7 Ways to Fight Sugar Cravings | Delicious Sugar-Free Recipes

#1 Drink more water

Have you heard the saying - hunger is thirst in disguise? There is some truth to that, thirst is often confused with hunger or cravings. When you feel a sudden urge for a sugary food, try drinking a glass of water and wait a few minutes. If the feeling goes away you know you were just thirsty. Drinking enough water throughout the day is a good idea for other reasons too. It can reduce appetite and even help with weight wellness.

#2 Avoid your triggers

One of the most effective things you can do is to avoid situations that trigger your cravings for sugary foods and drinks. Here are a few common examples of those.

• Every time you open your pantry and you see cookies and chocolate bars.
• Every time you walk past a bakery and smell fresh pastries.
• Every time you are stressed and hungry while shopping.

Once you identify situations that make your cravings come on strong, you can make changes to prevent them from happening regularly.

#3 Eat more protein

Protein is really effective at reducing appetite and cravings. If you make sure all your meals are high in protein you can feel full and satisfied for longer. For example, research shows that eating a high-protein breakfast reduces cravings significantly (1). It also shows that having a higher protein intake overall reduces the desire to snack at night by 50% (2). If you want a few tips for how to include more protein into your diet, check out our previous blog post.

#4 Plan your meals

Skipping meals or having to improvise on the go often leads to increased hunger and poor diet which is the perfect environment for sugar cravings. When you don’t have to think about what to eat for your next meal, you will be less likely to experience cravings. If you want inspiration, you can check out our beginner keto meal plan or a 5-day low carb meal plan to get you started.

#5 Get enough good sleep

Research shows that sleep deprivation is another important factor that can lead to poor appetite regulation and strong cravings (3). Regularly getting 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep is something that could have a significant positive impact on your overall wellness, including less sugar cravings. Good sleep could also help you manage stress better. Stress has been shown to induce food cravings and negatively influence eating behaviours (4).

Try our #HappyNewYou challenge to practice stress management techniques and improve your sleep hygiene.

#6 Make delicious sugar-free desserts

All of the tips above should help you avoid sugar cravings. But you can’t control everything and some cravings will always be a part of your life. And that’s good! Afterall, you want to enjoy yourself sometimes too. Thankfully, there are sugar alternatives that don’t share the same negatives. For example, erythritol has zero calories and doesn’t spike your blood sugar. You can read more about the benefits of erythritol in our other blog post.

Here are four of our favourite sugar-free desserts that are sure to satisfy every sweet tooth. Their delicious sweet taste comes from erythritol and other naturally sweet ingredients such as dried coconut. Enjoy!

Mini chocolate lava cakes

Low carb cinnamon rolls

Sugar-free coconut macaroons

Hot love raspberry cake

#7 Don’t do it alone

It’s always easier to face hardship with someone at your side. Talk to your friends or family about your sugar cravings and share your sugar-free desserts with them, make them a part of it. They will be your support when you need it and you can encourage them to reduce sugar in their life too!

It’s not necessary to avoid sugar completely but most of us could benefit from eating less of it. With the techniques and recipes from this article, you’re sure to succeed.