Sugar Cravings, When Too Much of a Good Thing Becomes a Health Concern

I think it’s fair to say we’ve all had our share of cravings; whether you’re a guy longing for an ice cold beer after a hot humid day of mowing the lawn, or a pregnant woman who can’t stop thinking about hot fudge sundaes. But what if your cravings ALL revolve around sugary sweets, the dreaded sugar cravings? Do you consider yourself to have an insatiable sweet tooth? While it’s an easy thing to overlook, and just accept the fact that you live for desserts, your sugar cravings can be a red flag indicating some underlying health issues. Before we get into what these concerns may be, let’s be sure you understand what I mean when I say a “sweet tooth” or “constant sugar cravings”… everyone loves the smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, and while most people can stop at one or two, I’m talking about those of us that can’t. For me, my weakness is Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. It wasn’t until I realized they were becoming a daily habit (justifying it by thinking everyone has their “thing”) that I knew I had to figure out what was causing my obsession. After a few weeks of succumbing to my sugar craving, they tasted great going down, but left me feeling nothing but guilt and a bit of a sugar crash later on.
While sugar gives us a quick burst of energy and elevates our mood, it’s actually the release of serotonin that is a direct result of your sugar craving intake. Serotonin plays a critical role in making us feel good; those that have dealt with depression may be familiar with medications that will up their serotonin levels, warding off the blues. The other major neurotransmitter that is given off when we consume sugar is dopamine, releasing endorphins into your system. While fresh fruit has a lot of nutritional value, it also has natural sugars, which is fine, as long as you keep your consumption in check. The sugar you really want to limit in your diet is the pure white table sugar; it’s full of nothing but empty calories and while it adds a true sweetness to things like iced tea and cereal, it’s often referred to as the “white death” of sugar cravings.
Understand that when we go to reach for that afternoon candy bar to get us through the day, our blood sugar quickly shoots up, and then just as quickly as it rose, it comes crashing down, leaving us wanting more or greater sugar cravings. It can be a maddening cycle and once you understand its physiological effects, it’s easy to see how we can become so addicted to sugary confections and try to quell our sweet tooth to no avail. Your body is making a desperate attempt to keep your blood sugar on an even keel and your taste buds and ‘feel good’ neurotransmitters are fighting nutritional stability.
So what can we do when we want to reach for a big slice of cake or a sugary pastry? Your overall health goal should be to maintain an even blood sugar level. Not only will this help any chance of developing diabetes, but you’ll be saving yourself some unwanted additional pounds that will creep up on you before you know it! Sugar cravings can also indicate a lack of certain vital components in your diet, such as chromium, carbon, phosphorus and tryptophan. In order to get these minerals into your diet and to also help keep that sweet tooth at bay, try upping your intake of things like broccoli, grapes, cheese and chicken (chromium), fresh fruit (carbon), chicken, beef, eggs, dairy, nuts, grains and legumes (phosphorus), as well as cheese, lamb, sweet potato and spinach for additional tryptophan.
When in a pinch and having nothing but sugary sweets on your mind but no healthy substitutes in the house (never resort to the sugar substitutes.. more on those in a future installment), get yourself moving and revert back to what we know will release the same “feel good chemicals” such as serotonin and endorphins, and exercise! You’ll be distracting yourself with a healthy activity and staying away from what can not only become your enemy, but can lead to health problems later on if you don’t find a way to curb your sugar cravings for now!