Top Three Supplements For Cravings

By Nutritional Weight & Wellness Staff
September 5, 2023

Let’s chat about cravings, of which there are many: salty chips, crusty bread, fancy alcohol, sugary treats (chocolate, dessert of any kind, soda, etc.)… you get the idea. On a recent Instagram reel, we covered five nutrition myths, including one on cravings: are cravings just a matter of willpower?

Watch The Nutrition Myths Reel Here

Before we recommend our top three supplements for cravings, let’s break this down a little bit. The answer to that myth is no! Cravings are NOT just a matter of willpower, and they don’t mean anything about your character. If you have cravings, don’t feel bad – you are not alone!

From clinical experience, we have found that cravings are a biochemical imbalance and very often point to a need for balancing blood sugar in order to reduce cravings.

Why Do We Get Cravings?

Sometimes our bodies get cravings because we are missing key minerals and nutrients. Chocolate cravings can point to a magnesium deficiency, sweets cravings could mean you need more zinc, chewing ice can indicate low iron, and wanting to salt everything could mean you need more potassium.

Sometimes our bodies get cravings because we aren’t eating enough of the nutrient dense foods. Are you getting enough animal protein to fuel your muscles? Are you getting enough healthy fat to feel satiated and to feed your brain? Are you eating enough starchy fruits and vegetables to give you energy?

Sometimes our bodies get cravings because our blood sugar is low and it’s our body’s way of protecting us from going too low. It gives us the impulse to eat something that will bring our blood sugar back up to a normal range quickly! Eating balanced meals and snacks frequently throughout the day reduces the chance of these blood sugar dips and subsequent cravings. For some folks, they need to eat every two to three hours while others find an afternoon snack with a regular breakfast, lunch, and dinner will do the trick.

Top Reasons For Cravings:

• Deficient in minerals
• Not enough nutrient dense foods
• Low blood sugar/lack of blood sugar balance
• Too much sugar and processed foods feeding bad gut bacteria

Start With Food First

To reduce cravings, we have to start with food since we always look to nutrition first. With that in mind we wouldn’t suggest any supplements without first getting your body balanced by eating the Weight & Wellness Way—animal protein, good fat and nutrient dense carbs at every meal and snack.

For instance, a quality breakfast is not cereal with skim milk. We’d suggest a balanced meal of eggs or nitrate-free sausage, veggies sautéed in butter, and half a banana. This breakfast will keep your blood sugar stable, which automatically helps with cravings.

A balanced lunch might look like a healthy bowl filled with leafy greens, chopped tomatoes and cucumbers, cooked chicken from last night’s dinner, slices of avocados, and ½ cup of cooked quinoa.

For an afternoon snack, you might sip on a protein shake or grab some nitrate-free deli meat with sliced bell peppers, handful of nuts, and an apple.

Depending on the time of year, your balanced dinner might be a hot chili you threw into the crockpot in the morning or Chicken and Brussels Sprouts In Sun-Dried Tomatoes made on the grill with a side of grilled peaches!

Take our online class Breaking the Sugar Habit to curb cravings and improve health!

Enroll Today

Support From Supplements Second

So, if you’re eating right and still dealing with cravings, we have a few supplement suggestions to help:

Bifido Balance

Bifido Balance is comprised of a probiotic called bifidobacteria that helps crowd out bad bacteria. Bad bacteria loves sugar, and if you have an excess amount, it’ll often make you crave more and more sugar. If you’ve been on antibiotics or have been eating a lot of sugar, there’s a good chance you have an excess amount of bad bacteria and a probiotic might be beneficial. Bifido Balance specifically helps support the small intestine to make sure you’re able to absorb all the nutrients from your food, which also helps eliminate nutrient deficiencies.

Our nutritionists recommend taking one NutriKey Bifido Balance capsule a few minutes before every meal. If you prefer a powder to capsules, you can use ¼ to ½ tsp of NutriKey Bifido Powder instead.

“Great product: I've been using this product along with L-glutamine. I use it to help me with regularity and sugar cravings. It makes a big difference.” ~Debra

L-Glutamine Powder

L-glutamine is an amino acid that research has shown to reduce intense sugar cravings and heal the lining of your intestinal tract. Some treatment centers also use it to reduce cravings for alcohol. Our nutritionists recommend taking ¼ to ½ tsp. of NutriKey L-Glutamine Powder in water before every meal. Or, if your cravings come and go, some clients put the powder right on their tongue to make the cravings go away immediately. If you’re not a fan of using powders, NutriKey also has convenient L-Glutamine capsules you can add to your supplement routine. We recommend taking one to two capsules before meals with your probiotic.

“Sugar Cravings: After I eat lunch, I crave sugar. If I take L-GLUTAMINE POWDER, 250GM after my morning workout, I don’t. It’s that simple.” ~Peggy

Crave Control Plus

If nothing else is working and you still have intense cravings, this product could help. NutriKey Crave Control Plus provides the building blocks for your brain chemicals and once clients add two to three capsules before every meal, most no longer have cravings. Low Serotonin can trigger hunger for food, especially sugar, breads and other carbohydrates. Low dopamine is associated with increased sugar cravings, lack of focus, and low motivation. Low norepinephrine can be indicated by intense cravings for chocolate and diet soda. This supplement gives your body the building blocks for serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine and helps restore neurotransmitters to optimal levels.

“[Crave Control] Really Helps!: I’ve used this for about six months, and I could really tell the difference of not using it when I was told to stop supplements for a week prior to surgery! When taken consistently I realized that it calmed my cravings so much that I would go many hours without thinking about “what can I snack on now?”! It’s the only supplement I’ve used that works this well, and has absolutely no stimulants, which has been the case with things I’ve tried in the past!” ~Kathy 

Real Food Support For Cravings

A combination of real-food eating and the supplements mentioned above will help 95% of the population suffering from cravings. Eat a balanced diet full of colorful fruits and veggies, healthy fats, and animal proteins. Heal your gut with bifidobacteria and l-glutamine. Experiment with Crave Control Plus to help balance your brain. If you have tried these recommendations and still have cravings, it’s time to see a nutritionist or dietitian to figure out what’s going on. Cravings are a message from your body and we can help you decipher the meaning so you can feel and look your best!

Shut down cravings and increase energy with our Nutrition 4 Weight Loss Program! 

Enroll Today

If you’re looking for more information on cravings, check out these resources:

• Listen: Break Free of Your Sugar Addiction
• Read: 6 Reasons Behind Cravings + How To Fix Them
• Read: Signs You May Be Deficient In Minerals
• Take: Breaking The Sugar Habit