Controlling Sugar Cravings & Metabolism with Science-Based Tools

Fructose reduces the activity of the hormones that reduce ghrelin, and so the net consequence of that is that fructose increases ghrelin ... Fructose shifts our hormone system, and as a consequence, our neural pathways within our brain, the hypothalamus, to be hungrier regardless of how many calories we've eaten.

Anytime we ingest fiber and/or fat (lipids) along with a particular food, it will reduce the glycemic index of that particular food, either the absolute level of blood glucose that a particular food causes or the rate at which that elevation in blood glucose occurs.

Berberine is a derivative of tree bark and is a very, very potent substance for reducing blood glucose—so much so that it is on par with metformin or glibenclamide, which are prescription drugs specifically used to reduce blood glucose.

The concentrations of fructose in fruit is quite low compared to the concentrations of fructose in high-fructose corn syrup. High-fructose corn syrup is approximately 50% fructose, which turns out to be an enormously high percentage of anything really, especially when we contrast that to the concentrations of fructose in fruit.

There are now data pointing to the fact that lemon juice and lime juice, a couple tablespoons or so, if ingested before or even during or even after consumption of sugary foods—or I should say foods that sharply increase blood glucose or large carbohydrate meals—can actually blunt the blood glucose response...

I make it a particular point to ingest anywhere from 1-3 grams, that's grams, of EPA essential fatty acid per day ... For me, the simplest way to do that—and I think, for most people, the lowest cost way to do that—is to use some liquid form of fish oil or some capsule form of fish oil.

You have probably heard that cinnamon can be a useful tool for controlling blood sugar, and indeed that's the case. It's very clear that cinnamon can adjust the rate of glucose entry into the bloodstream, possibly by changing the rate of gastric emptying. It might slow the rate of gastric emptying and thereby also reduce the glycemic index of particular foods.

The fact of the matter is that the concentrations of fructose in fruit are so low that unless someone is consuming a lot of fruit or they're consuming a lot of fruit on the backdrop of a highly processed diet... you can't really say that fructose is fattening.

Taking something that increases blood sugar, attaching a flavor experience to that, having children or adults ingest that thing allows the nervous system to associate that flavor with that increase in blood glucose; but then you can remove the glucose-increasing substance, and the flavor alone will increase insulin, because insulin typically follows blood glucose.

At some point, I might try the carnivore diet. Who knows? I might try a pure vegan diet. Who knows? But for my entire life up until now—I'm 46-years-old—I've been a proud omnivore, meaning I've tried to eat high-quality, as much as I can, unprocessed foods. I try and really avoid highly processed foods, but I do eat from those three macronutrient groups: proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.

In the fasted state, your perception of the outside world is actually distorted; it's blurred. It's not as precise as it is when you're fed—and when I say fed, what I really mean is when glucose is available to neurons.

It turns out that your brain is going to work best when it's got glucose available. Whether you like to fast or not, that's just the reality of things.

When, especially kids, get beyond four sugary drinks per week... when they get passed four 12-ounce, sugary sodas... that's when you start to see a shift towards more negative outcomes, more symptoms, of existing ADHD.

Consuming a lot of refined sugars—in particular, high-fructose corn syrup—is known to have a very large number of bad effects on the brain and body.