5 ways to manage sugar cravings and balance your blood sugar levels

Coconut butter, date and cranberry energy balls with two plates of pistachios and dried cranberries on the side

Feel like you can’t scroll through social media right now without seeing posts about blood sugar balancing and taming the rollercoaster of sugar spikes and crashes – or is that only my FYP? TikTok and Instagram might have you thinking that blood sugar balancing must be top of mind whenever you eat a meal, but I’m here to bring some level headedness (and science) back into the conversation.

When we talk about blood sugar balancing, what we’re really talking about is managing the levels of glucose in our blood. When we eat or drink different forms of carbohydrates, from simple forms like white bread or juice to complex forms like oats or butternut squash, they will be broken down to glucose, which leads to a rapid increase in our blood sugar levels. Insulin, a hormone that is produced in the pancreas, is then released to help move glucose to the cells to be used for energy. It’s normal for blood sugar levels to rise after a meal and then ideally, gradually decline until we’re ready for our next meal. What we want to avoid is too many rapid blood sugar spikes and crashes that can lead to us feeling tired, hangry and craving sugar.

Why do we get sugar cravings?

Sugar cravings aren’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, they’re perfectly normal and can happen for several reasons. You might simply crave the taste of something sweet and this is never a bad thing! There may also be an emotional need that a sugar or sweet craving is trying to fill. Breakups and a tub of Ben and Jerry’s come to mind here! Another reason we might crave sugar is because we need energy. Sugar, in the form of glucose, is a quick fuel source for the body because it can be rapidly metabolised and used to provide needed energy.

It’s important that we understand the reasons for sugar cravings, and we avoid demonising sugar as something bad or taking a restrictive mindset towards food.

5 ways to manage sugar cravings and balance blood sugar levels

My top tip for managing sugar cravings? Think about how you can add more protein, fat and fibre to each meal, focusing on addition rather than restriction. Remember that if you really want that piece of cake, have it and enjoy it! Your next meal is another opportunity to add in foods that help balance your blood sugar and keep the sugar cravings at bay.

If you find yourself on a blood sugar rollercoaster throughout the day, feeling tired, hangry and craving sugar to quickly pick your energy levels up, here are 5 ways you can turn things around.

1. Understand the 'why' behind your sugar craving

When you crave sugar, interrogate this feeling a little bit. Here’s a sugar cravings ladder exercise that I go through with my clients, with a few simple questions and answers that help them gain a deeper understanding of the craving they’re experiencing. Try it the next time you crave something sweet:

Question
Answer

Am I hungry or still hungry?
Eat a nourishing snack or meal or eat more of your main meal

Did my meal have enough protein and fat?
Make a mental note to add more of these nutrients to your next meal

Is this an emotional need? Do I want something sweet because I feel sad / tired / bored?
Interrogate the emotional need and tend to that need instead

Do I want the taste of something sweet?
Have something sweet and eat it intentionally and mindfully, enjoying the taste

Is this a habit? i.e. I crave something sweet after every meal
What can I do instead to round off the meal?

2. Start with your day with a well-rounded breakfast

Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. Eating a meal with the three macronutrients - complex carbohydrates, protein and fat - at the top of the day stabilises our cortisol (our primary stress hormone) levels and helps to regulate our blood sugar and insulin levels. Eating a breakfast with all three macronutrients slows down blood sugar spikes, and the longer our meal takes to digest, the longer our blood sugar will be stable. This has a knock-on effect on our mood and energy levels – less of the rollercoaster ups and downs, and we can get to end of the day without feeling completely exhausted.

Here are some blood sugar balancing breakfasts you can try:

porridge with an egg whisked in at the end of cooking time and topped with a handful of chopped nuts, seeds, and berries along with a dollop of almond or peanut butter
a 3-egg omelette with mushrooms, peppers, spinach and cheese
mashed avocado, feta and chili on wholewheat or seeded toast topped with a fried egg

Check out our best healthy breakfast recipes for more inspiration.

Omelette Stuffed with Spinach with Tomatoes on the Side

3. Prioritise protein and fat at each meal

When we think of protein, most of us typically think of gym bros inhaling protein packed shakes and bars in search of gains. But protein is important for all of us: women need on average between 60 - 90g of protein per day, depending on their activity levels and including this macronutrient has a significant impact on satiety and fullness. Protein has a lesser impact on blood sugar levels, because the process of breaking it down into amino acids is much slower. If we make sure we have enough protein at each meal, we can mitigate the effects of eating lots of simple carbohydrates and reduce blood sugar spikes. Check out our guide to 20 high protein foods to find meat, fish and veggie ingredients to add to your shop, and 25 easy high-protein meals to add to your next meal plan.

Here's a guide to help you know if you’re getting enough protein:

Protein (g)

1 medium chicken breast (170g)
55g

1 medium salmon fillet (170g)
43g

100g firm tofu
17.3g

1 medium egg
14.1g

100g cooked quinoa
4.3g

Ready for the next step in balancing your blood sugar levels? Add more healthy fats like avocado, extra virgin olive oil, full fat dairy, nuts, seeds and oily fish. These fats don’t raise blood sugar levels like carbohydrates because they aren’t converted to glucose during digestion, so they have a more stabilising effect on our mood, energy and satiety levels.

4. Get some ZZZ

Have you noticed on the nights when you don’t sleep as well, you crave sugar in the mornings? When we’re sleep deprived, cortisol increases and insulin sensitivity decreases, which can lead to sugar cravings. This is your body’s way of looking for quick energy to keep you going.

Great sleep starts as soon as we wake up, with exposure to natural light in the morning and then less blue light from screens at the end of the day to help us make as much melatonin, our sleep hormone, as possible. Make your bedroom as cozy, cool and inviting as possible and those extra ZZZs you’ll get will be another way to fight sugar cravings.

Struggling with sleep? Check out our expert guide to how to have a better night's sleep.

A large bedroom with wooden panelled walls, folding glass doors and a double bed with white linen on

5. Add more fibre

You might associate fibre with bland food like wheat bran, but rest assured there are a wide variety of tasty fibrous food options. Even better, these foods are another way you can manage sugar cravings and balance your blood sugar levels.

Research tells us that foods high in fibre like fruit and vegetables with the peel on, beans, pulses, nuts and whole grains help the digestive system slow the absorption of glucose, reducing blood sugar spikes and increasing satiety. We need about 30g of fibre per day, so spread this across the day by adding fibrous food to every meal! See our 20 high fibre foods to get started, including recipe inspiration for avocado, oats, chickpeas, broccoli and oats.