The Season of Sugar

The holiday season is, unmistakably, the season of parties. Every social circle we belong to—family, co-workers, congregation, neighborhood, and friends—gathers to celebrate. And at these events, food takes center stage. Platters of cookies, rum balls, foil-wrapped chocolates, and red-and-green candies seem to appear everywhere you turn.

With these irresistible treats confronting us at every corner, it’s easy to rationalize that a little indulgence is harmless. After all, it’s been a tough year—we deserve a treat. “I’ll eat better starting in January,” we promise ourselves.

My Not-So-Sweet Sugary Tale

Full disclosure: I used to be a sugar fiend. Because I lived alone and cooking for one felt like a chore, it wasn’t unusual for me to eat an entire quart of ice cream for dinner. I could easily devour a sleeve of Thin Mints in a single sitting.

On Mondays, I hauled a case of cola into the office. It fit neatly into the bottom drawer of my desk, and cracking open a can was the first thing I did each morning; my body depended on that caffeine-and-sugar jolt to function.

No matter how absorbed I was in work, my internal alarm rang promptly at 10:15 a.m.—when the cafeteria opened for mid-morning break. A stout woman named Mary served yeasty, handmade cinnamon rolls the size of your hand. My body craved those rolls so intensely it was almost painful if I couldn’t get to the cafeteria before break time ended.

As the pounds crept on, I tried to cut back on sugar, but the cravings were too powerful. Turns out, willpower is highly overrated.

Why Willpower Fails

The saga of sugar cravings actually begins in the gut. More than five thousand species of microbes (bacteria, fungi, viruses, etc.) colonize our digestive tract.

What we eat determines which microbes thrive. If we consume excess sugar, the population of sugar-loving microbes expands. As their numbers grow, they demand more sugar to keep their growing families fed, leading to irresistible cravings.

Meanwhile, these sugar-eating microbes crowd out the beneficial bacteria that help our body regulate inflammation, fight pathogens, balance cholesterol, and maintain a healthy weight. This imbalance increases our risk for metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity, and for cardiovascular diseases including heart disease and stroke.

Act two of our story involves the gut–brain axis. The health of our microbiome directly affects our mental and emotional well-being. Research has shown a striking similarity in the gut microbe profiles of people with depression. Even more astonishing, transplanting microbes from a person without depression can eliminate the symptoms. A dysfunctional gut also saps our motivation...further weakening our resolve to abstain from sweets.

Stress plays a leading role in the saga. During a fight-or-flight reaction, digestion is put on pause—there’s no point digesting your lunch if your safety is threatened. All available energy is redirected to your arms and legs so you can fight or flee. Once the danger passes, digestion resumes (assuming you survive).

But when we live in a near-constant state of anxiety, our body never fully returns to efficient digestion. Even a healthy diet can fail to nourish us when stress forces nutrients to pass through the system unused. When energy stores run low, the brain sends urgent signals for quick, simple carbohydrates—cakes, cookies, and candies.

Broccoli is technically a carbohydrate, too, but its complex carbs take longer to break down and don’t provide the rapid hit the body is demanding. So, unfortunately, stress doesn't compel us to pig out on veggies.

Breaking Free

What finally helped me break free from sugar’s stranglehold was reframing. A core technique in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), reframing involves viewing a situation from a new angle revealing fresh insights and emotional shifts.

As I learned how sugar affected my body, I began to see it differently. Instead of an irresistible source of pleasure, I saw sugar as the dangerous toxin it is. This shift in perspective made resistance easier.

It was tough in the beginning but as my gut microbiome rebalanced, the cravings subsided. Because I didn't want to go through withdrawal again, I became fiercely motivated to avoid anything that might rekindle that dependency.

Eventually, the pendulum swung in the opposite direction. One day I bit into a cookie and felt immediate revulsion at its sweetness. Now when I bypass the desserts in a holiday spread, I don't feel deprived; instead, I feel liberated.

Tips for Resisting Sugar During the Holidays

• Reframe sugar in your mind. When you’re tempted by sweets, pause and picture how sugar affects your body—from inflaming your gut to disrupting your microbes. Viewing sugar as a toxin rather than a treat was key to my own transformation, and mindset shifts can be surprisingly powerful.

  
  

• Don’t arrive hungry. Eat a balanced meal before attending parties where sugary foods will be plentiful. If you show up hungry, your body will instinctively reach for the quickest energy source: simple carbs. A satiating meal helps you think with your head instead of your cravings.

  
  

• Bring something healthy to share. If you’re going to a potluck, bring a platter of colorful vegetables with hummus, a fresh fruit bowl, or another nourishing option. Knowing there will be at least one wholesome choice on the table removes a lot of pressure.

  
  

• Keep smart snacks on hand. Stock your bag, desk, or car with high-fiber, nutrient-dense snacks such as unsalted nuts, seeds, fresh fruit, or date-based energy bars. Having satisfying alternatives ready makes sugary treats far easier to bypass.

  
  

• Feed your good microbes. A thriving gut microbiome depends on fiber. Focus on a wide variety of whole plant foods, whole grains, and protein sources low in saturated fat—like lentils, beans, peas, and tofu. Diverse, fiber-rich meals help beneficial bacteria flourish.

  
  

• Use probiotics thoughtfully. A short-term probiotic can help restore balance, but the long-term goal is to support gut health through food, not supplements. Only a limited range of microbes are available in capsule form, and independent testing shows that many products contain far fewer live organisms than the labels claim. As reported in the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, most top experts in the field of microbiome research do not take probiotics, but rather focus more on a whole-foods diet and fermented food.

  
  

• Trust the process—cravings do fade. Remember: resisting sugar isn’t forever. As your gut microbiome detoxifies, your desire for sweets naturally decreases—sometimes dramatically. With consistency, your palate will shift, and foods you once found irresistible will start to taste disgustingly sweet.

  
  

• Proactively manage stress. Keep your stress level low by adopting a daily habit of intentional breathing or tapping—either before bed or as part of your morning routine. Everyone benefits from some extra stress management self-care during the holidays.

Based on my experience, I’ve come to believe that sugar is an acquired taste. At some point—likely in childhood—we learned to love it. And, as my experience shows, we can also learn to un-love it.

References

Satokari, Reetta. “High Intake of Sugar and the Balance between Pro- and Anti-Inflammatory Gut Bacteria.” Nutrients vol. 12,5 1348. 8 May. 2020, doi:10.3390/nu12051348

Thursby, Elizabeth, and Nathalie Juge. “Introduction to the human gut microbiota.” The Biochemical journal vol. 474,11 1823-1836. 16 May. 2017, doi:10.1042/BCJ20160510

Safadi, J.M., Quinton, A.M.G., Lennox, B.R. et al. Gut dysbiosis in severe mental illness and chronic fatigue: a novel trans-diagnostic construct? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Mol Psychiatry 27, 141–153 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-021-01032-1

Ferranti, Erin P et al. “20 things you didn't know about the human gut microbiome.” The Journal of cardiovascular nursing vol. 29,6 (2014): 479-81. doi:10.1097/JCN.0000000000000166

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Did You Know...?

The term carbohydrate was introduced by the Commission on the Nomenclature of Chemistry in 1969. Chemically, carbs are composed of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen molecules in various configurations. Fiber, starch, and all types of sugar fall under the umbrella of carbs. Without getting into all the different forms of sugar, the important thing to remember is that simple sugars are short chains of one to two saccharides, while complex sugars are longer chains of at least three or more saccharides.

— Eight Intentions for Self-Healing, Chapter 9 Intentional Nutrition

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