What Causes Strong Sugar Cravings?

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  • Jill_newimprovedversion
    Jill_newimprovedversion Posts: 988 Member
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    Magnesium deficiency. Take a magnesium supplement and see if the cravings go away. It worked pretty quickly for me once, and I told my mom and it worked quickly for her, too. Especially if it's a chocolate craving.

    CAUTION with this: too many of these and you'll be logging the EXERCISE- the sprints to the bathroom... excess magnesium also stimulates the bowels.

    Cashews, Almonds, Peanuts are HIGH in magnesium, as legumes & veggies such as corn, broccoli and peas.
    fruits- dates, raisins, bananas

    [And NO....chocolate covered peanuts and raisins are NOT a good idea]


    Best thing to do after a binge- is DETOX. Like what you'd do to prepare for a colonoscopy......

    and taking a cinnamon supplement is helpful.

    My *binges* are sometimes physiological, other times emotional...so, during the latter,
    I inflict the pain on myself instead of taking it out on someone else.
  • Gwoman2012
    Gwoman2012 Posts: 163 Member
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    For me it's emotional. I get strong sugar/fat cravings when I am overtired or pissed/upset about something.

    The only thing that has helped me with cravings in the past was completely cutting it out for a couple weeks and then gradually allowing it back in my diet. Unfortunately I don't have the willpower for that right now!
  • luvsherhubby
    luvsherhubby Posts: 135 Member
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    I once heard a theory that if you consume a lot of artifical sweetners it makes you crave real sugar. I'd like to see other respones also.

    Weird...It has been much worse in the last month or so...I also switched to Stevia and started drinking fair amounts of vitamin water zero and an occasional coke zero as well around that time.

    There could be something to that...

    stevia is not an artifucial sweetner.. the other junk like aspartame suclarose are and are in 99.9% of diet drinks
  • Ellapop
    Ellapop Posts: 1
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    I have recently been introduced to GYMNEMA SYLVETRIS.

    Amazingly it eliminates the taste of sugar. The logic here is if you don't get the fun feeling that sugars give
    you might cut down.

    It's a Ayurvedic staple that has been used for thousands of years.

    The fun thing about sweet food is that it's natures way of letting you know what foods are good to eat.
    The only problem is that corn syrup rules the cheap food market.

    Stevia is the only real choice, if you want to add a sweet touch to your food. It is a leaf from Peru??

    Chemicals ie. equal,saccarin etc. are really not good for you.
    The fellow who invented one of them was designing a insect poison and asked his assistant to test some .
    He thought he said taste some . and the rest is history.
    I just can't eat anymore of that stuff without that image .
  • Dudagarcia
    Dudagarcia Posts: 849 Member
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    I'm like you, i have to stay away from it because a little will trigger me to want more :(
  • LisaDunn01
    LisaDunn01 Posts: 173 Member
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    While sugar IS addictive, it is also true that when the body is "out of balance", you'll have cravings. What I mean by "out of balance" is that the body is missing some important nutrient it needs (vitamin or mineral) to do its job. Also, when the body has an immune challenge of some sort (fungus or parasites), you'll crave sugar. To get off the white stuff, you need to have things that you can eat that'll replace it. For example, I used to be a "chocoholic". I went from Hershey's to a sugar-free chocolate. There are some fantastic ones that you can order at www.ycchocolate.com. I also found a recipe for black bean brownies that are absolutely AWESOME! You would NEVER guess they were made out of black beans (which supply great protein and fiber) and, that they are not made with sugar! The biggest thing that worked for me was to institute green smoothies into my diet daily. They are nutrient dense and sweet so it really feeds the body with some excellent vitamins and minerals the body needs and reduces cravings. My favorite green smoothie is as follows: 10 oz. water, 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup pineapple, 1/2 orange, 1 1/2 handfuls of spinach, 1/3 bunch of parsley, 1/8 c. fresh basil. Blend and drink - sounds like a weird combo but it is absolutely AWESOME! Everyone who has tried this has loved it!
  • peace_pigeon
    peace_pigeon Posts: 120 Member
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    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rick-foster/no-sugar-diet_b_1397439.html

    I just read this today. Super interesting! Rick stoped eating sugar for a year (except for once, with interesting results) and what happed was fairly dramatic. I am seriously considering it. After all of the Easter candy is gone, of course. :embarassed: :laugh:
  • watboy
    watboy Posts: 380 Member
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    Sugar
  • trababes1971
    trababes1971 Posts: 173 Member
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    Magnesium deficiency. Take a magnesium supplement and see if the cravings go away. It worked pretty quickly for me once, and I told my mom and it worked quickly for her, too. Especially if it's a chocolate craving.

    Oooh i will have to try that as i crave sugary stuff. xx
  • katielauren2001
    katielauren2001 Posts: 171 Member
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    Time of month always makes me crave sugar.
  • graelwyn
    graelwyn Posts: 1,340 Member
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    Interesting replies, thanks guys.
    Shall look into magnesium supplements.
    I have not been checked for PCOS, but over the last years my time of the month has become increasingly painful, heavy and debilitating, leaving me drained and dizzy, but not really looked into the symptoms in sometime.
  • Kimblesnbits
    Kimblesnbits Posts: 321 Member
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    I honestly think it is an addiction for some people, myself included! For some reason it's impossible for me to have just 1 little piece and be satisfied....Now that I'm eating a paleo type lifestyle, the sugar i get is only from fruits, and my cravings have gone down a bit. I hope it stays this way!
  • lipglossjunky73
    lipglossjunky73 Posts: 497 Member
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    I had adrenal fatigue and could not get enough sugar in me. Turns out when you secrete cortisol when highly stressed, your body craves massive amounts of sugar to replenish (the body thinks the stress is due to a major life event or hunting, when really it is due to sitting on my *kitten* in traffic and hating my job... Lol)

    For me, I had to not just stop the sugar despite the craving, I had to get a handle on my stress. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I had to tackle the stress to tackle the sugar craving. And then be mindful of the stress to anticipate the sugar craving hat I refused to give in to once I learned the correlation. It was hell.

    But now, I rarely touch the stuff. I get sugar through fruit, soy milk, and an occasional chocolate treat. Or a nice fix in my protein bars.

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