Having a healthy balance of magnesium in your diet can not only decrease the number of sweet cravings you have, but also help improve sleep, digestion, and immune health.
Best supplements to stop or reduce carb and other food cravings: Magnesium is responsible for regulating not only glucose and insulin levels, but also the neurotransmitter dopamine. A magnesium deficiency can result in intense sugar cravings, especially for chocolate.
Try a Magnesium Supplement
Most people are highly deficient in magnesium, which is great for helping control blood sugar. Meyer recommends 200 milligrams, twice a day of magnesium glycinate, which easily absorbs into the body.
If you're looking to supplement with magnesium, start with 150 mg of Magnesium Bisglycinate per day. It can be especially helpful for women to take magnesium around the time of their period to add some magnesium to help their bodies manage blood sugar more efficiently.
Supplements of magnesium can reduce sugar craving and help stabilise blood sugar levels[1]. If you have Type 2 diabetes or Pre-diabetes you are more likely to have low magnesium levels[2, 3].
Nutrient Deficiencies
Deficiencies in certain minerals such as zinc, chromium, iron, calcium, and magnesium may lead to sugar cravings as well, Elia says. Magnesium deficiency is specifically worth paying attention to.
What deficiency causes sugar cravings? Lacking magnesium affects the body's ability to regulate blood sugar levels and deliver energy into the cells which can instigate sugar cravings. Eat more magnesium rich foods like raw nuts, seeds, avocados, cacao, leafy greens, and bananas.
Chromium is an essential mineral that helps your body process carbohydrates and fats. Though more research is needed, chromium picolinate is believed to reduce hunger and cravings by enhancing insulin activity.
Magnesium is important for maintaining muscle and nervous system function, cardiac electrical properties, and for supporting immune system as well as regulating glucose and insulin metabolism [2,3].
What does magnesium do? Magnesium plays an important role in helping your body convert glucose from your food into fuel. If you don't have enough magnesium in your body, your cells can become less effective at using insulin.
The symptoms of a magnesium deficiency range from anxiety and irritability to poor digestion and insomnia. This is why you might feel better and more relaxed after eating chocolate. You may find that a diet abundant in magnesium-rich foods will help keep your chocolate cravings at bay.
While some people blame a sweet tooth for their urge to eat carbs and sugar, others suggest that nutritional deficiencies of magnesium, zinc, chromium, amino acids (tryptophan), or vitamins (vitamin D especially), may actually be the culprit.
Magnesium plays two important roles in the brain, which may contribute to these symptoms: It blocks the activity of more stimulating neurotransmitters and binds to calming receptors, resulting in a more peaceful, resting state.
In most cases, magnesium starts working within a week, since it's a fast-acting nutrient. You need to take it consistently to reduce anxiety and help you relax.
The benefits of magnesium supplementation in healthy individuals aren't clear, but Dr. Nassar says that taking a magnesium supplement every day likely isn't unsafe for most people. Just be sure you're not taking too much magnesium. The maximum dietary allowance for most adults is around 400 mg or less.
If you're feeling tired and hungry all the time, the cause could be a combination of factors collectively known as adrenal fatigue. Adrenal fatigue is not a true medical condition but rather refers to a group of symptoms that may be related to adrenal gland function.
In general, a craving can signal something is out of balance, but it doesn't always mean you need a certain type of food. A craving might mean you're dehydrated, stressed or lacking sleep. If you crave a snack, and you eat it, but you don't feel any better, your body was never needing that food to begin with.
Sugar cravings are often a sign of being very low in zinc, magnesium and chromium. Take a combined chromium, magnesium and calcium supplement as this will balance your blood sugar levels. As your blood sugar levels balance, the craving for sugar decreases.
Estrogen and progesterone were both found to influence cravings when the women in the study were on their periods. Estrogen was the hormone linked with increased cravings for carbohydrate-rich food—progesterone linked with higher consumption of sugary foods.