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Login Here Signup Here Signup using FacebookI can’t seem to stop eating sweets. i can sit down and eat an entire container of dates in one sitting. no raw brownie or pecan pie bar is safe around me. i bought a few lara bars to last through the week. they didn’t make it through the night. i do have a sugar addiction, but i feel it’s more than that because i gave up processed sugar last year cold turkey and while it sucked, it didn’t feel like this. HELP! what should i be eating. im tempted to start eating cooked foods again just to stop the sugar binge.
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my tricks are whole fruit version of the dried, (for dates I usually go to apples or bananas) and lovely herbal teas. With a little honey at first to get that same sweetness and then slowly less and less honey till you get used to the wonderful taste of the tea by itself (and you may find the same wonderful change of palate with other foods. Also add some more greens and veggies to your overall diet to decrease the overall sugar content.
I read that if you go 10 days without sweets your taste buds will start to change. I’ve never tried it before so i’m not sure if it works.
I’m there with you yogaholic. I have a major sugar addiction and I have had a day or 2 this month where I ate like 20 dates in addition to other things and then went into the old sugar coma an hour later. I tend to do this at lunch and rarely at dinner. 1/1 was D-day for me and I have had no processed junk food or refined sugar since. I was on a 3 mo. binge of trash Oct-Dec. and I am still suffering the effects of it: Muscle pain, fluid retention and 20(at least!) extra pounds. The cravings are much better but with stress or with certain hormonal situations, I still have trouble with raw sugars (honey, dates, raisins). I think this is a work in progress. I start juice feasting tomorrow so hopefully that will help break this cycle. I am a binge eater from way back in my teen years and I have done much better since being close to 100% raw.
I can relate yogaholic. It’s not easy. Sure, your taste buds change to acquire flavors for different foods… but that doesn’t change cravings.
We just stopped green smoothies… we were on them for 55 days straight (minus one day in the middle somewhere). Well, it’s been 4 days since we last had green smoothies… and my cravings for sweets have returned to what they were before green smoothies. I think the green smoothies helped me. I still wanted the occasional sweet ‘something’, but my cravings weren’t as intense.
Good luck… I don’t have any other advice… because cooked or raw, I crave sweet things! It comes in waves. I think I’ll go back to green smoothies soon… maybe about 5 ounces every other day (instead of 10 oz daily).
lol! i thought you meant a real sugar coma when i clicked on the topic!
my advice is juicing, it still has a high sugar content depending on what you juice, but it might help to hold back the cravings.
also maybe some sprouted grains to fill you up.
go for apples and berries instead of dates. you can use agave to sweeten up more tart fruits.
theres a book specifically about sugar addiction, if i remember the title i’ll post it. it is likened to the root of all addictions.
intense sugar cravings could be a symptom of candida, i would ceck that out if i were you.
i would not recommend juicing, unless you do green juices…because sweet fruit juices are juice sugar without the fiber, and the fiber is equally as important (time releases sugar into blood, as nature intended).
Oh my, I so sympathize, especially when it’s time for the monthly hormone swing, which I am hitting right about….now. I end up usually having an awful binge day every once and a while, which would also be happening right now, and end up in a carby, sugar ditch somewhere on the side of the SAD highway. :( I do however, get back on my raw horse in the morning determined to straighten my butt out again. I do WAY better when I stick to my schedule, have lotsa greens, exercise and remember it’s a journey, not a race.
Thats great advice about the fiber… even if it doesn’t stop the craving.
Maybe you’re not having enough variety. Try to incorperate different raw fruits and veggies. Your body could be telling you that it needs a certain nutrient. Oh! You know what helps me when I used to get major sugar cravings. Hemp Seeds!!! But this is just something that works for me and it is very satisfying and gives you a sustainable amount of energy throughout the day. That’s why its best if you eat them in the morning for breakfast or for lunch and limit them at dinner time. Like I mentioned before, this is just an opinion.
Maybe you’re not eating enough greens either? I heard that is a common culprit for some raw foodists. It really depends on what you eat as well as your lifestyle. Hope you find your solution. Keen checking for other suggestions!
Many people have problems with dried fruit—eliminate it completely, focusing on fresh, live fruits. If that doesn’t work, choose lower-sugar fruitsberries of all kinds, kiwis, grapefruits, and passionfruit, and others.
I can completely sympathize! I love sweets especially anything chocolate although lately I have been craving Saltines. I know strange.
I find if I increase my consumption of sweet fruits like pineapple and grapes I do not crave all the sugary sweets.
Me too! ever since I went raw I’ve been craving sweets..
When I was on green smoothies for 55 days (just stopped on Sunday) I actually had a craving for salty things about day 40 of green smoothies. Never in my entire life have I had such a craving for anything salty. My sweet craving was noticeably reduced while on green smoothies… but, now that I’m off of them, my sweet cravings are returning. I’ll be drinking more greens, just less often.
I totally second the green smoothies. If you are serious about kicking the habit, I would have two green smoothies a day. Or at least a green juice and a green smoothie a day.
If you plan to drink 2 green smoothies a day… I recommend drinking plenty of water and/or foods with water (i.e. raw). After 55 day of green smoothies, green smoothies can be constipating.
Yep, sugarholic here too.
The only thing that ever helps me not to crave sugar (usually happens at night) is to eat lots of fruit. All day (or, well, until like 2-ish). And, honestly, I feel great when I do, and I don’t crave anything because I’m full, satisfied, and happy.
wow green smoothies can be constipating really that is bizarre! I put a couple of tbsp of flaxseeds in mine I guess that’s why I haven’t had that particular problem!!
You know I have found green smoothies constipating too. I tend to opt for green juices instead. When I drink green smoothies I make really sure that I drink lots of h20 as well.
The one other thing I have found that balances out the back up issue with green smoothies( cause I do like ‘em) is to drink 16 to 32 ounces ( yes 32 ounces) lemon water with ginger throughout the morning.
Hi, I got some help about my chocolate/sugar cravings a while back on this forum. Having tried juicing and green smoothies, and green powders, I found out what worked out best for me- I juice about 8 ounces pure salad greens and I use a vacuum thing with a mason jar to keep the juice as fresh as possible. Throughout the day, I have an ounce shot of this- 30 min. before meals. Even if I have given in – not sweets in particular, but carbs.(cooked) and feel like I am waking up that “monster” again, I will take a green shot. Curbs it so I don’t continue down that path. The only thing I wasn’t prepared for, I started detoxing a few days into it!
I can totally relate to how uncontrollable these cravings can be- before I decided to do something about mine, I was mixing up chocolate frosting and eating it by the spoonful. Then of course, all the guilt and self-condemnation caused me to only eat more. Will-power certainly isn’t enough. I am a firm believer in getting the body into balance and addressing nutritional deficiencies. It has worked wonders for me, in a matter of days.
Yes, what elizabethh said, CANDIDA! I think what has also helped me was doing a month long parasite cleanse (humaworm).
Yes—I agree about the candida—they make you crave sugar! Especially when you take their sugar source away—they cry feed me—feed me! You might look into Olive leaf extract and indian firebark—good to kill candida and can be taken for long enough periods to kill them and they don’t adapt to it’s killing power like conventional medicines and anti-fungals. Also, check your good gut bugs—you need good probiotic sources such as kombucha tea and other fermented sources such as sour kraut—real sour kraut!