3 surprising reasons you crave sweets

Our bodies are naturally programmed to crave sugar. The natural healthy sugar is found in fruits, vegetables and many vitamins and minerals. These are the sugars that are good for us, the bad sugars are the ones found in candies, soda, and cookies. This sugar is stripped of all of its healthiness and can cause insulin insufficiency leading to diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and other  health problems. So why do we crave sweets? It may not just because you have a sweet tooth.


1. Dehydration- When our bodies aren't properly hydrated we crave sweets. When you start craving a Snickers, drink a big glass of water and see if the feeling subsides. Avoid this by staying hydrated, you should be drinking at least half of your body weight in ounces. Example- if you're 150 pounds, get at least 75 ounces of fluid and even more on hot days or gym days.


2. Sleep deprivation- Not getting enough sleep leads to low serotonin levels. When serotonin is low, we feel tired, sluggish, sad and irritable. The bodies automatic cure for this is ingesting sweets to increase the serotonin to feel better and get a boost of energy. Avoid this by getting enough sleep at night. We should be getting at least 7-8 hours.


3. Not getting enough protein- Our bodies need protein to function. If we don't get enough, our levels are not in balance and we try to make up for that with sweets. Avoid this by eating your protein! At least 30% of your daily intake should be from protein.