In today’s fast-paced lifestyle, sugar cravings are a big concern. Irregular sugar cravings are normal. On the other hand, frequent sugar cravings can impact your overall health. Many researchers have found that dopamine receptor availability in the brain is affected by sugar intake. Moreover, sugar will activate the reward center of your brain as addictive substances will perform in your body. In this article, we will discuss how to stop sugar cravings, what sugar cravings are, and the causes of sugar cravings.
What is Sugar Craving?
We all enjoy sweet food. Sugar-containing foods satisfy your taste buds, but they are usually high in calories. Fulfilling your sugar desire works as a reward system in your brain. Most people have a question about whether they are addicted to sugar and avoid foods with natural sugar, which will impact their nutritional levels. Generally, sweet foods can boost mood for a shorter period. For some people, sugary foods act as rewards, sources of comfort, and stress relievers. Sweetness, craved from different forms, ultimately satisfies the desire for sugar. We all have sugar cravings, which is quite natural. You should not feel guilty about these sugar cravings; everyone experiences them, and how each person deals with them varies.
What Causes Sugar Cravings?
Sugar cravings are signals from your body that indicate that something is out of balance. Below are some common reasons for sugar cravings.
Elevated Stress Hormones
Cortisol, a stress hormone, will increase sugar cravings. High-stress work can affect your health and raise stress hormones, leading to increased sugar cravings. At this time, if you consume sugary foods, you may feel tired and irritable, experience a drop in energy, lose interest in your daily activities, and gain weight. Performing multiple tasks will increase stress and lead to sugar cravings, which is unhealthy.
Gut Bacteria Imbalances
Your gut gives you a signal that something is going on in the form of sugar cravings. There is a community in our digestive system called the microbiome—a collection of good and bad bacteria that helps with digestion, regulates mood, influences hormones, and sugar cravings. When microbes in your gut are out of balance, you may crave unhealthy food, which feeds the bad bacteria in your gut through sugars. These sugar-thriving bacteria will affect digestion and mood. On the other hand, a healthy diet supports good bacteria and keeps these sugar-thriving bacteria in check.
Low Feel-good Hormones
Sugar cravings will influence mood and emotions, as we discussed them as a reward system in your brain. It’s common to reach for a sugary treat on a tough day. Your brain tries to improve your mood by triggering sugar cravings, which is a smart move. Firstly, sugary foods trigger feel-good hormones such as dopamine and serotonin; therefore, the brain begins to expect them when you are feeling low. As a result, over time, the body’s natural production of these hormones declines. Consequently, the body begins to rely on sugar intake for emotional relief. Thus, sugar provides temporary comfort; however, this dependence can negatively affect overall hormonal balance and mental well-being. Balancing your diet can release feel-good hormones, making you feel better.
Nutrient Deficiency
Nutrient deficiency is a key factor in triggering sugar cravings. A deficient diet will lead to the thriving of sugary foods in your body. A nutrient deficiency can make you crave a quick, sugary meal. A craving for dark chocolate indicates a magnesium deficiency because it’s a magnesium-rich food. Similarly, low omega-3 levels can affect your mood, leading to overeating beyond your limit, and sugar cravings for comfort can lead to health issues.
Unstable Blood Sugar
Blood sugar levels can drop too low if you skip meals or don’t eat regularly. Intake of snacks instead of meals will impact your blood sugar levels. Various habits can spike blood sugar and disrupt overall health. The habits include eating more carbohydrates, low-fiber intake, low protein intake, poor sleep, and eating more sugary foods. All these habits make your blood sugar spike, and big spikes will follow a crash. After this, you will feel tired and irritable. As a result, if you are experiencing low blood sugar, take an immediate source of sugar to raise your levels temporarily, which will stop sugar cravings
How to Stop Sugar Cravings
Breaking sugar cravings takes more time and effort. Significant changes in your lifestyle can do this. Here are some steps to stop sugar cravings.
Eat a Balanced Diet
Maintaining a balanced diet is important to cut down on sugar cravings. Adding rich sources of fiber, such as fruits and vegetables, will help control your blood sugar. Consuming processed foods can cause more harm, as they often contain added sugars, which are not advisable. Consuming natural sugars from fruits and other sources will help reduce sugar cravings. Good bacteria always thrive on healthy foods, and in return, they contribute to digestion and help control blood sugar in your body.
Don’t Skip Meals
In this busy world, skipping meals is common, which can increase sugar cravings. We all have to experience this situation at different times. If you skip a meal due to a busy schedule when you are not feeling hungry, you end up having one big meal before bed, which is beyond your limit; as a result, you gain weight. Eating nutrient-rich foods consistently is good for your health and supports smart hunger control. Your food choices will change as your body habituates to nutritious foods. Avoid replacing your meals with shakes, bars, and yogurts that contain added sugars beyond your daily limit. Added sugars will impact your gut health, leading to sugar cravings.
Combine Foods
If you are craving a sugary food, pair it with a nutritious item to balance your diet and satisfy your cravings. The combination will work on your own thought process and choices. In this step, you are following a balanced diet while satisfying your sugar cravings, which triggers the release of feel-good hormones and makes you feel better.
Stay Hydrated
Drinking more water is important to improve your health. Surprisingly, you cannot distinguish between hunger and thirst, so you are actually thirsty. Hydration plays a vital role in avoiding sugar cravings. The more water you have in your body helps regulate your blood sugar by diluting it, which can stop sugar cravings.
Get Plenty of Sleep
Sleep plays a crucial role in your body’s functioning. Sleep can increase and decrease sugar cravings. Additionally, in our digestive system, specifically in the stomach, we have two hormones: leptin and ghrelin. The function of the leptin hormone is to signal our brain that we are full. On the other hand, sleep deprivation can increase ghrelin levels. In this way, sleep deprivation can trigger sugar cravings. Getting enough rest will help regulate your hormones and make you feel better. Therefore, when you are tired, you mostly desire sugary foods. Good sleep cycles support hormonal growth and reduce sugar cravings. Irregular sleep cycles affect your health and lead to a preference for sugary foods.
Manage Stress
Stress hormones will play a vital role in sugar cravings. Different techniques can help to control sugar cravings. One of them is exercise, which will decrease your ghrelin levels. Exercise makes you more tired and makes you sleep longer, which will reduce sugar cravings. Exercise should not be vigorous. The energy levels and the time allotted for exercise vary among people. Consequently, it is imperative that you customize your workouts to suit your fitness level and body type. The effort should be consistent, regardless of whether you are unable to run for extended periods but can walk at a moderate pace, contingent on your energy level. Engaging in any form of physical activity will help alleviate sugar cravings.
Get Up and Go
Meanwhile, if you feel a sugar craving, try to distract yourself from that urge to reduce it. As we know, sugar cravings are temporary; the place can move you out of them. Eventually, your mind has to be distracted at this time to prevent the urge to eat sugary foods.
Conclusion
Emotional, physical, and lifestyle choices influence sugar cravings. Finding the root cause of your cravings will help you establish a sustainable routine to limit them. Changing your lifestyle to support your cause can lead to low blood sugar levels. Reducing sugar cravings is not a quick process; it requires time and effort. A consistent and balanced approach will help you feel more confident and healthier in the long term.
