Studies Suggest You Can Control Sugar Cravings by Understanding Brain and Gut Function
What if the root cause of your sugar cravings is not the taste of your food, but rather signals from your gut and brain?
Most people think that the reason we want to eat something is due to the taste of that food—if it’s tasty, we want to eat more of it. It’s even harder to stop when it comes to sweet foods.
However, recent studies reveal that the reason why you crave sweeter foods (or more calories) has to do with the way your brain and gut function. These two forces play a critical role in your sugar cravings, more than the sweet taste of the food itself. By understanding these mechanisms, you can more easily control sugar cravings in your daily life.
Sugar Forms and How They Are Digested in Your Body
Sugar comes in many forms, such as glucose, fructose (found mainly in fruits), galactose, and sucrose, which is also known as table sugar or refined sugar.
There is an abundance of studies showing the negative health effects of sugar, particularly added sugar and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), an artificial sweetener used in processed foods.
Many people may think that fructose is healthier than glucose because it comes from fruits, but this notion is misguided. Your body does not respond in the same way to fructose in fruits as it does to added fructose. As added sugar, fructose is linked to conditions like metabolic syndrome, hypertension, insulin resistance, diabetes, eye damage, and kidney disease. Added fructose can also encourage inflammation and direct your body to make more fat.
Meanwhile, natural fructose found in fruits is accompanied by antioxidants, potassium, vitamin C, and fiber. These nutrients all have health benefits and outweigh any negative consequences of eating fructose. Besides, the quantities of fructose in a piece of fruit and a sweetened beverage are drastically different. For example, the fructose in a peach accounts for approximately 1 percent of the fruit’s weight, whereas fructose in HFCS accounts for 50 percent of the weight of the sweetener.
Glucose comes from the Greek word meaning “sweet.” This is a type of sugar that people get from the food they consume daily. It’s naturally found in plants and foods that contain complex carbohydrates like starches, grains, and legumes.
When you ingest fruits or foods that contain carbohydrates, they will be broken down into glucose and enter the bloodstream, where it’s transported throughout your body. However, blood glucose can’t go directly to your brain—it has to be carried through your blood-brain barrier (BBB) by the most common cell in the nervous system, the astrocyte. Your brain and body use glucose as their main source of energy, and they need this fuel to properly function.
Your Brain Is a Sugar-Consuming Machine
Although your brain makes up only 2 percent of your body, it consumes approximately 20 percent of the total calories you eat in a day. Your brain needs so much fuel because its neurons or nerve cells use up a lot of energy to function. Thus, as an organ, your brain is a “sugar-consuming machine” and is the most energy-demanding organ in your body.
The effects of sugar can be seen in many different processes controlled by the brain. For example, in a recent animal study, scientists recorded the activity of neurons, particularly in the part of the brain that responds to visual images—the so-called visual cortex. The researchers found that when the animals were well-fed, they could see more clearly than when they were fasting. In other words, your brain doesn’t function as well as it should when you don’t get enough sugar.
However, this doesn’t mean that consuming a lot of sugar is a good thing. Not enough or too much sugar is also not good for your brain and body function. Therefore, your pancreas makes insulin to keep your blood glucose levels in check.
If the glucose in your blood is too high, insulin will decrease blood glucose levels so that the extra sugar will not damage your brain and body.
In contrast, low levels of sugar in your blood will lead to a loss of energy for your brain, impairing its function and making you crave more sugar. Ongoing low blood sugar levels are linked to poor cognitive function.
Two Parallel Pathways That Push You To Seek More Sugar
Studies show that when you want to eat something sweet, there are two things happening: you’re craving a sugary taste and your neurons are sending signals that they need more of this nutrient. A sugar craving could be a sign that your blood glucose levels need to be boosted.
The first reason for sugar cravings happens due to your sense of taste, known as the taste pathway. When you eat something sweet, a sweet receptor on your tongue or palate recognizes that taste and sends a signal to your brain to influence your perception of the food. These signals can make sugary food look or sound more appetizing. Consequently, you will seek out more of that food.
This signal happens through a brain chemical called dopamine, which helps you feel rewarded when you seek out things you want. When dopamine levels increase, your brain tells you to pursue particular things. When your dopamine reward pathway is triggered, it produces a sensation of wanting more. This pathway is hardwired into your body.
The second reason for sugar cravings happens unconsciously. In fact, in one study, scientists found that mice without taste receptors still preferred sugary drinks over water.
So, if your sweet taste receptor on your tongue isn’t entirely responsible for sugar cravings, then how else can your body identify that sweet taste?
A new study reveals that neuropod cells or gut sensory cells can help respond to the presence of sugar within your gut. When you ingest any food or drink that contains glucose, fructose, sucrose, or other forms of sugar, your metabolism will convert it into glucose and your neuropod cells will recognize it as being sweet. These cells will then send electrical signals up to your brain and trigger the dopamine pathway.
With these two forces both triggering the dopamine reward pathway, your brain and body are constantly pushing you to crave sugar consciously and unconsciously.
This seems like a very depressing picture. How can you get out of this cycle? Some people can avoid cravings through willpower alone but for most, it isn’t that easy.
Practical Ways To Control Sugar Cravings in Your Daily Life
You can’t completely eliminate sugar from your life, since your body and brain need it to function. However, eating less highly refined sugar, HFCS, and sugary drinks like soft drinks or fruit juices with added sugar is a healthy practice.
Those two parallel pathways can also give you clues about how to control your sugar cravings. By controlling your dopamine levels, you may be able to influence your desire for sugar. There are a few options that are practical and safe for your everyday routine:
1. Drink lemon juice or lime juice after you eat
In one study, a group of researchers discovered that mammals are genetically hardwired to avoid sour tastes. When you eat something sour, neurons in your mouth send signals to your brain telling you to stay away from that food or drink.
Therefore, consuming lemon or lime juice with water after you eat a sugary, high-carbohydrate, or large meal may trigger signals that blunt cravings. However, if you already have low blood sugar or you’re in a fasting state, you should seek advice from your doctor before trying this strategy.
2. Consume more cinnamon
Some studies show that cinnamon can be a useful tool to control blood sugar levels. Cinnamon can help control how quickly sugar enters the bloodstream. It may accomplish this by slowing down how quickly food moves out of your stomach.
If you’re going to have a big meal with a lot of sugar in it or eat foods that contain high levels of carbohydrates, you can prevent blood glucose spikes by adding cinnamon to your foods or beverages.
However, because cinnamon contains an element called “coumarin,” it is toxic at high levels. Keep in mind not to ingest too much cinnamon—eat less than 1.5 teaspoons per day.
3. Increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids
Some studies show that omega-3 fatty acids can have many positive health effects. Can it control sugar cravings?
The neuropod cells in your gut not only respond to sugar, but also to amino acids and fatty acids such as omega-3 fatty acids. These nutrients can also trigger your brain’s dopamine system.
To reduce your sugar cravings, try taking one to three grams of omega-3 fatty acids per day as a supplement. You can also take liquid fish oil supplements but will need to check how many omega-3 fatty acids are in each serving.
Of course, you can take in more fatty acids through your food. Many foods are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, sea bass, mackerel, shrimp, seaweed, algae, walnuts, kidney beans, and chia seeds.
Here are two healthy, omega-3-rich recipes to try out: salmon-stuffed avocados and shrimp and spinach salad.
4. Get better sleep
A recent study showed that sleep disruptions can affect your appetite and glucose metabolism. Researchers also discovered that there is a particular phase of sleep that is associated with sugar metabolism. When you don’t get enough high-quality sleep, your appetite for sugary food will increase.
Maintaining a good sleep schedule can help you improve your metabolism throughout your whole body. Try to make sure you go to bed early enough each night and wake up at a consistent time each morning. Avoiding screens before bedtime may also help you sleep better.
Putting It All Together
Sugar cravings are normal, but that doesn’t mean you have to live with them. Try the above strategies to work with your body and mind to fight cravings and learn to live with less sugar.