Spoonful of Sugar Free

Registered Dietitian

Day 29: Eating and Craving Sugar

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Welcome to day twenty-nine of the Sugar Free Challenge!

Today’s Reason to be Sugar-Free: 

Just eating a lot of sugar can cause you to want more of the same. In a presentation at the 2010 Weston A. Price Foundation conference, Nora Gedgaudas, CNS, CNT, explained that if you eat a lot of sugar and starch (which turns to sugar), your body and brain become metabolically adapted to burning glucose for fuel, instead of burning fat for fuel. She says, “You are going to crave carbohydrates if you are adapted to being dependent on glucose as your primary source of fuel. . . . Sugar is going to look good to you and you are going to crave it. Some people can’t even get to noon without a snack, without going half crazy.”

For example, if you eat sugary breakfast cereals you will often become hungry an hour later and want to eat more sugar. You may feel like you are going to crash without it. Processed carbohydrates get absorbed very quickly, producing an unnaturally rapid increase in blood glucose. A rapid increase in blood glucose puts your body in a state of shock, prompting it to pump out lots of insulin very quickly. As a result of overproduction of insulin, soon you have very low blood glucose again. (Insulin is what puts on weight too.) A fluctuating blood sugar level can trigger food cravings, migraines, mood swings, weak spells, drowsiness and much more.  —Weston Price

Here is today’s sample menu:

Breakfast: Sunday Morning Pancakes! Why not have some Gluten-Free Green Pancakes? I promise they taste delicious, and you get the extra bonus of some Vitamin A and K.

Lunch: Spicy Tomato Cure. If you or a loved one is sick, fill ’em up with this cure. It helps sooth the throat and stomach while killing bacteria and viruses.

Snack: Apple Crisps with Peanut Butter Hummus Dip

Dinner: Quiche with Flourless Crust

Dessert: Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Exercise Option: For those of you who chose to take part of the exercise challenge, your challenge today is to do 50 crunches, 10 squat jumps, 15 pushups, 20 1-legged calf raises (10 each leg).

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Do you crave sugar at certain times? If so, how do you overcome these cravings?

Remember that you can track what you eat on the printable Challenge Checklist. 


Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. I love reading the WAP website, tons of great info there. I usually crave a bite of chocolate after dinner most days but that’s about it for me. I have a salty tooth hah.

  2. Great article on how our bodies crave sugar. It totally makes so much sense. It is interesting how my cravings have changed & also my taste buds throughout this sugar free challenge, i am amazed. Thx for the recipes & support on this journey( life-long)!

  3. I have to admit, it took much longer for my sugar cravings to decrease than I expected. I still always have something stevia-sweetened on hand, just in case.

    I also find that there is a difference between craving the taste of sugar, and craving the energy of sugar. I tend to crave its energy when I get really hungry, so in those moments, it’s really important for me to think before I eat, and know that eating something healthy will kick the craving.

  5. I have terrible sugar cravings, especially at night, and I’m still trying to figure out how to deal with them. Sometimes a sweet gala apple does the trick.