We all know the feeling, you finish dinner, you’re not hungry and yet you still just crave a little something sweet to cap off the meal. Do you feel like you are always craving sugar?

Sugar is extremely addictive and unfortunately not great for your health. Cutting sugar from your diet can have great effects on your health, including weight reduction, heart health, decreased risk of diabetes and much more. But don’t worry we are here are share some helpful ways to combat those pesky cravings.

Probiotics

Taking a daily probiotic can do wonders for your health. There is new research coming out everyday linking the bacteria in your gut with signals throughout your body including your brain. This is called gut-brain interaction. Linking the bacteria in your gut to emotional and neurological outcomes. Having healthy gut bacteria can lower cravings for certain foods, including sugar.

Probiotics are ‘good’ or ‘healthy’ live bacteria that grow and live in your intestines. They have positive effects on your digestion and gut health. Taking probiotics has shown to reduce anxiety, stress, and depression in individuals, some of the emotional reasons we may have increased sugar cravings.

The different bacteria in your gut also influence your food choices, without even being aware. Healthy bacteria often thrive off of healthy nutrients like fiber and fats causing us to want more of those foods, while unhealthy bacteria thrive off of sugar, causing those cravings to increase. By taking a daily probiotic you introduce more healthy bacteria to your gut, causing a shift in your gut bacteria and changing the gut-brain interaction in your body.

Magnesium

Magnesium is a mineral found naturally in many foods including nuts, seeds, whole grains, leafy greens, and beans. It plays many important roles in the body including blood sugar regulation.

When you eat carbohydrates your body releases insulin, which in turn manages your blood sugar levels. Magnesium is released from your kidneys during this process, playing a role in sugar metabolism. Diets high in magnesium have been associated with lower risk of diabetes because of the role it plays in blood sugar metabolism. When our blood sugar remains more stable our cravings tend to also decrease.

Magnesium can also help with sleeping, something many people struggle with, especially with age. The nutrient has shown to help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer throughout the night. Alternatively, if you have trouble sleeping, you may be deficient in magnesium.

Better sleep can have effects on stress and anxiety levels as well as reducing feelings of tiredness, all of which tend to increase sugar cravings.

Another great thing about magnesium supplementation is that there is little to no adverse effects. Some people may experience diarrhea with very high amounts of magnesium supplementation (above 5,000mg) but otherwise if your body has enough the kidneys will simply excrete the excess amount in the urine.

Overall, sugar cravings can be very difficult to combat, especially at first. Learning to manage blood sugar control can help to decrease cravings. Having a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables and whole grains while cutting down on sugar and artificial sweeteners is a great start. But, if you still find it difficult to cut down, supplementing with probiotics and magnesium might be the extra boost that can help.

This article was written by Amanda Barnes, RDN.

Sources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4228144/
https://chriskresser.com/do-gut-microbes-control-your-food-cravings/
https://nccih.nih.gov/health/probiotics/introduction.htm#hed6
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/

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