Curbing sugar cravings is relatively an easy thing if you really wish to go for it. We all know that rampant sugar consumption is not good for health; still some of us always yearn for a bite of sweet. The causes for rampant sugar cravings are myriad, but the most common cause is hormonal imbalance. The hormonal imbalances are brought by lowered insulin and serotonin levels, unhealthy dieting choices, eating disorders, and fatigues. To get rid of this habit you need to seek expert help and work out on possible ways to combat the root cause of cravings. These are some basic steps, which help in curbing the various causes of sugar cravings.

• Remove temptations and go slowly: If you have a habit of stacking your food cabinet with cookies, cakes, and desserts, then the first thing you should do is to get rid of these goodies. Instead of avoiding the sweets you can minimize their intake. It may not be that easy to throw out the sweets, so it’s better you can clean them slowly by slowly or you can distribute them amongst your friends. Next time when you go shopping avoid buying sweets altogether or buy in very frugal amounts, which will satiate your temptations without hampering your health. But a good habit is to take a walk or indulge in some engaging activity whenever you feel that the sugar craving is going to downplay your senses.  

• Replace sweet with healthy food supplements: As I said earlier, avoiding sweets altogether may not be an easy thing, so you can go about replacing them with healthy food substitutes. Kerry Neville, MS, RD, a registered dietitian and ADA spokeswoman says that he likes to combine craving food with healthy substitutes. He suggests that instead of munching on unhealthy bars of chocolates you can dip bananas in chocolate sauce, or mix almonds with chocolate chips. In this way you can satiate your cravings and get nutrients from sweet good-for you foods too. You can include fruits in your diet to get rid of sugar cravings because fiber in these fruits will slow down the absorption of sugar. Also the sugars in these fruits can be easily digested without great efforts.

• Chew some gum: You can dramatically alter your taste sense by chewing Gymnema Sylvestre leaves or mints. Dave Grotto, RD, LDN says that "Research has shown that chewing gum can reduce food cravings."

• Go cold turkey: The initial 48-72 hours may be difficult after you begin exercising the sugar intake restrictions, but you can easily win over it if you choose to go cold turkey way. Some people have reported that going cold turkey way has helped them to curb their sugar cravings.

• Go for quality instead of quantity: If you are experiencing a sugar rush then eat sweets in frugal amounts. Instead of grabbing a big chocolate bar you can perhaps satisfy yourself with a healthy dark chocolate truffle. Concentrate on quality instead of quantity. Nowadays, you can buy zero calorie sweets too, which are processed from zero calorie sugars, although they may be bit expensive than expected, still you can satiate your cravings by munching them in little amounts over a long time period.  

• Chomp on protein rich foods: This may not work for everyone, but it works for most of the people because protein deficiency is one of the reasons for exaggerated sugar cravings. So, try to include protein rich foods in your diet.

• Eat regularly: Don’t stay hungry for a long time because at the end of the spell, you tend to go hunting for fats and sugars. Try to eat small meals at a short time intervals. Eating every 3-5 hours will help you in controlling blood sugar levels and also aid you in curbing the irrational eating behavior.

Last but not the least is: go easy on yourself. It may not be easy to curb your sugar cravings till you can easily work upon it. 

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