Are you trying hard to get rid of sugar cravings? But can't shake it off? Well, Sugar cravings are real and you are not alone.
And, It doesn't matter to your brain whether your favourite idol is ditching sugar for glowing skin or the International Diabetes Federation came up with scary statistics like diabetes caused 6.7 million deaths in 2021. It still tempts you to eat those candies, pastries and cookies.
“Just a tiny bite”, it will murmur, and you end up binging on a whole bag of cookies– this sugar hankering is really really bad for you.
According to studies, excess sugar consumption is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, obesity and diabetes. The ICMR, in its latest dietary guidelines, recommended restricting the sugar intake to 25g per day for a 2000 cal diet or avoiding it for a healthy Lifestyle.
But keeping sugar cravings in check can be tricky. To tackle it –it's important to know why it's happening in the first place. Let's explore the causes of your irresistible urge to eat sweet stuff.
Why Are You Craving Sugar? Here are the Top Reasons
1. You Think it's Rewarding
The sugar triggers the release of happy hormones dopamine and serotonin. Both of these affect your mood and make you feel good.
You crave more for this pleasure and think it's rewarding to your heart and soul–the food manufacturers are aware of this, and that's why they add a lot of refined sugar to their products to make them addictive.
2. An Imbalanced Diet
An imbalanced diet high in processed foods and refined carbs cause fluctuations in sugar levels—unlike natural foods like fruits, where digestion and absorption slowly happen, processed food releases energy instantly but only to dip early. Dealing with these ups and downs will make you crave more.
A diet low in protein and fibre and a lack of nutrients like Magnesium are other causes of excessive urge.
3. Lack of Adequate Sleep
Lack of quality sleep causes the production of more ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite, but less leptin, which provides the feeling of fullness.
Due to this imbalance, your body craves quick energy fixes like sugary treats.
4. It's Your Stress Buster
The stress causes the release of cortisol and stimulates cravings for sugary foods as a quick source of comfort.
But, the burst of energy is short-lived and further crashes will stimulate your craving again and again- it's like you are caught up in a vicious cycle!
5. It's Habitual
Since childhood, you are used to eating sweets during snack times, festivals and celebrations, and hence, it has become a habit. Unfortunately, this habit formation is one of the biggest obstacles when you are doubling down your efforts against excessive sugar intake.
6. Other Reasons
Many reasons, like unhealthy gut, hormonal imbalances, period cravings in women, dehydration etc, are other potential causes. And you may even experience a combination of many of these factors.
One of the best ways to fight sugar cravings is to swap your unhealthy ultra-processed sweets for healthier options. Here are 10 healthy foods to fight sugar cravings and do the swapping.
10 Healthy Foods That Can Help Fight Sugar Cravings
1. Fruits
Fruits are packed with fibre, naturally sweet and loaded with nutrients and essential minerals needed for the body, unlike refined sugar-which is just calories and zero nutrients.
The fibre slows down the digestion and absorption of sugars, thus stabilizing blood sugar levels and preventing sudden spikes and crashes leading to cravings. The fruits also have enough water content and lower glycemic indices compared to white sugar. The Glycemic Index(GI) refers to an increase in blood sugar due to eating a particular food. The lower the GI, the better.
2. Berries
For example, a 100g serving of blueberries contains 5.3g fibre and 43 kcal. On the other hand, strawberries have 32 kcal and 2g fibre.
The berries are one of the best sources of antioxidants– the buzzword around these days in the context of anti-ageing. Antioxidants are compounds which fight against harmful free radicals and thus prevent many diseases.
3. Nuts
The nuts are good for the heart, bones, and eyes and help to manage your blood sugar as well. They are tasty, crunchy, easy to carry and convenient to eat from anywhere. You can eat in a variety of ways, like making delicious recipes and nut mixes and having them as nut butter with apples.
4. Sesame Seeds and Chia Seeds
The best part is you can whip up a lot of delicious treats with sesame seeds. Brittles, sesame or til laddu sweetened with dates, and tahini as a healthy spread over avocados are some options.
Similarly, Chia seeds are filling, nutritious seeds high in fibre. You can make healthy dishes like chia seed pudding to substitute the unhealthy sugary treat.
5. Millet Laddu Sweetened with Dates
6. Sweet potatoes
Well, as the name indicates it's sweet -And packed with nutrients as well.
They contain tryptophan, which in turn stimulates the production of serotonin- the happy hormone. Additionally, it leads to more melatonin- a sleep-enhancing hormone.
It's high in fibre, vitamins especially vitamin A and contains essential minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium etc. Low saturated fat is another advantage.
So, bake it, or boil it and beat your sugar craving.
7. Cinnamon
A dash of cinnamon on your favourite dishes or cinnamon tea can beat sugar cravings. You can make cinnamon lemon tea or herbal tea and have it for post-meal sugar cravings.
Cinnamon is known for its ability to stabilize blood sugar, which helps to avoid ups and downs in sugar levels. Plus it's satiating to tummies.
8. Homemade Healthy Smoothies
Healthy smoothies with whole fruits, berries, and yoghurt are a great option when you are hit by sugar cravings.
Try making smoothies in different flavours and make sure that the recipes you are picking contain enough fibre, protein and other nutrients.
Making Avocado smoothies is a healthy food for sugar cravings since avocados are high in fibre. Their creamy texture, filling nature and richness of nutrients make them a valuable addition to cut down sugar cravings.
9. Dates
Dates have a lower glycemic index compared to refined sugar. Hence, they don't spike sugar levels like refined sugars do. Additionally, dates have a rich nutrition profile.
The dates are known for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antitumor and anti-diabetic properties. The dates contain dietary fibre, magnesium, calcium, manganese, iron and vitamin B6.
You can eat them with proper portion control or make healthy recipes like dates laddu.
10. Healthy Snack Bars
A healthy snack bar can be your go-to snack to deal with sugar cravings. But the hardest part is choosing healthy snack bars as the market is flooded with flashy packets and ultra-processed bars with refined ingredients.
Go for snack bars with whole ingredients, having enough fibre and other nutrients. Go through the ingredients list and nutrition facts to pick the healthier ones.
So far, we discussed healthy foods for sugar cravings; now, let's go through some more tips to understand how to fight sugar cravings.
How to Fight Sugar Cravings? More Tips!
1. Add more veggies, whole grains and protein-rich lentils to your diet to make wholesome meals. A filling and balanced meal helps to curb hunger-related sugar cravings. Try fermented foods as well, they promote a healthy gut.
2. Manage your sleep and stress well – instead of grabbing sugary drinks to get energized when your head hits the keyboard or treating candies as your go-to stress buster pills.
If you are too stressed, get help from a healthcare professional to deal with it.
3. Watch out for foods high in sugar and they are not just your candies and cookies.
Many store-bought sauces, bread, salad dressing, your comforting instant soup powders, and even savoury snacks can be surprisingly high in sugar. Try to make these foods at home or thoroughly go through the ingredients list and look for Hidden Sugar like fruit contrate, syrups, etc.
Generally, hyper-palatable and addictive foods are high in sugar despite tasting savoy or sugary.
4. Keep yourself hydrated to avoid sugar cravings due to dehydration.
5. Cutting down sugar consumption is challenging– it's better to do it gradually. If you are having sugar withdrawal symptoms consult a nutritionist for a personalized nutrition plan.
