Food cravings are linked to nutrient deficiencies. If you're constantly craving sweets, get more magnesium, chromium, and tryptophan in your diet. These nutrients are found in whole, natural foods, such as broccoli, dried beans, liver, eggs, poultry, legumes, and grains, or you can get them via supplementation.
Try dates, raisins, figs, berries, pears, and really any other delicious fruit. Fruit-based purees and jams and sauces, such as applesauce, with no added sugars can also bring a big sweet reward to your treats.
You can use dates, fruit purées, yacon syrup, honey, and maple syrup as alternatives to sugar. Although these sweeteners may offer limited health benefits compared with refined sweeteners, any sweetener should be used sparingly.
What happens to your body when you stop eating sweets?
Cut added sugar and you could lower calories and body weight, which could improve your cholesterol. But it's not just the weight loss. Even at the same weight as others, people who got less than 20% of their calories from added sugars tended to have lower triglycerides.
It's during this early "sugar withdrawal" stage that both mental and physical symptoms have been reported – including depression, anxiety, brain fog and cravings, alongside headaches, fatigue and dizziness.
Eat breakfast. Eating breakfast with proteins, complex carbohydrates, fiber-rich foods, and healthy fats can keep blood sugar balanced and prevent sugar cravings throughout the day.
The Mayo Clinic recommends taking a two-week break from sugar to reset your body. This doesn't have to be an outright cleanse, but try to limit yourself to foods with little to no added sugars or sweeteners — shoot for less than 5 grams of added sugars per serving. Start by cutting out sugary drinks.
Drop your sugar intake at once. The Ohio University Medical Center determined that a sugar detox will take between 3-10 days. The more sugar you are normally taking in, the longer the detox will take. The good thing is, unlike other addictions, the intensity of the symptoms will decrease as you go on.
Reducing added sugar intake can encourage weight loss and improve various aspects of your health, including your blood sugar levels and heart, liver, and dental health.
The body requires no added sugars to function properly. Many people consume too much sugar from drinks and foods that contain added sugar. Too much sugar can cause a range of serious health problems, including diabetes, dementia, and obesity.
Eggs, peanut butter, beans, legumes, protein smoothies, fatty fish, and nuts are all high in protein. An increase in healthy fat intake also helps in sugar detox.
If you think you might be addicted to sugar, the experts suggest that you quit cold turkey, because just cutting back is not likely to be successful. And you need to be prepared for a possible backlash, with feelings of anxiety, depression, irritability, fatigue and cravings.
Erythritol tastes very much like sugar, although it can have a mild aftertaste. Erythritol doesn't spike your blood sugar or insulin levels, nor does it affect levels of blood fats like cholesterol or triglycerides ( 5 , 6 ).
Sugar cravings are often caused by imbalances in blood glucose levels. Low blood sugar levels might cause you to crave something sweet in order to bring up these levels. Other factors that can play a role include psychological stress, medications, hormone imbalances, and health conditions.
Brown sugar is definitely a healthier option than refined white sugar. It is processed in a completely natural way to maintain as much of the sugarcane's natural nutrition as possible, including vitamins and minerals.
When you find yourself asking “why can't I stop eating sugar”, it can be your bodies way of telling you that it needs something. It could be hungry, over-restricted, feeling an intense emotion, not fed/watered or had enough sleep. Perhaps it needs a little self-love.
