discriminate.
Why do you crave sugar if it’s bad for you?
Sugar is addictive. Studies have shown that sugar has the same effect on the body that drugs do. When animals were given the choice between sugar and drugs they chose sugar and animals already addicted to drugs switched to sugar. At the root of the problem is food processing.
Sugar cane in its raw form has fiber and nutrients, but modern day food processing strips sugar cane of its essential nutrients so by the time it hits the shelf for you to buy, it’s a frankenstein food. Certain types of sugar like high fructose corn syrup suppress hormones leptin and ghrelin. These hormones send signals to your brain telling you when your fat cells are full and to stop eating.
HFCS has been linked to obesity and has been shown scientifically to metabolize the same way as alcohol. This is why you can drink soda and eat candy all day and never feel full, but get fat. Other reasons such as lack of sleep, stress and hormone imbalances cause intense sugar cravings as a result of leptin and insulin being out of balance. Read this post for more info on this.
What is your sugar craving telling you about your health?
Your sugar craving is telling you, you have an insulin problem and are over eating sugar and refined carbohydrates. Nearly 2/3 of Americans are overweight because they grossly overeating sugar and refined carbs. Even skinny people can become addicted.
Continuing on the path of over consuming these foods will set you up for metabolic syndrome, pre-diabetes, and the development of heart disease and type II diabetes. Your sugar craving is also telling you, you’re lacking key nutrients in your diet. Meaning you’re not eating enough non-starchy vegetables and fruit (in moderation) and eating too much junk.
Have you ever noticed how you can eat an apple or carrot and don’t repeatedly crave it over and over again the way you do sugar? How is that possible? Don’t apples and carrots have naturally occurring sugar? They do! The big is these foods have minerals and vitamins your body needs. They also have fiber to balance the sugar which means you don’t get a blood sugar surge.
That fiber slows the absorption of sugar causing less of a spike. In fact, if you’re going to eat sugar eating it with something like a salad is best. Sounds yummy, huh? Your body is smart. It knows what it needs. A sugar craving is your body’s way of telling you “I’m not getting what I need, stop feeding me junk and FEED ME real food!”
Your sugar craving may also be telling you, you have an imbalance in your life like too much stress, fatigue, and hormone imbalances. When I correct these basic things with my clients, their sugar cravings resolve and they’re able to start losing weight.
Watch the video to hear me talk more about what your sugar craving is telling you!
How do I stop craving sugar?
Sugar cravings are a vicious cycle. Protein will always stop a sugar craving, but the best way to crush your cravings is by ADDING to your diet.
Adding more plant based, fibrous foods like leafy greens, starchy vegetables and fruits as well as complex carbohydrates and healthy fats like seeds and nuts. If you’re eating enough plant foods and protein in the proper balance, you will feel satisfied, and will naturally stop craving sugar. 
On a side note, if you’re eating a low fat diet and working out but can’t seem to lose body fat, take a look at the sugar content in the foods you’re eating. All low fat and fat free processed foods have the fat replaced with added sugars like high fructose corn syrup so you’re likely eating a lot more sugar than you think.
Full fat foods are a better option. You’re probably thinking yeah right, my sugar craving can’t be this simple. But really, it is. As a recovering sugar addict, I can say it works.
After breaking up with sugar for a few weeks, you will stop craving it and be surprised by how much better you feel. Less achy joints, better sleep, less hypertension, less foggy brain and better digestion. All good stuff. Try it! If sugar is your enemy, you will only gain from trying.
Master Your Cravings
In my 12 week weight loss program for women over 35 with 20 to 50 or more pounds to lose, I teach you to master your nutrition, master your mindset and master your cravings.
This group program focuses on intensive nutrition education for fat loss, building lifestyle habits and practicing powerful mindset strategies through a self-paced online portal you can access 24/7.
Weekly group calls and live coaching in an intimate Facebook group are there to support you and give you accountability. This program always gives my clients the BIGGEST results and is very popular!
If you’re a woman over 35 with 20 to 50 or more pounds to lose and want to learn more, book a complimentary call with me so we can talk about your goals, challenges and if this program is a fit for you!
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Improve Gut Health To Lose Weight
Sugar is the new fat! 🙂 So addictive!!!! People do not realize how many places it it!!!
I know and it makes me really sad when I see kids eating so much of it.
Yep, sugar is SO not good for us…but it can be hard to quit, too. Thanks for breaking it down into such practical terms! Love this!
It is, but you feel so much better when you do!
Great post!! It is amazing how much sugar is in the food we eat. It is scary how much sugar Americans consume daily and don’t even know it.
It’s hidden in everything!
My biggest problem with sugar is how it is in EVERYTHING – not just sweets. I’m all about enjoying treats and desserts when I want to, but it bothers me that we essentially have toxic chemicals in most of the foods commercially available. Especially with my meal-plan on my campus (everything pre-made), it can be really hard to know what the heck is in my food!
It’s really hard when you’re not preparing your own foods. But you have to pick your battles and sometimes that means choosing the healthiest options we can even though they may not be.
I definitely know that I get myself involved in periods of eating too much sugar. Generally during marathon training, but that is also a part of eating so much more in general. I think sugar, for me, is largely a habit, rather than a craving.
That’s why I exercising too much can be dangerous because you get really hungry, but generally that hunger is for glucose. It’s a fine balance!
It is SO true that sugar is addictive, and I’m learning, more and more, to ask myself if I really need to eat more than one treat a day.
It can easily turn into a habit more than a craving.
Girlfriend. This hits home.
I’ve gotten really good at controlling the amount of sugar I have in my diet by cooking more at home and not allowing those cookies to be in the house. But you’re so right that a fully satisfying, healthy diet is really what cures.
Now off to make a wholesome salad (because this post got me craving ice cream, ha!)
XO, Jessica
http://www.semisweettooth.com
Haha! One of the dangers of reading blogs.
What bothers me the most that sugar is linked to all kinds of disease, yet the USDA decided to cut out fat of people’s diet. Just shows how corrupt the food industry is. Also, I don’t get parents who give soda and “vitamin” water instead of real water to their kids when they’re thirsty. Then all of a sudden their kids develop type 2 diabetes at the age of 18 and they have no idea why.
Food politics are out of control! For a first world country, our food supply should be FREE of the things that are known to cause disease. As far as I’m concerned, the government should not be regulating food and setting standards.
The sugar intake of americans is a huge problem!! Many people are unaware of how much sugar they are actually taking in, so sickening to think about!
What’s even more sickening is that the government allows it.
I don’t want the government regulating what I can or cannot put into my body. There’s a point where common sense comes in. If we stop buying sugar laden foods, then producers will stop making them. We have control over our own selves, we make our own choices. Frankly, I prefer being able to make my own choices, not my government or anyone else.
Ok. I didn’t say I felt the government should be involved.
Not anymore thankfully! I found adding more fat to my diet (a lot more!) helped totally get rid of those types of cravings.
Yes! Like I said, the sugar craving means you’re not getting something.