Maybe you created the habit of eating something sweet after meals, even if you didn’t particularly crave it, and now it’s an automatic habit. Or your meal lacked completeness or pleasure, so now you are looking for more. Did your meal hit umami? Was it colorful and appealing to the eyes? Did you enjoy it? Did it fill you up? It could be because you suffer from wildly swinging blood sugar levels and your body and brain are seeking the next sugar high. Or you have an emotional connection to sweets, which is related to your dopamine production2, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure. This can go back as far as childhood. Was dessert a special family event? Did your parents reward you with sweets? Or maybe you are genetically predisposed3 to having a “sweet tooth.” The good news is that no matter the reason, cravings are typically short-lived4 (though they may peak several times throughout a day). Let’s break down why you’re feeling them and easy tips to combat the siren song of post-meal sweets: How to stop: Habit change is arguably best explained by Charles Duhigg’s Habit Loop. He lists three main components of a habit: the cue, the routine, and the reward. Your cue might be the conclusion of dinner, the time of day, or when you sit down to rest for the evening. Your routine is grabbing something sweet to eat. The reward varies from person to person and may be a surge of dopamine and pleasure, extra calories because dinner wasn’t enough, or feeling relaxed or de-stressed from your day. Duhigg recommends only attempting to change the routine while keeping the cue and the reward the same. Your new routine might be to do five pushups every time you feel the urge to go get something sweet, or make a cup of tea, take a relaxing bath, eat a piece of fruit, or read a good book. Identifying your habit loop and being able to do something about it requires introspection and mindfulness. How to stop: Try pushing your dinnertime back so that it’s closer to bedtime. This way, you don’t feel as hungry before bed. If you go to bed around 11 p.m. and you’ve been eating dinner at 5:30, push your dinner back to around 7 p.m. for a week and see if that helps. Bulk up your dinner with fibrous foods—like fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. In addition to fiber, protein increases satiety5, so you may need to up your protein as well. And lastly, increase the total calories of your meal. While the majority of Americans overconsume calories, if your stomach is still rumbling after dinner, it might be a sign you aren’t getting enough. Try increasing your dinner by 100 to 200 calories. Fats like avocado, nuts, seeds, and oil are an easy way to add calories to meals and squash sugar cravings. But watch out, some factors raise your ghrelin and lower your leptin levels, such as a lack of sleep and stress, so your hunger (by itself) is not always a reliable clue to how much you need to eat. How to stop: Pace yourself at your meal. Aim to be done with only half your meal after 10 minutes. Sitting next to the slowest eater, putting your utensils down after each bite, and chewing each bite more times can slow you down. Also, force yourself to hit the pause button before you grab that snack. You’ll survive the craving, I promise. Remember, a craving typically lasts only a few minutes, so distract yourself during that time to get through the intense feeling. Take a walk, catch up on some laundry, or prepare for your next day. How to stop: Make sure you are eating enough fiber every day to minimize any blood sugar swings, at least 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men. Choose complex carbohydrates more often, such as beans, whole grains, and vegetables, which are more slowly digested and don’t require as much insulin. And never carb it alone! Adding fat and protein to your meal or snack can also help. Watch your portions, too, ½ cup to 1 cup (or less) at meals meets most non-athletes’ carbohydrate needs. Substitute regular sugar with erythritol, stevia, or fresh/frozen fruit to lower your refined sugar intake, which can help prevent those wild swings. Emotionally eating sweets? You’re not alone. Next time you crave a sweet, ask yourself, what are you really looking for? Is it that comforting feeling of home? Is it to remember your grandparents? Is it to reward yourself for hard work or to celebrate an accomplishment? Strategize healthy non-food ways to get that pleasurable dopamine surge such as exercise, enjoying nature, make love to your partner, showing gratitude, or a preferred form of self-care. We’ve all enjoyed a sweet treat after a meal, but when it feels like you are held captive to the cravings, it’s time to do something about it. While you can go “cold turkey” on sugar or join a sugar elimination challenge and make some progress, avoidance likely won’t last forever. Habit change takes a lot of upfront effort and may take a few weeks to up to eight months to become automatic, but practicing these strategies can equip you to better handle the next time sugar cravings hit. Natalie loves spending time with her husband and three children in the kitchen, garden and in nature. She is a foodie at heart and loves most cuisines, but especially spicy Indian and Thai.
