Why cutting out sweets is so hard

According to Debbie Petitpain, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, sweet foods trigger a primal instinct in people that makes us want to enjoy them and continue eating more of them.

Specifically, processed foods with added sugars like gummy bears, rather than naturally sweet foods like blueberries, deliver dopamine to the brain that can make it more difficult to stop eating them, according to Judson Brewer, a neuroscientist and psychiatrist at Brown University.

But cutting sweets out of your diet entirely often results in overindulging in them later, experts say. "When people try to eliminate or severely restrict, it generally just backfires," said Rachael Harley, a dietitian.

People often assume they can build up the willpower to avoid sweets entirely or restrict them to small amounts, but doing so increases your chances of overeating later, according to Brewer. "Willpower is more myth than muscle," he said.

Nutritionists who work with patients with eating disorders say that restrictive diets can promote an all-or-nothing approach, meaning a person might eat an entire bag of candy since a new diet starts tomorrow. And research from the University of Minnesota has found dietary restrictions are associated with a greater risk of disordered eating, including binge eating, which can lead to excessive weight gain.

Dietary restriction "ends up in a kind of binge cycle as opposed to a cycle of flexible eating," said Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, a professor at the University of Minnesota and principal investigator of the research.

How to reduce your sugar intake

To reduce sugar intake, Hartley said she works with her clients on "stocking behaviors," in which she asks them to keep some of their favorite foods, including desserts, on hand at home. Over time, people become used to having the foods around and find their desire to eat them drops, Hartley said. Some people may want to eat a lot at first, but ultimately the feeling tends to subside.

"You get used to the flavors and the food comes off the pedestal, it starts to feel like any other food," she said.

Crystal Karges, a dietitian who works with families, notes that a fully permissive structure for sugar won't work with children. However, she still encourages against restriction, and instead recommends offering sweets alongside regular meals to normalize them.

Brewer said he recommends finding your "pleasure plateau," meaning instead of completely cutting out sweets, you train yourself to closely pay attention to how a treat tastes and note when you stop enjoying the taste of it.

This mindful and attentive eating, Brewer explains, is a practice that can feeling rewarding since over time you can experience more energy, fewer cravings, or weight loss.

It can also be useful to keep your house stocked with healthy snacks alongside treats. Neumark-Sztainer said that around 70% of the food options in her house are nutritious and without added sugar.

Neumark-Sztainer added that she doesn't recommend most people count their sugar intake each day, as it can increase anxiety. "Try to look at the whole picture and not to make a big deal about it," she said. (Dizik, Wall Street Journal, 11/7)

Writing for the New York Times, Sophie Egan surveyed some of the top nutrition experts in the country to identify — and debunk — 10 common nutrition myths about fat, plant-based protein, dairy, and more.