Who doesn’t have sugar cravings?

I think we all do, we just deal with them differently.

Sugar cravings are the one of the worst kind of cravings; they can be likened to little soldiers at war with each other in your stomach and they won’t retreat or surrender until you stock up on every sugary thing you can lay your hands on in the house, and if there’s none at home, they drive you to a trip to the nearest grocery store to stock up.

The old cliche ‘nothing just happens’ is somewhat true in this case. Not everyone who has sugar cravings just do. Sometimes, you have sugar cravings because you didn’t eat enough. If you eat little food, your body’s energy tank isn’t full and it will demand to be filled. It then pushes sugar to the frontline and then your entire senses catch that and interpret it as sugar cravings. Sugar provides energy faster than every other kind of food and once you indulge yourself to getting high on sugar either from candies, cookies, chocolates and artificial sweeteners, you body recognizes the foreign energy surge leaving you restless and excited ; this is referred to as a sugar rush.

You can also get sugar cravings if you eat way too much starch with little or no protein and fat. For example, if you eat a giant bowl of spaghetti, with no protein is like a big bowl of sugar. They soak into the body system as sugar calories and they won’t keep you full or satisfied. Carbs aren’t the foods to go to when you want to engage in food proportion or satiety.

But what if you don’t do either of these things and still are fighting a losing battle against sugar cravings? There are few foods that can be your soldiers:

• Fruits: These should be your first resort whenever you feel like indulging your sweet tooth. Fruits have simple calories, are sweet, healthy and are available. Replace the junk food jar with a bowl of fruits; they will satisfy your body wants for sugar and your mouth’s craving for sweet.

• Berries: Don’t we just love the sweetness of berries? Though they are sweet, they have a high content of fibre and are low in sugar. Berries will stop your sugar cravings right in their track and if you have a habit for always munching on something sweet during TV time, replace that with a bowl of  berries.

• Dark chocolate: Dark chocolate isn’t the regular chocolate; these ones are filled with more cocoa than sugars. They also contain some nutrients that are good for the heart. Be careful with these still; just a bar will do. They are sweet but have less sugars than the regular ones.

• Gum/Mints: Chewing gums are perfect for dealing with sugar cravings. The artificial sweeteners used just taste sweet; they have very low calories and contain no sugar.

• Dates: Are the dried fruits of the date palm tree. These are super sweet and contain a high content of other important nutrients. Have a few dates, don’t indulge. Dates should fix you up.

• Yoghurt: Recent studies and research have proven that yoghurt helps control appetite. Greek yoghurt is the best option to go with as it is free of added-sugar. It is very filling also; and can be paired with nuts and fruits.

• Sweet potatoes: This is sweetness and satiety perfectly blended. Sweet potatoes are sweet (yeah, that was intentional) and are very filling. You could eat some to fight sugar cravings if you didn’t eat enough previously.

• Smoothies: Smoothies are a great option for anyone who just wants to bite anything sweet. Combine whole fruits with yoghurt in a blend; you’ll enjoy the sweetness and retain the fibre in the fruits.

• Eggs: Eggs are high in protein (which is a stomach-filling nurtient); eggs can be incorporated into your breakfast to keep you less hungry during the day; it will also keep the sugar lust at bay.