Health

How to stop sugar cravings instantly

Women's Best Health Team

Reading time: 4min

Get rid of food cravings in no time with these easy tricks.

Whether you’re really craving sweets or you feel like eating an entire pizza late at night, who doesn’t experience food cravings now and then? If you’re craving carrots or nuts, you’re lucky – go for it! But it’s the unhealthy stuff, especially sugar cravings, you want to try to avoid.

Being able to combat the urge to eat unhealthy foods is one of the keys to maintaining a healthy diet and healthy weight. Find out more below.

What triggers these unhealthy food cravings that make you feel so powerless?

Where do food cravings come from?

Understanding where cravings come from can already help to so something against them. Therefore, we have collected a list of possible reasons for your food cravings:

  • stress
  • your emotions
  • nutritional deficiencies
  • hormone imbalance (PMS)
  • high-processed foods
  • blood sugar imbalances in your body

Although this list seems extensive at first, there are a lot of things you can do to curb sugar cravings!

For instance, research suggests that a 15-minute walk can already stop your cravings INSTANTLY!

Professor Adrian Taylor, who led the study said:

“We know that snacking on high calorie foods, like chocolate, at work can become a mindless habit and can lead to weight gain over time. We often feel that these snacks give us an energy boost or help us deal with the stress of our jobs, including boredom. People often find it difficult to cut down on their daily treats, but this study shows that by taking a short walk, they are able to regulate their intake by half.”

The study involved 47 overweight people with an average age of 28. The results showed that those who’d been on the treadmill for 15 minutes had much lower food cravings than those who sat quietly. Exercisers also showed lower physiological arousal to handling the sugary snacks.

Taylor concludes: “Short bouts of physical activity may reduce the craving for sugary snacks in overweight people.

Besides walking, there are more ways to overcome food cravings!

Here are our top 10 ways to stop food cravings

Vicky Justiz
  1. Find a healthy alternative Got a chocolate craving? Then simply drink a Women’s Best Shape Body Shake with chocolate flavor. It will fill you up, fight your sugar cravings instantly and will help you lose weight. Could it get any better?
  2. Distract yourself To curb sugar cravings, fill the void with something else. Go shopping, read a book, hang out with a friend, or watch a movie. This will help you feel happy and fill the void. Usually you are just craving the emotion that food is giving you, not the actual food. Doing something fun with your friends could be the perfect alternative!
  3. Check your vitamins If you have frequent cravings for the same foods, it may be your body trying to tell you that it needs one or more specific nutrients. Here are the most common categories of cravings:
    • Chocolate: You may need magnesium.
    • Salty snacks: You may need more chloride.
    • Fatty foods: It’s possible that you aren’t getting enough calcium.
  4. Sniff peppermint Take a whiff of peppermint essential oil before mealtime. Study participants who did, ate nearly 3,000 total calories less each week, reporting that their hunger level decreased dramatically after inhaling the oil.
  5. Get more sleep People who sleep enough have higher levels of the hormone leptin, an appetite suppressant. In contrast, people who have a lack of sleep, end up with too much ghrelin in their system, so their body thinks they’re hungry leading to food cravings. Your brain thinks you don’t have enough energy for your needs. It tells you you’re hungry, even though you don’t need food at that time. To avoid this and to stop those sugar cravings, aim for seven to eight hours of sleep every night.
  6. Try “mindful eating” Do you feel hungrier when you are stressed? Try mindful eating. This means paying full attention to the experience of eating and drinking, both inside and outside the body. Pay attention to the colors, smells, textures, flavors, temperatures, and even the sounds (crunch!) of your food. Pay attention to the experience of your body. Where in the body do you feel hunger? Where do you feel satisfaction? What does half-full feel like, or three quarters full? Unfortunately, the old habits of eating and not paying attention are not easy to change. Putting in the effort though will help you understand your body better and helps you to not even worry about food cravings anymore!
  7. Stay hydrated Thirst is often confused with hunger or food cravings. If you feel a sudden urge for a specific food, try drinking a large glass of water and wait a few minutes. You may find that the craving fades away, because your body was just thirsty.
  8. Eat high-fiber foods Eat foods that fill you up faster, keep you full longer, and get rid of sugar cravings. In one study, participants who ate an extra 14 grams of fiber per day consumed 10 percent fewer daily calories than those on a lower-fiber plan. Foods high in fiber are oats, brown rice, legumes, beans, greens, celery, starchy vegetables or chickpeas.
  9. Chew gum Have a piece of gum after meals. In one study, people who chewed gum after lunch ate fewer afternoon snacks and had less cravings for sweets than people who didn’t.
  10. Out of sight, out of mind Take yourself away from the food or just don’t buy it! If you live with other people, just try to not be around them when they consume unhealthy foods.

What are your best ways to overcome cravings? Tell us about it and comment below the article!


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