Manage your sugar cravings with strategies from scientific studies
Overconsumption of sugar is bad for your bones and your health. So why does your body crave it?
In this article, you’ll learn about the science behind sugar cravings and the many ways they develop and persist. We’ll also examine a major systematic review of studies on the relationship between sugary drink consumption and bone loss.
You will also learn strategies to break the vicious cycle of sugar cravings and develop healthy habits without sacrificing your appetite.
Sugar Sugar Sugar
Sugar cravings are common among people who follow a standard Western diet. Even if you eat healthier and more balanced, it is easy to fall into a sugar habit.
Whether it’s everyday sugary desserts, sweet snacks or sugary drinks, the food industry makes sure that sugary foods are easily available and hard to resist.
One of the major negative effects of consuming foods high in added sugars is on blood sugar levels. When you eat refined sugar, your save our bones program blood sugar levels rise rapidly. However, this spike in blood sugar levels does not last long and creates a series of peaks and valleys that put a strain on your body’s regulatory system.
When sugar levels spike, the body is temporarily flushed with easy energy, but it burns the sugar quickly, causing a crash. To quickly solve the crash problem, you may experience a craving for more sugar. You see how a vicious circle is created.
This cycle can be created and maintained by several common issues and behaviors.
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Sugar causes blood sugar spikes, which can lead to a vicious cycle of energy highs and lows that fuel sugar cravings. Poor diet, sugar consumption habits, mineral deficiencies, and dehydration can all cause fatigue and sugar cravings.
New research links loneliness to sugar cravings
A recently published study of 93 healthy premenopausal women found that social isolation is linked to altered processing of food signals by the brain.
Researchers showed participants images of sweet foods, savory foods, and pixelated non-food control images during MRI scans of their brains. Participants with higher levels of perceived social isolation were more likely to have a larger brain response to images of sweet foods.
“These findings indicate that increased loneliness may be associated with brain patterns indicating difficulties in motivation, control, and processing of internal states in response to food and increased changes in eating behavior, obesity, and psychological symptoms.”2
In this study, social isolation and loneliness were linked to a brain response that made it harder to resist sweets and the energy boost that sugar brings. Based on this finding, improving your social health may help reduce sugar cravings.
If you are experiencing social isolation and loneliness, create opportunities to form relationships and participate in social activities. Find local community centers, recreation facilities, or libraries that offer group programming. Sign up for a class at a local art studio, gym, or continuing education program. Enlist the help of family and friends to increase your social connectivity.
Better social well-being is also associated with better bone health. This can be partly attributed to better mental health and the positive habits and behaviors that good mental health enables.
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A study of 93 women linked social isolation to the brain’s response to images of sweet foods, suggesting that loneliness is linked to sugar cravings and a reduced ability to resist them. Improving your social life can help you make better food choices and build other bone-healthy habits.
Sugary drinks and bone loss
A systematic review published in Nutrition Journal analyzed 26 studies with a total of 124,691 participants. The included studies compared participants’ sugary beverage (SSB) consumption with their bone mineral density (BMD).
The study found that there is a significant inverse association between SSB intake and bone mineral density (BMD) in adults.3
The studies included in the review used different methods to assess SSB intake and measure BMD, which strengthened the conclusions drawn from the analysis.
This study highlights the importance of resisting and preventing sugar cravings for Savers. Consider the strength of the study’s conclusion about sugar intake and bone health.
“The results of the qualitative review supported the finding that SSB intake was associated with bone health. There has been a global effort to reduce excessive SSB consumption through approaches such as nutrition education, campaigns and policy implementation. We confirmed that these efforts not only prevent obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, but also have a beneficial effect on the bone health of the population.”3
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A systematic review published in Nutrition Journal found a significant inverse association between sugary beverage intake and bone mineral density (BMD) in adults. This study illustrates the importance of resisting and preventing sugar cravings for bone health.
Strategies to Overcome Sugar Cravings
Knowledge is your first tool for overcoming sugar cravings, and you’ve learned a lot in this article so far. Being able to notice a craving and understand where it might be coming from is a powerful foundation for choosing different behaviors in response to a craving.
Try these additional strategies to change your choices. Over time, you may find that your cravings for sweets diminish.
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Knowing why sugar cravings may occur is a helpful step toward beating them. Try the strategies listed above to curb cravings and build bone-healthier habits.
What this means for you
You don’t have to let your sweet tooth rule you. Take action to interrupt your sugar cravings and build healthier habits. Eating less sugar can protect your bones and overall health, and reduce your risk of fractures.
That doesn’t mean your diet has to be bland and unsatisfying. Check out the bone-healthy desserts (and other dishes!) included in the Save Institute’s Bone Appétit cookbook and meal planner. You’ll love Chocolate Banana Pudding, Country Peach Cake, Apple Crisp Delight (to name a few), because the recipes in Bone Appetit offer sweet and indulgent dessert and snack options that you can incorporate into your 80/20 pH-balanced diet without compromising your bones.
Making the healthiest choice is only useful if it is sustainable. By making healthy choices that you enjoy, you can build good habits that will last a lifetime.
References
1 https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.01010.2007
2 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2817148
3 https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12937-021-00698-1
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