10 Ways to Cut Sugar Cravings

The following steps will actually reduce your desire for sweets by altering the chemistry of your blood and brain including stabilizing blood sugar and stimulating serotonin and other brain chemicals that keep you content without a cookie.

1. Have a non-sweet breakfast containing a protein rich food. Choose a whole grain plus the appropriate protein source for your body: eggs, lox, fish, lean chicken sausage, beans, nuts, limited soy, lean beef and pork.
2. Include adequate, high-quality protein at lunch. Eggs, fish, poultry, lean beef or pork, nuts, seeds or legumes.
3. Avoid excess raw fruit and juice. (Fruits and especially juices are high in sugars, which can leave our blood sugar low and create a desire for more sweets.)
4. Include cooked leafy greens daily, especially if chocolate cravings are a problem.
5. Drink green tea daily. It helps to maintain stable blood-sugar levels, minimizing cravings for sugar.
6. Avoid artificial sweeteners. Your body may respond as if they are real sugars.
7. Bite the bullet and reduce or eliminate refined sugars (sucrose, fructose, fruit juice, honey and syrups).
8. Get adequate, full-spectrum lighting. Natural light is essential for the brain to produce serotonin, the calming brain chemical that prevents sugar cravings. Take a twenty-minute walk outdoors in the early morning, sit near a bright window, or use full-spectrum lighting in your house/workspace.
9. Include an essential-fat source, such as flax, pumpkin, or hem seed oil, or the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA present in fish oils.
10. Try supplements of magnesium (350 to 500mg) and chromium (200 to 500mg), minerals that stabilize blood sugar, or the herbs gymnema sylvestre or fennel leaf, or licorice root. (Licorice root tastes sweet, plus is stimulates the adrenals, which can boost energy in someone with weak adrenals. In large amounts, licorice may raise blood pressure, however, and should be used with caution.)

From “Eat by Choice, Not by Habit” By Syliva Haskvitz

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