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My patient Lynette was almost in tears. “Every diet I’ve ever been on
has failed!” she told me in frustration. “And it’s always for the same
reason — my awful sweet tooth. I just don’t have any willpower.”
“Lynette,” I said, “This is not a matter of willpower. It's not a
matter of discipline. It boils down to one thing: your microbiome.”
Why You Crave Sugar
If your microbiome is out of balance, your sugar cravings
can feel like an alien force that has taken over your body. That’s not
surprising: your cravings are the product of unfriendly bacteria that
have high jacked your microbiome: the community of trillions of bacteria
living within your body.
Both friendly and unfriendly bacteria
inhabit your microbiome in an ongoing battle for dominance. The
friendly bacteria are a crucial aspect of your health, helping to govern
your digestion, appetite, metabolism, immune system, mood, mental sharpness, heart health, and bone development.
By contrast, the unfriendly bacteria find numerous ways to undermine
your health. If you crave sugar, the unfriendly bacteria are frequently
the culprits. Many of the unfriendly bacteria feed on simple sugars —
the easily digested carbohydrates that are found in sweet and starchy
foods.
Basically, they crave sugar. And when your unfriendly bacteria crave sugar, so do you.
The Solution: Balance Your Microbiome
Luckily, as I told Lynette, there is a simple solution. Shift the balance within your microbiome
from unfriendly to friendly, and your sugar cravings will disappear.
Eating microbiome-friendly foods is a great place to start.
Below are five foods that can help balance your microbiome and free you from your sugar cravings.
1. Kimchee
This spicy fermented cabbage is a traditional Korean dish that has
grown in popularity over the last few years. You can find it in many
health-food stores or order it online. Although the traditional dish is
very hot and spicy, many companies now make medium and even mild
versions.
As a fermented food, kimchee is loaded with live
bacteria, which I admit doesn’t sound very appetizing. However, when you
picture those friendly bacteria supporting your weight-loss efforts,
lifting your mood, and vanquishing your sugar cravings, you will be
delighted to welcome them into your micro biome.
2. Kefir
A fermented milk drink popular in the Balkans and the Middle East,
kefir tastes something like liquid yogurt. It’s delicious as a beverage
or poured over a dish of fresh berries. You can even find kefir made
from goat’s-milk. Kefir is also rich in live bacteria, which makes it a
wonderful microbiome-friendly weight-loss food and a terrific way to end
your sugar cravings. I often suggest to my patients that they use kefir
in their protein shakes and smoothies, for an extra microbiome boost in the morning.
3. Jerusalem Artichokes
Kimchee and kefir are natural probiotics
— sources of live bacteria. Jerusalem artichokes are your go-to
prebiotic—a food that nourishes your friendly bacteria and helps them to
dominate. Prebiotics in, sugar cravings out. Not to be confused with
regular artichokes, Jerusalem artichokes are small, knobby, starchy root
vegetables also known as “sunchokes.” They are rich in inulin, which is
one of your friendly bacteria’s favorite foods. Soon they'll be one of
your favorite foods, too! Scrub them clean as you would a potato and
steam them, bake them, or enjoy them raw, sliced thin, with lemon and
olive oil.
4. Leeks
This elegant
green vegetable is another delicious prebiotic, an inulin-rich food that
alleviates sugar cravings by nourishing your healthy bacteria. Slice
them into a soup, omelet or steam them lightly and dress with
vinaigrette. Your microbiome will thank you, and so will your taste
buds.
5. Grapefruit
Drinking fruit
juice — even grapefruit juice — can actually promote sugar cravings
because the juice is full of simple sugars. But eating grapefruit in
sections or cut in half is a terrific way to break a sugar craving. The fiber
in grapefruit is a natural prebiotic that nourishes your healthy
bacteria, while the grapefruit itself helps to balance your insulin
levels and stabilize your blood sugar.
Free at Last
Sugar cravings can be a powerful force, one that even the most
iron-willed among us finds hard to resist. But if you nourish your
microbiome you can put your sugar cravings to rest.
That’s what
Lynette found. After only a few days on my Microbiome Diet, she felt a
sense of ease with food that she hadn’t experienced for a long time. And
after just two weeks, her sugar cravings had vanished.
“Honestly, I feel liberated,” she told me at our last meeting. “My appetite is my own again, and the ‘alien force’ is gone!”
Source: Mind Body Green
