# Tricks to fool my sweet tooth? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 14, 2003, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716 "2003-04-14T19:52:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716/1 "2003-04-14T19:52:07Z")
Spring has sprung, and so I’m embarking once again on my yearly effort to eat healthy. I do eat healthy food, for the most part; I cook from scratch, lots of veggies and legumes and fresh foods, minimal red meat and processed foods, etc. The hard part, though, is dealing with my seemingly insatiable sweet tooth. I’ve tried the usual tricks, such as eating dried fruit in lieu of sweets, waiting half an hour to see if the craving goes away (it NEVER does), etc. So what tricks do other Dopers have to keep away from sweets? ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716/2 "2003-04-14T20:09:22Z")
Chewing gum helps me sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Medea\_s\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Medea\_s\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medea_s_Child)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716/3 "2003-04-14T20:12:11Z")
Fruit generally works for me. I love dried fruit, and if you slightly freeze fruit it can feel more substantial. Beyond that, I’d really be interested in what the Dopers come up with. ---
**Author:** ![Harli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c0e974/32.png) [@Harli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harli)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716/4 "2003-04-14T20:23:27Z")
My mom suggested that I take chromium. I haven’t looked into it too much, but it’s supposed to kill sweet cravings. I get them after almost every meal, it’s horrible. I just don’t keep sweets in the house, that’s how I bypass the craving 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716/5 "2003-04-14T20:24:16Z")
My husband beat it by not having it in the house. ---
**Author:** ![Wintermute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@Wintermute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wintermute)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716/6 "2003-04-14T20:28:16Z")
This may not be what you are looking for, but I find that I eat a lot less hard candy than other kinds, because it takes so long to eat. Especially if you get something that tastes creamy and rich, like “Werther’s” (sp?), I can eat a piece or two and be happy, instead of the whole bag. This doesn’t help much if you are a chocoholic. Instead of dried fruit, have you tried dates? My nutritionist recommended them. He says the sugar in them metabolizes differently, so you don’t get that insulin spike and trough effect. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716/7 "2003-04-14T20:28:56Z")
Carrots. Diet soda. Sugar-free gum. And I recently was in an healthfood store, and there they sold little bottles with some juice of a plant that was supposedly very sweet without actually containg sugar. It tasted quite nicely, something like concetrated liquorice water. Maybe another Doper could give you specifics? Like Harli said, chromium is supposed to take away sweet cravings. Maybe you could look up sugar addiction, and look at your sweet tooth from that perspective? ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716/8 "2003-04-14T20:39:46Z")
Oh, I am SUCH a chocoholic. Plus I love to cook, which doesn’t help. If I’m at home for the evening in my jammies, sometimes I can wait out the craving, because it’s just too much effort to get dressed and go out again. (Also, sometimes a nice cup of Celestial Seasonings Vanilla Hazelnut tea with honey and a bit of milk does the trick.) The hard part is when I’m at work, because I know damn well there’s a convenience store a 30-second elevator ride away, and a Starbucks and a Dunkin’ Donuts and a CVS across the street. I just had some orange juice a while ago, which postponed the craving, oh, maybe half an hour… ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716/9 "2003-04-14T21:06:15Z")
Try drinking water every time you have a craving for sweets. ---
**Author:** ![oceans\_11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b2d939/32.png) [@oceans\_11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oceans_11)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716/10 "2003-04-14T21:55:43Z")
Sugar-Free Jello Pudding Diet Vernor’s Ginger Ale [Splenda](http://www.splenda.com) I believe what **Maastricht** is talking about is [Stevia](http://swiftweb.com/ha/stevia.html). ---
**Author:** ![cherry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cherry)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716/11 "2003-04-15T01:26:48Z")
dried mangos does the trick for me as well as jelly lychee fruits ---
**Author:** ![gypsymoth3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@gypsymoth3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gypsymoth3)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716/12 "2003-04-15T01:31:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CBCD \* > \*\*Try drinking water every time you have a craving for sweets. \*\* yeah, that would scare me right out of craving sweets! ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716/13 "2003-04-15T01:48:16Z")
I like the Quaker Popcorn cakes, especially the chocolate chip kind. Very sweet, big, and only 50 calories. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716/14 "2003-04-15T03:12:22Z")
Fuji apples, cored, peeled and quartered. Sweet as candy! Juicy too. ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716/15 "2003-04-15T04:21:56Z")
Try putting grapes in the freezer. It really brings the sweetness out of them, and they’re great on a hot day. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716/16 "2003-04-15T10:18:45Z")
\*Originally posted by \ ***oceans\_11** > [@](#): > > I believe what Maastricht is talking about is [Stevia](http://swiftweb.com/ha/stevia.html). Yes, thank you, that is it! Nice link. Stevia was a hot promise in dieting some five years ago, but I have not heard much from it since then. Neither positive nor negative. Lurking at my bottle of Stevea-extract was a nice substitute for nibbling candy, though. If it was more widely available, I’d buy it more often. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716/17 "2003-04-15T10:54:26Z")
Get some hard candy (like Werther’s or Campino or something) suck it for half a minute, then spit it out. Seriously; you’ll taste it just as long this way and crunching up a hard chunk of sugar isn’t what it is all about. ---
**Author:** ![Maxxxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@Maxxxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maxxxie)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716/18 "2003-04-15T13:37:38Z")
The drinking water method works well for me. As of tonight, I have successfully put off eating the last chocolate poptart for over two weeks using this method. I find that drinking the water distracts me long enough (between actually drinking it and having pee breaks every 10 minutes) that I forget about the poptart fantasies. YMMV of course 🙂 Max ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716/19 "2003-04-15T16:08:51Z")
Chocolate soy milk. A cup will satiate you. It’s very rich, but not fattening. ---
**Author:** ![House](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/90db22/32.png) [@House](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/House)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716/20 "2003-04-15T16:29:00Z")
I drink grape juice. Seems to hold me over, pretty well. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tricks-to-fool-my-sweet-tooth/168716.md?page=2)