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Even when you change your eating habits for the better and incorporate cleaner foods, you can still fall victim to massive cravings for carbs. We might attribute these cravings to a lousy day at work or a stressful week of deadlines, but carb cravings can also be a result of physiological imbalances.
The stress hormone cortisol skyrockets along with your blood sugar when you are stressed. To compensate, your body releases insulin, the fat storage hormone, to help stabilize your blood sugar. When that happens, insulin tends to overcompensate and your blood sugar dips lower than it should. Your body then becomes confused and thinks it needs more energy; thus, a carb craving is born.
Now that you know the process that leads to carbs lust, you can take steps to outsmart your body’s desire for excess carbs. But first, consider taking steps to reduce your stress or learning healthy coping mechanisms for when those cravings show up. Plus, you’ll need to change your eating habits so as to satisfy that carb craving without derailing your health progress.
Here are a few tricks to overcome carb cravings successfully.
The Salty Swap for Carbs
The next time you can’t shake your craving for a crunchy, salty snack like potato chips, go for something that gives you what you want in a healthy way. For example, carrot and celery sticks with a side of hummus or nut butter will fill you up and fuel you for the rest of your day. You can also air-pop popcorn or roast chickpeas, sprinkling each with a little sea salt to fulfill your saltiest desires.
The Sugary Sweet Swap for Carbs
Is your sweet tooth at it again? The next time you’re longing for a dessert, trick your brain to desire something naturally sweet that isn’t full of refined sugars and processed junk. A square of pure, 80 percent dark chocolate is a satisfyingly indulgent treat that won’t derail your health routine. You could also have a banana “shake” using almond milk, a dash of cinnamon, and a few drops of vanilla extract for a treat will satisfy your sweet tooth, guilt-free.
The Pasta and Bread Swap for Carbs
Staple items you’ve always eaten with every meal–rice, pasta, bread, and even cereal–are all high-carb foods. They will undermine your efforts to eat healthily if you consume them too often. Luckily, you can make swaps that will fill you up while still being wholly satisfying to your palate. Conquer your pasta fixation by trading white pasta for black bean pasta or red lentil pasta, or use a spiralizer to make yummy noodles out of vegetables like sweet potatoes, zucchini, and squash. Cauliflower is a great option for making pizza crust, breadsticks, mashed “potatoes,” and cauliflower rice (which you can buy already prepared in most supermarkets).
The Processed Foods Swap for Carbs
Few people realize that processed foods are constructed scientifically to hook you by changing how your brain is structured and ensuring that you’re constantly wanting more of these foods. Let’s face it, they’re delicious and almost drug-like in their ability to create a food addiction. By eating more low-glycemic whole foods that are rich in fats and good protein, you retrain your brain and palate to crave good stuff rather than addictive processed items.
The Vitamin-Mineral Swap for Carbs
We often underplay the importance of minerals and vitamins in quelling carb cravings.
- Magnesium helps regulate blood sugar and insulin levels and reduce cravings. Leafy green veggies, seaweed, and raw cacao are good sources.
- Chromium is a micronutrient known for helping reduce blood sugar. Food choices include meat, cheese, and some spices like black pepper and thyme.
- Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) helps make enzymes that aid fat metabolism and is found in asparagus, bananas, fish, green beans, and almonds. Vitamin B7 (biotin) helps the body convert carbs into glucose and metabolize fat and protein. Stress can deplete your biotin stores, as can digestive troubles, so you can rebuild it by consuming nuts, sardines, beans, mushrooms, cooked eggs, and cauliflower.
- Glutamine eliminates carb cravings and lessens fixation on food because the brain uses glutamine as an energy source.
- Acetyl-L-Carnitine helps you burn body fat and elevate energy levels, making it less likely that you’ll reach for carb-heavy foods.
Now that you’ve gotten some ideas on how to tackle those carb cravings, make sure to stock your kitchen consistently with these ingredients so that these swaps become second nature.
Which type of carb craving (salt, sugar, pasta-bread) do you experience the most? How have you handled those cravings in the past?
My friend was telling me yesterday how he craves carbs so much! I said I didn’t think I did but when I do crave weird things like fried tofu or carrots and dip, that’s my body saying something!!
The carb craving makes so much sense with the insulin release.
Tamara recently posted…Summer Recipe Series: Tomato and Vidalia Onion Pie
It does! How does your friend fight those carb cravings?
Great suggestions for alternatives. Making my dad cut down on carbs was one of the hardest things during the first year after he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Carbs helped him get full and without them, he’d always feel hungry. Fortunately, he like protein so that’s what we increased to make up for carbs.
Hi Emmy! Glad that your dad was able to make the switch to more protein. I’d love to hear about the types of positive results he’s seeing now that he’s adjusted his diet!