this is a question for a friend, as thanks god I'm not a sweet tooth.
he's crazy for candies and chocolate
a part from adrenals, what else creates these cravings? what would you suggest him to do, to ease it up?
The primary reasons for sugar cravings is either low serotonin or hypoglycemic reactions.
Carbohydrates will stimulate the release of serotonin if taken in the absence of high protein. This is why depressive eaters go for the sweets, because they can up serotonin levels giving them their serotonin "fix".
And the body can crave sugars during hypoglycemic reactions as a means of getting the blood sugar levels back up.
If the problem is with depressed serotonin levels then chamomile, nettle leaf and 5-HTP can help.
For hypoglycemia I recommend licorice root, chromium polynicotinate and magnesium malate.
A few other things that can help with sugar cravings are stevia and glutamine. The stevia is very sweet and putting it on the tongue can satisfy the cravings for sweets. Glutamine is the only thing other than glucose the brain can use directly as a fuel source. So it helps to satisfy the brains need for fuel in the absence of sufficient glucose.
I read about fig buds extract in an tincture (possible?) being good for sugar craving. Don't know if it is true.
Thank you, I really think lack of serotonine could be the likely cause. Why would he be lacking of serotonine to begin with?
A number of things. It could be high protein blocking the absorption of tryptophan and its conversion to serotonin. Or it can be improper methylation. Although the most likely cause is a lack of certain nutrients. Magnesium deficiencies in particular can cause this, and magnesium is depleted by sugars. If he is willing I would recommend magnesium malate supplementation first.
Other nutrients involved are zinc, copper, manganese, iron and essential fatty acids.