Sugar cravings are a common struggle for many people, often leading to overconsumption of unhealthy foods and detrimental effects on overall health. However, recent research has uncovered a fascinating link between sugar cravings, gut health, and the brain’s reward center. To understand how our gut and brain work in synergism, lets first understand the gut-brain axis.
Gut-Brain Axis
The communication network that exists between gut and brain is called the gut-brain axis. It’s a complex network comprising various elements which facilitate the gut-brain communication. We have neurons all over our body that tell the brain how to behave at any given moment. Our gut houses millions of neurons which are connected to the brain through many nerves, vagus nerve being the biggest one connecting gut and brain. This nerve is an important part of gut-brain axis which gets affected by stress, IBS etc which hampers the communication between gut and brain and leads to many health issues. Another factor linking gut-brain are the neurotransmitters which are responsible for our emotions and how we feel. Neurotransmitters are not only produced in the brain, rather there are many neurotransmitters which are majorly produced in the gut by the microbes present in the gut. One such neurotransmitter is serotonin which makes us happy. Nearly 95% of serotonin is produced in the gut by gut microflora. Gamma amino-butyric acid (GABA) is another neurotransmitter produced by gut microbes that helps the body to control the feelings of anxiety and fear. It is due to the production of such neurotransmitters and the capacity to alter receptors for different foods in our gut, that the gut microbes have the power to control our brain’s reward system. This means that the gut microbes have control over which foods will make you feel happy or sad. The gut microflora also controls inflammation and produce many other chemicals crucial for brain health. Therefore, its necessary to maintain healthy gut microflora to maintain good brain health.
The science behind sugar cravings
There are numerous different types of microbes residing in our gut and just like us humans, they are also fighting for their survival inside our gut. Each type of microbe in the gut has different food preferences. While some species would prefer sugar, some other might like carbohydrates, or fats. So, their survival depends on whether they get their preferred food or not. To win the battle, microbes utilize the gut-brain communication pathway to dictate us what they want us to eat.
As we know, good as well as bad microbes are present in our gut. The good ones mostly require complex carbohydrates and fibre rich food to survive while the pathogenic (bad) microbes thrive on simple sugars. When there is an imbalance in gut microflora and the bad ones are dominating, these microbes promote the feeling of low mood by producing toxins. They also alter the receptors present in our gut and increase the sweet receptors throughout the gut. More sugar receptors send signal to brain to demand sugar from us leading to sugar cravings. Only after eating sugar, the microbes halt the production of toxins. This also sends signal to brain’s reward system that produces dopamine that makes us feel happy and content.
Sugar Cravings: A vicious cycle
When an imbalance in gut microbes is responsible for sugar cravings, it means that the gut predominantly has sugar-loving microbes. When these microbes make us crave sugar and we give in, we are promoting their growth further which will lead to even stronger cravings the next time. Also, when we indulge in sugary foods, over time, repeated consumption of sugar can lead to desensitization of dopamine receptors, requiring more sugar to achieve the same level of satisfaction. Therefore, its necessary to break this cycle to achieve better gut and over-all health.
How to break the cycle
Sugar cravings are hard to avoid but these two strategies can help to reduce sugar cravings over time and improve gut health.
- When you crave sugar, avoid refined sugar and choose whole fruits and nuts to satisfy the cravings. Fruits like apple, papaya, pear or berries (strawberries, blueberries, cranberries etc) can be tried to satisfy sugar cravings. Also, include vegetables and whole grains in your diet and minimize the consumption of refined or processed foods. As whole fruits, grains and vegetables are high in fibre and other nutrients, over time, this approach will promote the growth of good microbes in the gut and the cravings will start to decrease.
- Include naturally fermented products like kefir, yoghurt, miso, tempeh, etc in your diet. Fermented products are rich in probiotics (good microbes) and other nutrients like B vitamins, antioxidants and polyphenols. This will slowly improve the quality of gut microbes, decrease sugar cravings and improve gut health.
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