Real Reason #3 for Sugar Cravings: Triggers by Joan Kent, PhD

Eating something sugary when you crave alcohol or sugar can backfire. This is due to internal triggers.

 

External triggers involve seeing or smelling an appealing food. That may prompt a desire for that food.

 

Internal triggers involve eating a small amount of a trigger food. Instead of taking away the craving, though, it can make us want more. In drug research, that reaction is called “priming.”

 

Sugar stimulates endorphins (beta-endorphin), and that in turn stimulates dopamine.  When a specific type of dopamine receptor is stimulated, it leads to priming.

 

As with most effects like this — called psychoactive — some people are more susceptible than others. People who are susceptible to priming can be expected to crave more sugar when those receptors bind with dopamine. Namely, when they eat some sugar.

 

But Everyone Says ….

Standard cravings “wisdom” tells us to eat a bit of the food we crave. That so-called wisdom is everywhere! But it’s terrible advice for people who are ‘attached’ to sugar (or for recovering alcoholics). Like recovered sugar addict me, they’re highly sensitive to priming.

 

In fact, priming is probably the best argument against eating sugar when you crave it. It’s likely to lead to more sugar consumption — or even start a binge.

 

Priming may mean that susceptible people will have trouble trying to quit sugar if they wean themselves off it slowly. Quitting “cold turkey” is often a better way to go.

 

Understandably, not everyone wants to hear that.  After years of eating sugar — maybe lots of sugar — you may be reluctant to let it go, right?

 

But decreasing sugar bit by bit can make getting away from it nearly impossible because priming keeps provoking the desire for more. A little sugar can be a big factor in causing relentless cravings.

 

So What Should You Do Instead?

Here’s the only nutrition magic I know.  Arm yourself with a bottle of liquid B-complex vitamins. B-complex means all B vitamins, not just B12. [Important:  please check with your doctor to be sure B vitamins are okay for you to take.]

 

When a craving occurs, take a spoonful or whatever the label calls a dosage. It will end the craving within a few minutes. Yes, really.

 

And now can I send you something? Just visit LastResortNutrition.com and grab your free copy of “3 Biggest Mistakes People Make When Trying to Quit Sugar.” It’s on me.

Brought to you by Dr. Joan Kent, best-selling author of Stronger Than Sugar:  7 Simple Steps to Defeat Sugar Addiction, Lift Your Mood, and Transform Your Health.