42: How To Kick Carb Cravings To The Curb

Why am I craving carbs? Cravings are something that almost everyone experiences from time to time. It can be totally harmless, but it can also be an issue if it’s creating weight loss resistance, metabolic issues or you’re having consistently strong cravings that you can’t seem to shake. 

In my experience there are four common reasons why people struggle with carb cravings, especially carb cravings at night. In this episode we’re going to talk about what those four reasons are and how you can finally kick your carb cravings to the curb. 

What are carbs? 

Carbohydrates are molecules that have carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen molecules. Carbs are the sugars, starches and fibers, found in fruits, vegetables, and grains.

Why am I craving carbs? 4 reasons 

1. You’re in a carb and crash cycle 
   1. Eating lots of carbs and then having energy crashes 
   2. Energy management issues 
   3. Start the day with carbs and then crash by mid-morning or lunchtime 
   4. Creates hypoglycemia (feeling tired, brain fog, feeling hunger for more carbs) 
   5. Can cause overeating 
2. Standard American Diet 
   1. Carbs beget carbs, meaning the more you eat them, the more you crave them 
   2. Addictive properties of sugar are addictive —as well as the toxic chemicals found in processed foods like breads, cakes, cookies. 
3. Insulin Resistance 
   1. When you are consuming carbs on a regular basis, insulin floods in because you have so much glucose in the blood from the carbs you are eating that your cells get overwhelmed with insulin. When this happens your blood glucose (sugar floating around in the bloodstream) goes up resulting in diabetes.  Below we’ll talk about foods that support an insulin resistance meal plan. 
   2. Excess weight, difficulty sleeping
4. Parasites or Candida Overgrowth 
   1. While you need candida bacteria at a small level, too much will cause your body to produce neurotoxins causing brain fog, fatigue, inflammatory agents 
   2. Candida feeds off of carbohydrates and sugars and hijacks various communication signals in the brain trying to get you to eat more sugar. 
   3. Flaky scalp, white tongue, fatigue, gut pain, digestive inflammation, brain fog 

Natural Strategies to Kick Carb Cravings 

1. Stay Hydrated
2. Get Proper Sleep 
   1. Poor sleep can cause hormone dysregulation 
   2. Studies show that just one single night of sleep deprivation increases ghrelin, the hormone that tells your body your hungry 
   3. Can create propensity for chronic conditions like diabetes, metabolic, issues etc
3. Have high-fat snacks and protein on hand 
   1.  Nuts, avocado, slices of turkey/chicken, protein shake; If you want to snack on crackers and turkey or something, look for almond crackers like simple mills so you can get the feel without all the sugar. 
4. Do a cleanse 
   1. Focus on whole foods and keep sugar low; Berries instead of sugar fruits or dried fruit 
   2. Remove gluten and gf pastas 
   3. Keto diet can help to reset 
5. Drink Tea 
   1. Ginger tea 
   2. Shown to increase metabolism and fat burning while also decreasing fat absorption and appetite (1)
6. Get outside 
   1. Change up your environment and get in nature so that you can stop thinking about food 

Other Sources 

https://drjockers.com/carb-cravings/