How to Get Rid of Sugar Cravings Using Chemistry
It is clear that sugar is not suitable for us. But it tastes so good! And like anyone who has ever sat down to eat one Twizzler and accidentally rubbed a bag (i.e. everything), it can tell you that once you start, it can be hard to stop. If there was something to interrupt the deadly and tasty cycle …
One of the ways people have disrupted the sugar train over the years is by eating gimnema , a woody vine native to the tropics of India, Africa and Australia. Its bitter compounds have been used for centuries in traditions like Ayurveda to control sugar cravings and treat diabetes. There is even evidence that the herb was used 2,000 years ago to treat “honey urine,” a poetic and archaic term for diabetes.
How does Jimnema work
The most noticeable effect of gimnema is that after you taste the leaf, your tongue will be temporarily unable or less able to taste sweetness in food. A 2017 article in the peer-reviewed Japanese journal Journal of Oral Biosciences found that gimnemic acids can interact with the sweet taste receptors on your tongue, rendering you unable to taste the sweet taste. And a 2014 study by Biomed Research International found that gimnemic acids are chemically similar to sugar molecules and can block the activation of taste buds.
Overall, this is a fairly effective mechanism. Human trials, published in a 1999 article in the journal Chemical Senses, showed that people’s ability to detect sweet taste after a gymnastic acid rinse in a blind trial was reduced to 14 percent of their natural ability to detect it.
Gymnemic acids can also attach to the intestinal surface, preventing the absorption of sugar molecules and lowering blood sugar levels. MedlinePlus reports that gimnema supplements “may affect blood sugar levels,” although the evidence is inconclusive. For this reason, they warn that people with diabetes watch for signs of low blood sugar and be especially careful when taking the herb along with insulin.
Gymnema comes in different forms
The herb and its compounds are available over the counter in several forms. Which one you choose depends on the expected effect and how much you oppose the bitter taste.
Tea
One of the traditional ways to consume gimnema is with tea . But this is a bitter drink and not the most convenient way to consume the herb. You can buy these teabags on Amazon (currently $ 6 for $ 18), which is receiving rave reviews such as “Tastes good, as some reviewers have noted.” At least it’s inexpensive and easy.
Capsules
Gymnema is readily available in capsule or pill form at health food stores and even WalMart . (Prices vary, but one of the cheaper offers is $ 14.99 for 120 capsules.) While capsules can block glucose absorption in the intestines , they will not have the immediate calming effect of tea.
Lollipops
There is a way to get the sweetness-killing benefits of gimnema without having to put up with the taste of the tea: with a flavored lozenge. It is marketed under the trade name Sweet Defeat , formerly known as Crave Crush. A pack of 60 tablets costs $ 49.99.
Sweet Defeat funded a study on lozenge formulation published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology and led by clinical psychologist Dr. Eric Stice and his team at the Oregon Research Institute . Stice and his research team recruited 67 adults and asked them to retrieve their favorite candy from the stash. Each ate one serving and then drank a lollipop or placebo. Then they were offered another sweet hit. Those who received the active ingredient were 31 percent less likely to take the second candy, and those who took it reported a “decrease in the pleasantness of the candy.”
What does it mean to try Jimnem
When the Sweet Defeat ad started popping up on my news feed (making me feel seen, and not in a good way), it was only a matter of time before I pulled the trigger and ordered a delivery. I spoke to Andrea Lawson, a client who left positive comments on Sweet Defeat’s Facebook page, and she told me what to expect:
“After I take the lollipops, everything sweet becomes very, very unpleasant,” she says. “It’s like eating flakes after brushing your teeth.” She says the hardest part of using Sweet Defeat is using it.
“The hardest thing to grab a lollipop is when I have a sugar craving, rather than grabbing the cookie that is right in front of me,” says Lawson. “This is a real challenge.”
Sweet Defeat single-diamond foil envelopes have a fun shade of blue. Each lozenge contains one milligram of zinc and two milligrams of gimnema leaf extract, as well as some sorbitol and spirulina extract.
Like Lawson, the first hurdle for me was getting started. I knew I needed to try the lollipops, but I didn’t want to. I thought I’d start my experiment maybe tomorrow after a nice sniff of ice cream tonight.
When I finally decided to start my testing, in the interests of scientific rigor, I bought a bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Oat of This World. After two cups of peanut butter, I tried the lozenge. It had a mint taste and a kind of medicinal, not unpleasant at all. My tongue seemed oddly dull.
A few minutes later, I unwrapped another cup of peanut butter and, in awe, took a bite from it.
It was pretty tasty. I sat and methodically ate [edited] some more. It didn’t slow me down on ice cream either.
I kept a supply in my work bag and tried a few more times over the next few weeks, but it never managed to rip my candy out enough to stop me. The eating experience and the oddly good taste of the candy served as a reminder that I try to be less pig-like, so in a way, I think it made me more alert.
I don’t know if my love for sugar is just stronger than that of other people, or if it’s just a lucky few who have gimnemic acids that can actually block cravings. Gymnema really works for a lot of people, even if it’s not enough to keep me from going through the ice cream aisle.