Why Am I Addicted To Sugar? What Can I Do About It?

Transcript:

LEAH: Hello and welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition. Let me start off today's discussion by asking a few questions. Since we're into the month of October, do you already have some bags of Halloween candy sitting in your home? And if so, will they stay unopened until Halloween? If you pass by a Halloween candy jar or Halloween cupcakes at work, are you able to simply walk by or do you keep thinking about them until you give in?

Do you have a secret stash of candy or cookies in your home or in your work desk or even in your car? Do you find yourself making a special trip to the store or through the drive through to satisfy your sweet cravings? In general, do you ever try to fight your sugar cravings or cut back on sugar altogether and just can't seem to do it?

If these questions resonated with you, you are not alone. Sugar is everywhere in our food system, and simply put, it is an addictive substance. In fact, according to the Harvard School of Public Health, the average American consumes about seven tablespoons of added sugar every day.

BRITNI: Wow. That is a lot.

LEAH: It is a lot. And we often talk about teaspoons, right? So seven tablespoons translates to 21 teaspoons of added sugar. We kind of know what that looks like, but. I will say, like, would you ever sit down and, like, take 21 teaspoons and pour it into your bowl?

Or pour it into your coffee? Or pour it onto a plate and then just scoop it up and eat it? Like, when you kind of put it into that perspective, it just changes how you think about it.

BRITNI: Absolutely.

LEAH: And so this added sugar, a lot of times it's from sweetened beverages. We've talked about this a lot on the show before, things like sodas, juices, flavored coffee drinks, or even an unsuspecting beverage like a dairy free milk alternative. There is also added sugar sneaking into foods that actually might be advertised as healthy choices like whole grain breakfast cereals, yogurts, granolas, protein bars, and protein powders;

Pasta sauces, salad dressings, marinades, and even things that you think about as more savory than sweet, you can still find added sugars in there. The list goes on. We simply can't seem to get away from sugar, especially this time of year when Halloween candy and treats are everywhere. Did you know that just one fun size candy bar contains nine grams of sugar?

So that translates into two and a fourth teaspoons of sugar. And most of us, because they're the fun sized ones, you don't usually stop at one. You think, oh, they're small, so I can have maybe two or three or even more. It's easy to go there and rationalize in our minds.

BRITNI: Absolutely, it is.

LEAH: Yeah. So, since sugar consumption tends to increase starting at this time of year, then leading into the holidays, we are here to talk today about why we get sugar cravings. If you know from experience, they can really interrupt your life and I think we're going to talk about what are some things we can do to start turning down the volume on those sugar cravings or even eliminate them completely.

From a dietitian standpoint, we have ideas that actually work to help your brain stop craving sugar. It takes some effort and dedication. We'll put that there up front, but it works. So before we get too much further into the show, let us introduce ourselves. My name is Leah Kleinschrodt and I'm a Registered and Licensed Dietitian.

And joining me today is a familiar voice that many of you know. It's Britni Vincent, who is also a Registered and Licensed Dietitian. So it's good to be here with you again, Britni.

BRITNI: Yeah, I'm happy to be here. And it's a very timely topic, I think, like you said, as we're heading into the holiday season. And you talked about the why, figuring out why you have cravings. I think that is so important for people to get rid of them for good, hopefully.

And as Leah was saying, if you feel like sugar cravings have control over your life, I promise you, you are not alone. As a dietitian, sugar addiction is one of the biggest concerns that I work with on my clients on a daily basis. You may have been trying to fight your sugar cravings for years and years with no long term success.

Sugar cravings are often biochemical

But what if I told you it wasn't that you're weak willed or you have no willpower? But that your sugar cravings are biochemical. I find that once people think about that, let it sit in, they have less guilt about it and they're able to move forward and be more successful at eliminating them.

LEAH: Yeah. I've heard people say like, it's, I mean, we think about sometimes as our sugar cravings as a character flaw, but if we take that out of the equation and think actually like our biology is kind of trained to react this way and we can change that, we have tools to change that using real food and nutrients and things like that.

BRITNI: Yeah.

LEAH: Yeah.

BRITNI: And, you know, we treat sugar like a real addiction because it is a real addiction. There was a study that found that lab rats chose sugar over cocaine.

LEAH: Mm hmm. I've seen that.

BRITNI: And we know that addictions don't develop because people are bad or weak or have lack of willpower. It is our biochemistry in our brain and our body that needs healing. So we are going to get into some of those root causes today of sugar addiction and then what to do about it.

What does gut health have to do with sugar cravings?

So talking first a little bit about the science of sugar cravings, gut health comes to mind quickly. You have probably heard our gut health is really the foundation of our health. And when cravings come into play, that can be a big contributor. So when we're working on overcoming sugar cravings, we want to support gut healing, which in turn supports our brain health to create a calm mind, and less of a desire for sugar.

Did you know that the vast majority of your feel good neurotransmitters, like serotonin and dopamine, are actually made in your gut and not your brain? So serotonin makes you feel calm and can give you that take it or leave it attitude towards sugary foods. Dopamine is a really important player. Low dopamine is linked to any sort of addiction and we get a nice boost of dopamine and serotonin when we eat sugar, and it feels good; problem is it's very short lived, but then your brain gets addicted to that little burst of serotonin and dopamine, leaving you wanting more and more.

LEAH: You can't stop with just one then.

BRITNI: No, no. So to support the production of our feel good neurotransmitters, we have to support our gut health.

What can cause a “leaky gut”?

LEAH: Yeah. So to me, then that begs the question, like what causes an unhealthy or leaky gut? Like that's a term most people will recognize a leaky gut. And so then how does that tie into sugar cravings? So you were just talking, Britni, like one connection is like when we have a gut that's struggling a little bit more, we might not be making things like serotonin and dopamine as efficiently.

And when we're low in those things, we can experience more sugar cravings. Let's also talk about the bacteria though, that live in our guts. Ideally, we have a good balance of bacteria in our gut. So we always have some bad guys living in there, but the, hopefully we have more of the good guys. Or like they're, it's a checks and balances system.

They're kind of keeping each other under control for the most part. In our modern day, we tend to come up against a lot of challenges in terms of our gut health. Many exposures in our daily life can damage our gut health or cause a shift in that gut bacteria. Even healthy foods are sprayed with damaging pesticides.

Our drinking water isn't usually a hundred percent clean. So we have to think some more about some questions to ask ourselves about. gut health So do you eat gluten? We've talked on numerous shows before how gluten can be a major gut disrupter.

If you were born via C section or were not breastfed as a baby, at least for a few months, like that can just set up a different profile in that gut microbiome that might make you prone to having a little more bad bacteria or just having an imbalance and you have more of those sugar cravings. Have you needed to take antibiotics or over the counter anti inflammatories like ibuprofen in the past? I mean, most of us have.

BRITNI: Yes.

LEAH: So it's like, okay, if we need to take it for a few days here and there. That's not the big deal. It's more of like, okay, do we have chronic pain, like chronic knee pain or back pain where we're popping these every single day just to get by?

That's maybe where now we're starting to look at, are we damaging our gut with that? What kind of water do we drink? Do we drink unfiltered water or minimally filtered water? Do you drink alcohol on a regular basis? And have you been battling high stress these days? I feel like that's almost a rhetorical question because most of us are dealing with stress on some level, but high levels of chronic stress over time can cause shifts in gut bacteria.

So as you can see, there's just a lot of things that can add up over time or just a lot that, just even living our everyday lives, you know, can throw our gut balance off, and so we can do the very best we can, and we can still run into challenges.

BRITNI: Yeah, absolutely. And like Leah mentioned, your gut has that delicate balance of both good and bad bacteria. And when you consume a lot of sugar or ultra processed foods, it's going to have a negative impact on that gut microbiome leading to more of that bad bacteria than the good bugs. Probably no surprise, sugar actually feeds the bad bacteria. So when there are more of those bad guys than the good guys, those bad ones are asking for more and more sugar. So that can be a big source of people's cravings. And that's, literally your gut telling you that it wants more and more sugar.

LEAH: Yeah. And it's not just the sugar. But things like sugar alcohols, for people who have some sensitive digestive tracts like my own, that can cause some digestive disruption. Some of the artificial sweeteners can alter the gut microbiome, so we may think that diet sodas are a better alternative than like, say, your regular Mountain Dew but, there can be some drawbacks to the diet sodas also.

It can be that vicious cycle of eating sugar feeds the bad bacteria and inflames your gut, but then an inflamed and damaged gut asks for more sugar and round and round we go. Hopefully the listeners are starting to see what we mean by that sugar cravings. They're not a character flaw. It's not a weak will. It's not a lack of willpower. It is something kind of biochemical that's happening inside your body that can lead to these sugar cravings.

BRITNI: And I think it's important and I find this shocking to think about that humans are made up of more bacteria than human cells. So we really need to think about feeding the bacteria.

LEAH: Yeah. Who's running the show here? Is it us or is it our bacteria?

BRITNI: So again, we are more bacteria than we are human cells. So it makes sense if we have more of that bad bacteria, we could have a whole lot of sugar craving because that's their preferred food source. So that is why it is so important to have that balance and have more of that good bacteria on board.

And we do find that supplementing with probiotics and getting probiotic rich foods in your diet can be really, really helpful to tame some of those sugar cravings. There is a specific strain called bifidobacteria. And you long time listeners have heard us talk about lots of benefits of bifido, but there should be a lot of bifido in our intestinal tract.

So when I'm working with a client on overcoming sugar cravings, if they're not already taking bifido or probiotic, I have them start taking bifido to start. And there's capsule or powder form. And five capsules are equivalent to half a teaspoon of powder. So it can be helpful to know that.

LEAH: Yep.

BRITNI: And a lot of people prefer the capsules, because they don't need to be refrigerated. And it can be helpful to take them throughout the day for the cravings.

LEAH: And that's why the capsules are helpful, too, because they're a little more portable sometimes.

BRITNI: Yeah. So you could start with, if you've never taken a probiotic, I would start with one before each meal. And then up it to two before each meal. And the powder, you know, like you mentioned, it can be a little more difficult because it's not as portable. But if you're only going to take a probiotic once a day, you could do a quarter to a half a teaspoon of that powder. And if you forget before meals, just take it.

LEAH: That's the important part. Yep, just get it in.

BRITNI: Yep. Generally, you know, along with eating a balanced diet, which we're going to talk about, in combination with the bifido, you'll start to notice those sugar cravings really lessen. So introducing more good bacteria, specifically more bifido on board is the a critical first step in balancing that intestinal flora and healing your gut to start to overcome those sugar cravings. Like I mentioned earlier, you can eat more probiotic rich foods and anytime we can get something through food, I mean, that is, a preferred method for sure. So some of these fermented foods would be like yogurt, plain, unsweetened, whole milk yogurt.

And if you're dairy sensitive, there are some coconut based yogurts out there. Just be sure to look at the ingredients, because often sugar sneaks into those. Kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut or pickles from the refrigerator; pickles specifically you want to look for one that does not have vinegar in the ingredients, because that vinegar would kill off some of that good bacteria.

And if you can get, you know, at least one of these fermented foods into your diet every day is a wonderful thing. I know that can be hard to do, but. It's a great thing to incorporate. And then kombucha, yes, it does have good bacteria; can have a lot of sugar. So be sure to read labels and I would say limit the amount of that.

LEAH: Right. I had a client that comes to mind just thinking about bifido and the good bacteria and I saw her many years ago here at the St. Paul office and she had gone through our Nutrition for Weight Loss Foundation's program. She did great. But by our second meeting at that point, she was still having like little lingering cravings.

Not too bad, but she was like, I really wish these were gone. Like what, what's going on? And so we, you know, we talked and one thing that stood out in her history was about five years prior to when I saw her, she had had a about of C. Diff. And, you know, it had been cleared up with antibiotics and stuff like that, but like five years later, I was like, you know, there might still just be a little disruption in the gut.

C. Diff is a major intestinal infection that's oftentimes acquired by being in the hospital. It can wreak a lot of havoc in the intestinal tract, cause a lot of diarrhea, discomfort. So it's a nasty kind of bug that you want to get out of there. And so this person, when I saw her, I was like, you know, you've never tried probiotics before.

Let's just put a little bifido in there and see how you do. She was an anti supplement, but she also wanted to keep supplements minimal. So I knew I had to be very choosy about what we put in there. And I never saw her again in person, but she either sent me a follow up note or she like left a review or something like that that was like, that was the magic.

That was the thing that just kind of took those sugar cravings away the rest of the way. She had done a lot of the hard work on the front end, but that was the thing that kind of did it for her that kind of just pushed it over the edge. So that's a story I'll always remember. Yeah, that is a great story. Thanks for sharing.

LEAH: Yes. So we do need to take a quick break. You are listening to Dishing Up Nutrition and when we get back we'll dive a little bit further into some other aspects of gut health and talk a little bit more about what else we can do to help control and manage those sugar cravings and we'll be right back.

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BRITNI: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. Before we continue our conversation on sugar and cravings, we'd like to share with you a couple of our upcoming virtual cooking classes with Chef Marianne because the topics fit really nicely into what we're talking about today. With the holiday season approaching, Chef Marianne will be teaching Healthy Appetizers on November 13th and Sweets That Satisfy on December 4th.

Both 75 minute classes are held on Zoom, where you get to ask questions live, but you also receive the recording if you can't make the class or, if you just want to re-watch it. Both classes will give you recipes, a shopping list, and ideas on how to make appetizers and desserts with real, whole foods; right on time for gathering with family and friends. If you're interested, go to weightandwellness.com for more information and to register.

Sign Up For a Cooking Class

LEAH: Yeah, I think, I'm checking my calendar already, especially for December 4th with the Sweet That Satisfy class.

BRITNI: I know, it sounds fun.

More on the importance of gut health & how to heal it

LEAH: It does sound like a lot of fun. So let's bring us back into the conversation that we were having. We were talking mostly about gut health. I want to linger on that topic for a little bit longer and then we'll move on. So another piece of the puzzle when we're on that gut healing path and repairing a damaged intestinal lining or a leaky gut.

So we've talked about fermented foods, where you can get good bacteria in from the foods that you eat, but also a bifidobacteria probiotic. That can be helpful for just kind of getting that therapeutic level of probiotics into your system. There's another aspect to this though, and many of our long time Dishing Up Nutrition listeners have heard us talk about L-glutamine before.

So let's talk about the little amino acid L-glutamine. Think of it as like a building block that goes in, patches up our tissues throughout the body and especially in the intestinal tract. It's very prevalent in the intestinal tract. So L-glutamine kind of comes through, patches up or I'll say like kind of seals and heals the lining of the gut.

So we want to make sure that the lining of the gut is intact and it's healthy and it can absorb things the way that it should. And then we've also got then the probiotics, the good bacteria that fill up the intestines with those happy little gut bugs. So the kind, those are the kinds of bugs that won't be asking for the sugar.

So I always think about that approach, the L glutamine and probiotics as a one two punch for the gut. When starting a gut healing protocol, we often recommend supplementing with L-glutamine. For some extra support, the good news is, again, we can find it in foods. Where do we find it? In our protein.

Eat sufficient protein to help with the repair process

So the answer is protein, protein, protein. So think protein like meats and fish and eggs and poultry, beef. My husband's a hunter and then we're coming up to the hunting season in a couple of weeks here in Minnesota. Wild game is another good source of that protein. And so this protein is made up of little chains of amino acids and L-glutamine is in that chain.

It's actually the most abundant of all the amino acids in the human body. So you have to think, yes, L-glutamine is helpful kind of for repairing and restoring the gut lining, but also other tissues in the body. So we want to make sure we're getting enough protein in our diet every single day. This is one of the many reasons we suggest eating four to six ounces of animal protein with each meal.

It is helpful for that repair process, but it helps to cut through those sugar cravings. And I'd say like, that's one of the most effective and helpful things for my clients. So it's not just eating a little bits here and there during the day and then loading up at dinnertime. Like we want to have a good whack of protein every time we're eating throughout the day.

BRITNI: Yeah, I agree. I find this to be one of the most effective things and it's just modifying the food you eat which I think is always a preferred method and I notice this myself. If I don't get enough protein at breakfast I am way hungrier at night and it's easy to think about going into the pantry and seeing if anything's there, which there isn't ever anything there, but I know some of you can relate to that.

So that protein throughout the day is so critical. And let me share an experiment that you could do, you know, buy an inexpensive food scale, if you don't already have one in your kitchen and each time you eat a meal, take the time to measure out, you know, for women, 4 to 5 ounces of cooked protein. For a man, I would say 6 to 7 ounces.

And ideally, a snack is going to be about 2 to 3 ounces of protein. And see how you feel after doing that. I think what you're going to notice is you have less cravings. You're just more satisfied. You have less of an appetite in general. And I think it's very eye-opening because most people realize they're not eating near enough protein.

LEAH: Yep.

BRITNI: So, eating that 4-6 ounces of protein per meal and 2-3 ounces with snacks, again, it can really be like magic for reducing those sugar cravings. And the beauty of it is, it's going to happen pretty darn quickly, too.

LEAH: Absolutely. And I ran that experiment. I remember like in my early months or years of working at Nutritional Weight & Wellness, I did run that experiment. I was just curious. I measured out how much I normally would put into a dish or into a bowl or into a serving for that meat. Then I weighed it and it was two and a half ounces at a meal. So I was like, oh, I have to up my protein game quite a bit here. I have to double it basically.

So that was an eye-opening thing for me too, of like, you know, what I naturally would have gravitated toward actually we need to go even a little bit more, which is also counterintuitive to how most people think weight loss happens, right? Like actually sometimes we need to eat a little bit more.

BRITNI: Yeah, very true.

LEAH: Yeah. So protein, yes, huge and overcoming those sugar cravings. And again, clients have come back to me. They are excited that their cravings are now gone, but sometimes we still miss that bit of ritual of having the little evening sweet treat or a reward. Honestly, oftentimes it's more like, I just need that little something for myself at the end of the day for either getting through the day or the kids are in bed or whatever the case may be.

There is something special about that ritual in the evening. So we have to kind of talk through sometimes of like, okay, well, if we're not turning to the ice cream, if we're not using the candy, if we're not using the pastries, if we're not using some of that stuff anymore, what are we going to do instead? Like something else that they can look forward to, instead of the ice cream bowl.

So my challenge to the listeners out there, if you have trouble with resisting the Halloween candy or another sugary type of treat, try measuring out your protein, like Britni explained, and see if it helps those sugar cravings go away. And really we're asking you to eat more food. So as I was saying before, this should feel like the opposite of depriving yourself.

BRITNI: Oh, for sure. People eating this way, you are not going to feel deprived. You're going to feel full and satisfied and yeah. Less of that desire to, to go snacking. And I hear all the time from clients after you start to eat more real foods, you just don't have that taste for super sweet foods and beverages anymore.

I know some of you listening are thinking that will never be me. I will always be addicted to sugar. But I promise you, it is possible to not only be able to say no to sugar, but actually adjust your taste buds so your favorite sweets now will become just undesirable in the future. I know like most of us, I mean, I used to overindulge in Halloween candy.

For sure. Definitely hard for me to stop at one. Nowadays though, if I have something like that, it tastes so sweet and I much prefer just a little square of dark chocolate and that's enough for me. And I think for some people, when you're battling those sugar cravings initially, or like you said Leah, at the end of the day, you want something to unwind, it can be nice to have some alternatives in mind.

Healthy alternatives to sugary treats

The square of dark chocolate, as long as it doesn't disrupt your sleep could be an option. This time of year, I really love sautéing apples with coconut oil or butter and cinnamon. It's so good. Or what are some other things that you recommend to clients?

LEAH: It's a good question. I recently had a client where ice cream was a big thing in the evening time. So I actually pointed out, we have a, I'm probably going to butcher the name of it, but I believe it's peanut butter cottage cheese ice cream. Like that was a big rage on social media, like last summer or the summer before or something like that. So I pointed that one out.

Cause it's high protein, but you can still get that bit of sweetness and still kind of get that creaminess, that coolness factor, but better ingredients, less sugar and again, protein, so that was one I suggested to them and they were interested, they were going to take it home and try it.

BRITNI: Yeah. Awesome.

LEAH: Yeah, so lots of ideas. We've got a couple more examples like that on our website also; some different recipes or sometimes even like the energy ball recipes, so like ignore the energy part of it, but that they are kind of usually they're sweet based. Usually it's like some oats. You can put some of those really dark chocolate chips in there.

Use some peanut butter, some almond butter in there and just kind of create a little ball type of thing. So you're getting the protein in there, but it's also something sweet. And it is kind of more treat-like.

BRITNI: I think so too. Yeah. So if you're struggling with cravings, have a plan, have some options in mind, and then If you're able to get rid of the other stuff from your house, because if it's there I mean even for me it calls my name because I know what's there. But if it's not there It's out of sight out of mind.

LEAH: Yep, absolutely. So Britni was talking before, you know, there might be some people, some listeners out there that are still thinking like that could never be me when we're talking about giving up sugar or not liking sweets or if you ever think like, yeah, this will never not taste good to me or it will never not call my name.

Crave Control can help for intense sugar cravings

I do want to bring up another supplement from our Nutrikey brand called Crave Control. And as you can tell from its name, it is designed to help you stop craving sugar. And it works especially well, I do find it works well for diet soda cravings when some of those artificial sweeteners are so sweet and they're like, this can kind of help break that hold a little bit more.

The ingredients in Crave Control help the body produce more of those neurotransmitters, Britni, that you were talking about, the serotonin and dopamine and things like that. So this is a nice supplement for people having a really hard time with the sugar, the diet soda cravings and, you know, might just need a little extra boost beyond some of the initial changes that we're already doing with the food, increasing the protein and balancing blood sugars and stuff like that. It is nice to have this on hand in case you feel an intense craving coming on, or sometimes like, you know, you have that trouble spot in the day.

BRITNI: Yep.

LEAH: Yeah, I do want to mention Crave Control may not be safe for people on certain medications. I am always looking if clients are on like an antidepressant medication or anti-anxiety medication. Those are usually already working on some of the neurotransmitters. So I'm like, let's support the gut. Let's do some L-glutamine. Let's get up the protein. Let's find some other ways that we can support and get rid of those sugar cravings without The Crave Control.

BRITNI: Yes, absolutely. And the Crave Control can be great for mood and anxiety as well. So that's just another benefit of it. I find people need to take it for a while before you start to notice those cravings reduce. So just something to keep in mind.

The blood sugar connection to sugar cravings

Now that we've gone over the gut health piece, the neurotransmitters, let's talk about another big reason for sugar cravings, and that is all about blood sugar. You know, ideally we want to have balanced blood sugar throughout the day. That provides us good energy, balanced moods, just overall feeling our best. And eating a high carbohydrate or high sugar diet, that's going to create a lot of blood sugar spikes. Two, three hours later, you're going to get a crash from that.

And then, that's stressful for our body; that dip in blood sugar. So we want the quickest pick me up, which is sugar and more carbohydrates. So those cravings hit at that time. Just think about when you get cravings during the day and a lot of times it may be a couple hours after a meal and that would be a sign that it's related to blood sugar.

It very easily becomes this blood sugar rollercoaster of highs and crashing lows, which leads us to feeling more moody. I mean, the hangry. I will admit that that could happen to me. I see it with my kids. Oh yeah.

LEAH: Kids are a great window into that experience. Mm hmm.

BRITNI: So, what kinds of foods create this blood sugar rollercoaster of highs and lows? Yes, sugary sweets, but also highly processed starchy food. Pasta, rice, French fries, bread, chips, bagels. I mean, all of these foods are high in simple carbohydrates, contain very little or no fiber, protein, or healthy fat, to prevent that that spike, and all carbohydrates break down to sugar in the body.

So these highly processed carbs are going to break down to sugar very quickly in your bloodstream. And then inevitably you're going to get a crash shortly after eating it. And I think we've all felt that before and it affects people a little differently. That mid afternoon slump is a really common time, 2 3 hours after lunch, you may feel lethargic, want to take a nap at your desk, brain fog, you're moody, short tempered, likely not able to handle stress very well.

You may even feel shaky or light headed, which can be an awful feeling. It affects all of us differently but this is your body telling you that your blood sugar has crashed and you need more sugar to bring it back up. And this is what we want to avoid, this whole scenario. And when we talk about eating in balance to support blood sugar and our sugar cravings, it's to prevent these big highs and lows.

LEAH: Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Yeah. When we talk about eating in balance, for us, that means eating a balance of real food animal protein, real food healthy fats, and real food carbohydrates, those carbohydrates mostly coming from whole vegetables and fruits. So a perfect meal combination would be that four to six ounces of animal protein, a tablespoon of added fats, so the oil that you cook with, maybe like olive oil, avocado oil, maybe butter, maybe ghee.

And then you do a couple cups of vegetables on the side. So when we have a combination of those three things, the proteins, the healthy fats, and the real food carbohydrates, we feel even keel throughout the day because our blood sugar is nice and stable. We've taken out the big spikes from the processed and refined carbohydrates and the sugars.

I compare the blood sugar roller coaster to the rolling hills blood sugar. So we want to have more of those rolling hills blood sugars. So we're, we feel more even keel. Our moods are nice and stable. Energy is good. We don't get that afternoon slump. And we can feel like we can tackle whatever the day brings our way.

It's so empowering to be able to control how you feel, you know just by eating real food and especially paying attention to those blood sugars. For me, that was one of the biggest eye openers when I first started working here at Nutritional Weight & Wellness. I had no idea I was mostly on the blood sugar roller coaster day in and day out.

And it wasn't until I tried this way of eating that I was, that I saw the difference. I was like, oh my gosh, this is night and day. And now since becoming a dietitian seven years ago and working with hundreds of clients in those seven years, you know, helping them make that connection between what you eat and how you feel and how your blood sugars react, clients are able to get through their day much better.

I'm able to get through my day much better without the energy crashes and the sugar cravings. And so as a dietitian, that is one of the most rewarding experiences I have with clients. When you get those aha moments or they come back and they're like, I feel so much different at 2 PM trying eating this way than I did four weeks ago.

BRITNI: Yeah, it is amazing to see.

LEAH: Yeah. So once we start that balanced real food plan, it doesn't have to be something like this is going to take a month or two to take effect, like blood sugar reacts very quickly, even within that one meal. Like you can really start to get on a good path and a much better train.

So people will come back and say, I don't feel tempted to go through the drive thru this week, or I can walk by the candy bowl where before I couldn't, or I can walk by the vending machine where otherwise, like I would have stopped for that two or 3 PM afternoon snack every day. So as dietitians, that's why we do what we do here. It's helping our clients see how making those changes in their diet makes a huge difference in how they feel in their day to day lives.

BRITNI: Yeah, I too, I mean, having a balanced blood sugar, I feel like a totally different person. If you're just starting out, I would recommend focusing on that breakfast. Because if you start your day with balanced blood sugar, it's going to be a lot easier to manage.

LEAH: I talked about breakfast being an anchoring meal in your day. And so like, even if the rest of the day falls apart a little bit, like you have that one anchor in the beginning of the day so that the ripples don't kind of carry out too far.

Recap

BRITNI: Just to recap the best way to combat sugar cravings is to heal the gut and balance blood sugar. Simply put, we do this through eating real food in balance. Meaning, each time you eat, making sure it includes four to six ounces of animal protein, about a tablespoon of healthy fats or oils, And ideally a couple of cups of mostly vegetables for carbohydrates.

So each time you eat a balanced meal like this, you can think, I am fighting my sugar cravings. I am nourishing my body. I am healing my gut. And we also encourage taking gut healing supplements like bifidobacteria and L-glutamine for extra support.

If you find yourself needing more support or just don't know where to start in your busy life, we invite you to meet with one of us at Nutritional Weight & Wellness to create an individualized plan that works for you and your lifestyle.  To learn more about our counseling and classes, visit weightandwellness.com or call us at 651-699-3438. We are always here to help you. Have a great day.

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LEAH: Our goal at Nutritional Weight & Wellness is to help each and every person experience better health through eating real food. It's a simple yet powerful message. Eating real food is life changing. Thank you for listening and have a wonderful day.