Created by eating psychology expert Harriet Morris

Introduction

The purpose of this self-test is to give you some self-awareness around your cravings that will lead you to some practical action steps that you can take today to start to dismantle the effect cravings have on not only your eating, but your state of mind.

We will do this by analysing one specific time when you had a sugar craving. Because so many features of sugar cravings and the potential binge eating that follows are very common, after each question I will discuss common answers given. Therefore there is no scoring – instead something much more valuable: useful questions to ask yourself and experiments to try out. Your binge eating has aspects that millions of others share, but it is also a completely unique experience.

Start by thinking back to a specific occasion when you experienced sugar cravings. If no single time comes to mind, write down what would usually apply for you. Write down your answers to each question before reading the information that follows that question.

Sugar cravings are far more commonly sugar and fat cravings. Far less people are addicted to boiled sweets than chocolate – and there is a very good reason for this. As humans, we are wired to love both sugar and fat. This goes back to our primitive, cave-dwelling ancestors. In those days, where food was genuinely scarce and unprocessed, both fat and sugar were great news for us. They provided a valuable source of energy for us, AND they were far healthier for us.

How so? The sugar was healthier because it came wrapped up in fibre (in the form of fruit) – and it is the fibre that counteracts the health-damaging fructose in fruit, by slowing down the release of blood sugar. This in turn means we don’t need to produce so much insulin to bring the blood sugar levels down. And one of the jobs of insulin is to store fat.

The fat was healthier because it was in its unprocessed form, which contains essential fatty acids (notice they are not called ‘optional fatty acids’) or EFAs for short. EFAs do all sorts of wonderful things for us, such as lower blood sugar and balance out hormones and improve mood and cognition. Cheap fats have had all the EFAs stripped out of them these days.

The thing that helped me (and my clients) succeed in reducing the processed sugar was that I did not try to deny myself this fat/sugar mix. I just changed it so that it was healthier. All my sugar came from fruit, and I started having more healthy fats.

See the next question for a suggestion you can implement straight away to make this change.

Many people find that they are plagued by sugar cravings in the mid/late afternoon, or at night. If this applies to you, you can make a great difference to the intensity of your cravings by making sure you…