Ever wonder why you crave sugar?

Why you tend to have an inkling to enjoy something sweet on higher stress days?

Today, I wanted to explore the deeper reason why some of us crave sugar more than others and how we can go about diversifying our self soothing tool kit (**please keep in mind that cravings serve as clues to helping us better understand where we may be undernourished and how we can better show up for our brain and body. Today’s blog is to highlight the correlation between ineffective breathing and craving energy).

Your brain’s main fuel sources are glucose (a simple sugar) and oxygen to function optimally & execute daily functions.

However, if we happen to breathe vertically where our shoulder raise up to our ears, our breath rate is shallow and rapid or that we breathe through our mouth our brain may be “starved” of valuable energy.

This style of breathing does not deliver the necessary fuel (aka oxygen) to the brain function optimally.

As a result, the brain signals a threat (stress), and will intuitively increase sugar cravings to make up for the lack of available oxygen.

Simply put, proper breathing mechanics where we are breathing quietly through our nose, deeply and expanding fully can help our brain receive the necessary fuel to function and feel safer.

In conclusion, craving sweets may have more to do with a protective response by your brain to search for an  quick energy to help mitigate stress, regulate and perform.