6 hints for curbing those carb cravings

If you crave carbs, but your blood sugar levels are an issue, what can you do to resist the delicious lure of all those fabulous breads, pastas and desserts on the dinner table? Here are six hints that can help you.

[Photo Credit: iStock.com/Belyaevskiy]

Some people have a strong urge to overeat pastas, breads and sweets. Instead of blaming yourself for lack of willpower, there may be a physical reason why you crave starches: these carbohydrates raise blood levels of the amino acid tryptophan, which increases production of the feel-good hormone serotonin.

Some experts contend that people who crave carbohydrates actually have a faulty serotonin feedback mechanism. Whether it's true or not, you're not a slave to your brain chemistry. Here are some ways to calm your cravings.

Before you succumb to the craving for carbs, try changing the scene.

• Going outside for some fresh air, visiting a friend, holding a baby, playing with a pet, exercising or enjoying a hobby can all distract you, lift your mood, keep you out of the kitchen and possibly chase cravings away.

If chocolate is your weakness, keep it in the freezer: It's tougher to wolf down lots of chocolate when it's frozen solid. Better yet, don't keep it in the house. That goes for any other food you find irresistible.

• When shopping for groceries, stick to your written list and don't include carb-heavy foods on it.

When you're driven to eat salty carbs, try getting more calcium from dairy foods or other sources.

• Studies have found that people with low intakes of this mineral are more prone to salt cravings.

Have a glass of milk or a yogurt instead.

Try eating a moderate daily amount of the "trigger" food and see if that staves off your cravings.

• If you deny yourself altogether, you may just end up wanting that certain food even more.

For some people, cutting out sugary foods such as chocolate and cookies altogether for two weeks makes the cravings for those foods virtually disappear.

• Try it and see if that works for you.
• To help bolster your efforts, recruit a partner who you can always call if the cravings become irresistible – someone who will distract you from your "need" for carbs.

Food cravings sometimes indicate a need for fluids. Often, what we perceive as hunger pangs are actually thirst.

• Drink a large glass of water, then wait 10 minutes or so and see if the craving passes.