How to Stop Craving Sweets and Eating too Much Sugar

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If you want to stop craving sweets and eating too much sugar, here is my plan to stop sugar cravings permanently. I have divided this article in two sets of tips.

In the first set, I will cover what you must eat and do to minimize your desire for sweets. In the second set, I will show how you can totally eliminate a sugar craving in no time and prevent it from ever coming back. When combined, these tips are complete craving busters. They are very easy to follow and take very little time to implement—so let’s get started.

Eating Tips: How to Stop Sugar Cravings Naturally

Below are tips to stop craving sugar and sweets that have helped me. I use them after eating too much sugar to curb cravings. They seem to be working quite well for me. But I am not a doctor. So, please use this as information only and do contact your doctor for advice.

Drink a lot of water: Sugar dehydrates. If you have been eating a lot of sugar, there is a good chance that your body is dehydrated. In that case, the best remedy is pure water. Stay away from sodas, teas, and coffees. They are diuretics and will leach even more water out of your body. Drink one glass of water every hour, and two hours after meals.

Make sure you have enough to eat, and eat regularly: Sometimes cravings stem from real hunger. Make sure you have a real meal three times a day. Avoid sandwiches as much as you can—they are filled with carbs and sugar. Have a good source of protein and a vegetable at each meal.

Calorie restrictive diets may make you crave sweets like crazy. If that’s the case, stop dieting and learn to eat when you’re hungry and to stop when you’re not. It will help you lose weight much faster. To learn more about compulsive eating and diets click on this link.

Avoid eating too much sugar overall: Sugar is hidden everywhere, but especially in processed foods. Cook as much as possible of the food you eat. Check sugar content of processed food by reading the labels, and steer clear of any form of sweetened beverage. For more information, read my article on how to stop eating sugar

Regulate your blood sugar levels with spices, supplements, and foods:
I take cinnamon regularly along with dehydrated wheat grass juice in a glass of water. I feel it helps me regulate my sugar levels quite well.

Cinnamon is one of the most famous spices for lowering blood sugar. But I would ask my doctor first. Research findings about cinnamon seem to contradict each other. Here is an excerpt from examine.com
“The current state of the science shows no definitive proof that cinnamon capsules will be effective in humans with diabetes, although the quality of the evidence to date is quite low. However, at least one trial showed benefits in people with higher FPG and HbA1c measurements, which suggests that cinnamon may be more beneficial in people with less well-controlled diabetes.”

Wheat grass is a popular remedy for several ailments. Research indicates it has the potential to curb your cravings by making you feel more satieted and decreasing blood sugar. It seems to help with weight-loss as well. Below are two excerpts from an article on all the benefits of wheatgrass juice on Healthline:

Some animal studies have found that wheatgrass may help decrease blood sugar levels, though more human studies are needed.

Human and animal studies have found that the thylakoids in wheatgrass and other green vegetables may increase satiety and weight loss.

I also love Spirulina which seems to curb my appetite and help me lose a little weight without any noticeable change in my diet.

To a lesser degree, ginger, turmeric, fenugreek, and most spices and herbs seem to have some effect on blood sugar levels.

I also feel that salad or any dark green vegetable helps regulate my sugar cravings. I suggest you try having a large bowl of green salad at lunch and at dinner time for a few days. And, see if it has a similar impact on you.

As I have written above, my preference is salad and most raw, dark leafy vegetables such as spinach, and also broccoli.  

Find foods that lower your desire for sugar: 

I know which foods seem to help you me. But your body may react differently to certain foods than mine. So, I would suggest you try my test and learn approach.

Test adding different foods to your diet, and pay attention to how it impacts your cravings and satiety. You will notice that some foods curb your appetite for sweets while others enhance it.

For example, a cup of green tea curbs my sugar cravings. A daily intake of blueberries seems to prevent diabetes for people who are most at risk. Alpha-lipoic acid is often recommended as a supplement for people with a high blood sugar level. I tried to take it with ascorbic acid for its antioxidant properties. It worked best when taken on an empty stomach. But I don’t use it anymore.

Make sure you have enough sleep: Sleep deprivation will lead you to drink coffee or look for stimulants to get through the day. Instead of doing this, get some exercise.

Exercise regularly: You can do small sets of movements during breaks and also 40 minutes of exercise three times a week or some brisk walking—anything that will get your heart racing. Walk to the store. Climb the stairs. If you work in an office and are seated most of the day, use the pomodoro technique. It allows you to take a short break every 25 minutes. Instead of using those five minutes for a coffee break, do some stretching and a few squats if possible. Whatever you do, get off your chair. Start breathing deeply and get a glass of water.

Stay away from artificial sweeteners at all costs: I have allowed several good teeth to decay because of my addiction to sweets. I believe what started it was artificial sweeteners. They made me feel that I was in control of my sugar addiction when I was not. For example, I thought I could have sweets as long as I was drinking artificially sweetened sodas. However, artificial sweeteners have now been found to cause massive sugar and sweet cravings.

Artificial sweeteners may seem like a smart way to eat less sugar, but nothing could be further from the truth. They trick your brain into craving sugar even more than sugar itself. Just eliminate them from your diet entirely. You may use natural stevia extract, though, and herbal teas.

Alleviate your sweet tooth with herbal teas: If you grow tired of water, you may try licorice or anise herbal teas to get a sweet taste in your mouth instead. You may add some stevia also. I drink licorice tea regularly, although personally, I don’t care for it.

Licorice may increase your blood pressure if use it regularly, so don’t use it if you have high blood pressure. You may also occasionally have green tea. It will lower your blood sugar levels and your cravings for sweets. Unfortunately, green tea is also a diuretic and a stimulant, so use it sparingly.

Don’t mix sugar with other stimulants: Caffeine can create more stress and promote extra cravings. Here is an article that explains the impact of coffee on your adrenal glands and sweet cravings. Stay away from energy drinks, energy bars, milk chocolate, and black teas as much as possible. It may seem almost impossible at first but don’t worry. EFT will help you bust any cravings in a few minutes. Click here to get access to my free video training series that will get you started in no time.

Keep sweets away from you, especially at work: It may seem impossible not to have sweets in the kitchen when raising children, and ultimately I don’t think that eliminating sweets from your house is a definite solution. You may have some sweets occasionally, but until you feel more in control of your cravings, do your best to eat sweets when eating at a restaurant or away from home. This is not a rule or a must in anyways. But this is something you want to practice 90% of the time.

This way you train your brain to eat sweets only while away from home. This is what I do with pastries and I find it most helpful.

If you binge on sweats in your car, this tip may not be much help to you though in which case you want to take a more holistic approach to this problem. A good place to get started is reading my post on how to stop binge eating without professional help

Whatever you do, keep sweets away from your desk—just don’t bring them there. If you’re sharing a desk, ask your desk-mate to keep sweets out of your sight.

Instead, use the Pomodoro technique to keep yourself alert and refreshed, and drink water regularly during breaks.

After 30 days, you will look younger and thinner; you will feel more alert; and you will be more productive than ever.

Use this simple food trick to limit your sweet consumption: When you’re having a craving, try eating a raw vegetable such as a celery stick before each sweet, and drink a glass of water after. It will stop you from eating too much sugar and train your unconscious to reach for raw vegetables, water, and nutrient-filled food first.

You still can have your sweets, but this technique will help prevent you from going on a sweet-binging cycle for days. Once again,

Want more tips like these? I provide even more tips in my article on how to stop eating sugar.

Coaching Tips: How to Stop Craving Sweets Permanently

As you implement all the tips on this page, eliminating cravings as they arise is going to get easier. but wouldn’t it be even better if you didn’t experience any craving at all? In this section, I will share with you tips and techniques that will help you achieve just that.

How to Get Rid of a Sweet Craving

Use the #1 craving busting technique I know: The most efficient technique I know for getting rid of a sweet craving is EFT—emotional freedom technique or also referred as tapping. Sometimes, EFT can provide permanent results.

My chocolate consumption has drastically dropped since my one EFT session for chocolate craving during my practitioner EFT training. I used to binge on milk chocolate during PMS.

I still eat chocolate, but mostly dark chocolate and in a moderate amount. The sweet taste of milk chocolate tends to disgust me very quickly now.

I have created a video training series to help you get started with EFT for free: Get immediate access to my free video training series so you can stop cravings in as little as eight minutes.

Use the power of choice: In the middle of a craving, you may feel that you don’t have a choice over than to give in. That’s not true.

You can learn to master your power of choice:

When you see your hand reach out for a sweet, pause for a minute and ask yourself:

“Is this really what I want to do?”

“Am I sure this is what I truly want?”

“Is this what I truly want?”

“Is this what I truly need?”

If not, ask yourself:

“What is a better way to satisfy that need?”

This will give yourself the chance to actually choose what you eat. It’s a very empowering experience.

If you decide to eat that sweet anyway, you will know that it is not because of addiction or compulsive eating; it’s just because it’s normal to have some sweets occasionally. Most of the time, however, you will realize that you have a better option.

Sometimes, you may hear a rebel voice saying…”I won’t be bothered.”, “I don’t care. I just want to have it.” that will want to stop you from exercising your power of choice. There is a reason for it… but this is beyond the scope of this post.

What I can tell you for now is that…

it’s usually because you have deprived yourself too much and for too long in some way.

This is what happened to Sara. She had deprived herself of something so much that it made her crawl to the kitchen every night and empty the cupboards and freezer from anything with a chocolate taste.

How to Prevent Sugar Cravings From Ever Returning

Be present: The most obvious tip is to pay attention to what you’re eating and also to your stress levels and feelings.

Sweets are often a comfort food, a reward, or a way to induce an emotional response, such as relief, belonging, or peace.

If you notice that you eat sweets to change your mood, then your sugar cravings may be related to emotional eating. Supplementation and diet changes can help. But won’t solve emotional eating issues. If that’s you, you need to learn how to deal with your emotions differently among other things.

This is usually because you have created an unconscious mental association between food and these positive emotions.  And, now your brain creates a craving whenever it assesses you need some relief, comforting and so forth.

Being present will help you help you be more self-aware and stop functioning on autopilot.

Practice being present by pausing for a few seconds several times a day to sense how your breathing, your heart rate, and your mind are there for you. Listen to what your body needs and what you need, and do what you can to nurture yourself without food. More about stress eating here.

Change your perspective and gain control over your consumption of sweets: The first thing I want you to consider is that most candies and candy bars are so processed that they are no longer food. They cannot nourish your body.

This may not be true for all sweets, but think of candies that have the colors of your kid’s highlighters, or that taste like nothing you can find in nature.

These are chemicals, not foods. My “prime directive”—I used to be kind of a trekkie—is to always respect my body. It’s so strong in me that I’m repulsed at the idea of eating most candy bars. Now, I want you to stretch things a little further.

Think of what sugar will cost you in the future. The main idea here is to do your best to mentally dissociate sugar from pleasure.

Cookies and candies are not so appealing since I realized that they have probably caused four of my teeth to rot. Furthermore, sugar will make you diabetic, promote weight gain and premature aging, and support cancer cell growth. It contains no nutritional value, but it leaches minerals out of your body.

How will your health be, how will you look, if you keep on eating sweets? You’ll look much older than you could have otherwise. Your loss of control over what you eat will gradually erode your self-esteem.

This may be a bit tricky because you don’t want to demonize all sweets. For example, it’s fun to have some cake on your birthday. So you have to make it very clear to your mind that sugar is not fun as an ongoing fix but is OK to enjoy occasionally.

Maybe, what I have just shared with you seems impossible to do right now.

That’s OK. Almost everyone I have worked with didn’t think they could find peace with food until they did. If your sugar cravings are constant and very intense, you will find more help below.

Find your triggers: When you are present to yourself, you will notice that certain events or situations will trigger a craving response. Or you will notice that you have created a habitual response to certain activities; for example, you have a latte after lunch every day. In this case, your brain has associated one action with the action of eating sweets.

Your craving may also be a reaction to an emotional trigger. “You eat ice cream after a fight with a friend or after a breakup.” The more you know and understand your triggers, the more you can exercise your power of choice.

Find your unconscious beliefs: I have covered this in my previous article about goal setting.  Usually, strong emotional responses and cravings stem from an unconscious belief. During a craving, you can make a self-inquiry that will help you to discover the hidden beliefs that are covertly leading your life. Once you know them, it becomes easy to reprogram them

Create a mental image of who you want to become: Here you do the reverse of what we did in the “change your perspective” tip. You play your ideal movie—you look great, you eat what you want, you are craving-free. Play that mental movie three times a day as long as you need it. It will prevent cravings. Now you know how to stop craving sweets and eliminate sugar addiction for life.

In conclusion:

The strategies you need to implement to stop cravings sweets can vary according to your unique situation. If your cravings are mild, use the tips in this post to eliminate them. They work. And, they are simple and easy to implement.

But if you feel like you sugar cravings are getting out of your hands, then you will probably need extra support.

Which tip are you going to implement first? Let me know in the comments below.