Sugar Addicition...does anyone have any advice?

Why do I have such a sugar addiction?

I am not sure what the problem is...but have almost zero self-control over sweets.  Not every sweets, but the worse possible kind....pure sugar candy.

For example:

• I could eat and entire bag of jelly beans, which are so sweet, my teeth ache from the sugar...yet I still want more and crave them.
• I could eat handfulls of candy corn or the little orange candy pumpkins...and never be satisfied with them.
• At work, when people have sweets that I like at their desk, I will grab handfuls and stuff into my pocket and eat later.  But it is not as if I can eat one super sugar snack and then be fufilled.  I need 10 or 20 or 30.  I will eat them until they are gone.

This of course is always sneak eating...in my office or my car.  If someone were to catch me, they would probably have me committed. 

The interesting thing is that I am totally consious of the entire experience...yet I can watch myself grab handfuls of super sugarary sweet candy and just stuff it into my mouth....and I will sit there and say to myself...what are you doing..why are you doing this...and I keep going until it is all gone.

 

At home, I will not keep them around, or if I do, I will make sure to pass around and get them out of the house as quickly as possible.

 

-Is there something that I am denying myself, because of dieting, that is causing severe cravings?

-Is there some advice to control?

-Do other people have this problem?  What do you do?

-Is having my mouth wired shut an acceptable solution?

Causes of sugar cravings are many and varied....

- Habit... you associate certain times, locations, activities with sweets

- Low blood sugar.... caused by lack of food, going too long between meals or a diet too high in processed and refined starches

- Certain mineral deficiencies e.g. zinc and chromium

- Stress relief... emotional association between sweets and happiness/reward/good times

- Self-denial... the 'forbidden fruit' effect.

So to get around the sweet craving it can help to change your routine,so that the normal cues are not there, change your diet to include fewer processed High GI foods and more Low GI wholefoods, eat/snack more regularly, eat more food in total, take a zinc/chromium supplement, find other stress-busting techniques and don't try to 'ban' sweets or eat them secretly but enjoy them openly in smaller amounts.

Well, probablty not what you want to hear but... Your glucose levels are probably all over the place, your bodies got accusmed to it and the more you feed it, the more its going to want... the only way to fix it really is to just stop...

Try to drop sugar almost entirerly for 2 weeks...  (That means soda, candy, junk food, limit the diet soda as well as that'll just induce your sweet tooth)... You'll find that your sugar cravings should almost disapear, slowely reintroduce 'happy' solutions of sugar back into your diet as nessarcy...

Me too! I have always had a pretty bad sweet tooth. I will eat straight sugar, molasses and honey (always in private, of course). I have learned to control it pretty well over the years, but I have lost all control over the holiday season, which basically started at Halloween and ended with Easter.

I do have sensitive blood sugar levels. I will cry or get incredibly mean if I go for too long without eating. I have found that increasing my protein helps stave off sugar cravings. I keep string cheese on hand as a quick snack.

Right now, I'm doing a week with no sugar at all, except for unprocessed fruits. I am training myself to walk past the candy bowl, and I am hoping that I will eventually learn to stop seeing it as an option.

After this week, I plan to reintroduce sugar in very limited amounts, only eating what I really enjoy. I also plan to continue to not eat any sugar at work, because it is usually boredom or stress that causes me to take candy.

I suggest protein and LOTS of water to help you ride out the cravings. It's tough to break, but you can do it.

Whenever I have some sort of "sweet" craving - I pop in a piece [or 2] of Orbit Gum! That stuff is amazing! Other alternatives would be to brew coffee [decaf in the afternoon] and sweeten it with Stevia... honestly it works nicely as a "sweets" replacement... and in the summer time you can make a "smoothie" simply out of brewed coffee, some ice cubes & Stevia... you just need a blender! I live on these smoothies - plus they help you get your allotment of water for the day too! :) 

I used to be a huge sugar addict too, until I heard that some people crave sugar when their protein intake is low.

Since I started eating more lean protein (mostly beans and legumes, and occasionally nuts and seeds) my sugar cravings have gone way down.

Also, if you are able to reduce your sugar intake for a week or two, your body will start to crave it less. If you can use willpower to get through the beginning, your tastebuds will adjust to help you when willpower runs out.... because it always does! :)

I have a major problem with sugar... and i have found when i get a craving for sweets i eat raisins (without added sugar) it really helps me...

I was addicted to Coca-Cola. Seriously.  Last year, I went off of it.  I started each day and went longer before I had my first fix, then the next day I went an hour or two.  And gradually, I didn't have my first Coke until around 7pm and didn't have another one because I went to bed.  Then, I just did one day without.  It took about a week, but it was worth it.  You could try it for the same thing...  Each day, wait until later in the day to consume the sugar, until one day, you go without.

Also, like Sara(h?) said, starting your day with protein is a big help.  When you start it off in the morning, it gets you better on track and your body is more full.  I love the Kashi Go Lean Crunch (with the blueberries on the front).  It has like 9g of protein in a cup.  And it tastes just enough sweet for me that I like it, not just endure it.

I also do the gum thing.  Extra is sugarfree and like 5 calories-so basically nothing.

One other effort to try-- using fruit as your dessert/sweets.  I like getting the no sugar low fat vanilla yogurt and putting it over my bananas and strawberries.  To me, it's just as good as ice cream, but a much healthier alternative.  Just make sure your yogurt is a healthy option, or else you may end up with a lot more calories (and sometimes high fructose corn syrup).

Good luck!

I used to have a huge problem with sugar addiction. I think it started when I used chocolates to keep my energy up through long maths classes at school. Then, every time my energy level dipped a bit, I'd crave sugar. After that I craved it when I was bored, or when I saw someone else eating it, and even just after a big meal because I felt sluggish.

When I first started losing weight I was on a WeighLess program that limits you to 3 spoons of sugar a day, in any form. It was tough to stick to at first (it helped to allow myself a smallish treat over the weekend that I didn't count), but I found it quite liberating to stop needing it all the time. Nowadays, I CAN'T eat so much sugar or I feel ill. I still find I have to eat roughly every 2 hours to avoid cravings, but instead of sugar I eat:

carrot sticks (if you don't find them appetising on their own, try dipping them in a home-made dip of cottage cheese, yoghurt and sweet chilli sauce)

a piece of fruit (works very well for that 4pm sugar dip)

yoghurt (plain, on top of sliced fruit or with a spoon of honey)

home-made muffins (http://caloriecount.about.com/recipe/95196.ht ml). They're about 100 calories each and feel really sweet and filling with all the dates and apple.

coffee (with low-fat milk and NO sugar)

a slice of toast and peanut butter

a boiled egg

a big glass of water before eating anything else

 

I'd also suggest not carrying money with you if you don't plan to go shopping. Then even if you feel like sweet snacks, you can't do anything about it. And never buy a large bag - stick to the small size so it doesn't matter if you eat it all at once. I don't recommend replacing sugar with sweetener except in emergencies to avert an oncoming binge. It's been linked to cancer, and it also trains your brain not to notice how sweet your food is. Then if you eat lots of sugar, your body no longer reacts by making you feel ill.