It’s not your fault you are craving sugar, it’s your microbiome.

03 Apr It’s not your fault you are craving sugar, it’s your microbiome.

There are many reasons a healthy diet has some good side effects, such as losing weight (yah), craving less sugar (yah) and having more energy (always a good thing) which is awesome. Everyone at some point in their life has raved on about specific diets being the be-all and end-all, if it works for them and for good reason… everyone have a right to feel healthy and feel full of energy. Healthy eating and diets all have something in common, they usually severely reduce the amount of sugar and processed foods. Which of course is a good decision for welcoming health and wellness into your life.

But have you ever stopped to think WHY??

The one single most common and effective tool for better overall health is to eliminate sugar from your diet. Duh!! But easier said than done right?? Especially when it comes to 3pm and you need some energy to soldier on through the arvo. 

Some people are happy with not knowing what causes their cravings and happy to go cold turkey (good luck to you, whoever you are, you are gonna need it), but that is a surefire way to fail. It takes baby steps to kicking a sugar habit, it’s no easy feat so don’t feel guilty or feel like a failure if you stray and indulge.

WHY?? Because it’s not just you that’s craving sugar.

Don’t underestimate the power of your microbiome. Your gut bacteria control your cravings and there are millions of them vs the one of you. We don’t call the shots when it comes to our weight, hormones and sugar cravings. Once you know the exact WHY behind your cravings you can take back control over your own body.

There are basically 3 ways your your microbiome has you trapped craving sugar (processed carbs and junk food included).

• Sugar feeds your undesirable bacteria. You have the health promoting “good guys” and the undesirable “bad guys” that need to be kept in check. When there is to much sugar in your diet it feeds the bad guys. The cycle is a death trap because the bacteria create uncomfortable symptoms like brain fog, cravings, inflammation, disrupted hunger hormones not to mention weight gain and can contribute to a leaky gut causing a cascade of other symptoms. When the sugar craving bacteria proliferate they crowd out the good guys, creating more sugar craving bacteria, that also cause more inflammation. Keeping themselves well fed is their mission in life… craving sugar. Not so good for you though!! Slowly reducing your sugar intake, fruit intake, carb intake, eliminating processed food and refined carbs is a good start to help feed your good guys and starve off the bad guys. Which is why eating a “healthy” diet usually leaves you feeling better. You want to eat a diet rich in veggies with lots of fibre… this will help to build up the good guys and help to reduce your cravings. A really easy and simple explanation on why eating plenty of veggies helps you welcome wellness into your life, it starves off the “bad bacteria” in your gut. If a diet does not promote this type of eating… try a new one.

• Eating refined grains (white rice, white flour), high starchy (bread, pasta, potato etc) and high carb foods are broken down the same as sugar in your gut and feed those undesirable bacteria. Thats why its a good idea to reduce your carb and grain intake when you are trying to kick your sugar cravings. For example white bread gets broken down into sugar quite quickly it gets released into your bloodstream and spikes your insulin, the starches and sugar feed the undesirable bacteria the same way as a mars bar might. The problem with these refined grains and starches is we dont look at them as sugar. So when trying to kick your sugar cravings it might be an idea to skip eating bread and cereal for a week or 2 to help with the cravings and again bulk up your veggie, protein and fibre intake to help feed the beneficial bacteria and try and starve off the sugar craving bad bacteria. Plus not to mention most high carb, refined grains and starchy foods contain gluten… which damages the gut lining and can reduce your beneficial gut bugs. Another good reason to keep refined grains and starchy carbs to a minimum.

• Get inflammation causing foods out of your life. When your gut is inflamed by unhealthy food, sugar, toxic fats (deep fried food, vegetable, canola oil, margarine etc) you get inflammation in your gut. This level of inflammation can cause a leaky gut (damaged gut lining) leaving the environment less desirable for the good health promoting bacteria. This inflammation provides the perfect environment for the bad gut bugs to thrive leveling up your sugar cravings, which is exactly what you don’t want. Inflammation also impairs your hunger hormones leptin and ghrelin, making it unclear when you are craving vs hungry or when you are full so you overeat. Not to mention that inflammation can cause an overproduction of insulin, which causes you to store fat. Again… a really simple answer to reducing your inflammation is to eat more veggies that will help feed your good gut bugs, nurture the right environment for your good guys, keep inflammation in check and help you to reduce the cravings by balancing out your hunger hormones, so you know when you are hungry and when you are full… not your gut bugs controlling your cravings to suite their insatiable need for sugar.

You can start to see why some people really fail with eating a healthy diet and its not even their fault. It’s your gut bugs running the show. When you truly understand what is driving the craving and inflammation you have a much higher chance at eliminating sugar from your diet, controlling what you eat and when you eat.

It’s a good idea to have some savory (healthy) snacks on hand when you are trying to eliminate sugar to make the transition easier. Little hacks like veggie sticks like cucumber, celery, carrots and almond butter on hand, herbal tea with cinnamon (it helps with sugar cravings), a boiled egg or a savory protein snack like beef jerky or biltong. These things will not feed the sugar craving bacteria, instead satisfy your hunger not the craving.

Whatever “healthy” eating diet you choose you will need to kick the sugar cravings and nourish your beneficial bacteria.