Sweet Potatoes and Sugar Cravings: What Chinese Medicine Gets Right

My acupuncture mentor recently gave a piece of Chinese medicine wisdom to several classmates who are battling strong sugar cravings. Whether it’s a lifelong habit, hormonal and related to PMS or perimenopause or menopause, or purely emotional, sugar cravings can really get in the way of health goals. and in my clinical experience, the cravings can run so deep and be so hard to change that they mess with a person’s confidence. It seems easy enough to give folks all the reasoning and rationale behind why they should cut back on sugar, or even replace with other nutrients so that they are getting nourishment in other ways, but I find that until we start to address the root cause of the sugar cravings, none of these other approaches really work.

Sugar cravings, from a Chinese medicine perspective come from an imbalance in the spleen, which in Chinese medicine encompasses our basic digestive function. When spleen qi is weak, we crave sugar. And sadly, sugary things weaken spleen function, so it becomes a really difficult loop to break out of. Interestingly, the “sweet-bland” flavor—which is not the type of sweet we encounter in the candy aisle—but rather the subtle sweet of well-cooked, well-chewed grains, root vegetables, and things like sweet potatoes nourish spleen qi when eaten in moderate amounts. Another way of thinking of this, is this gentle intake of natural carbohydrates actually feeds the gut itself, which allows it to regulate over time. All this goes to say, if you are having sugar cravings, try this hack, and let me know how it goes. The recipe is not exact, because this is how it was communicated to me, and it doesn’t need to be. Follow the instructions and make a batch once a week or so for several weeks, or as long as you continue to have sugar cravings.

SWEET POTATO RECIPE TO BEAT SUGAR CRAVINGS

INGREDIENTS

Several pounds, or 4-8 medium to large sweet potatoes, ideally orange, or a mix of colors

½ to 1 stick of butter

DIRECTIONS

Boil a pot of water. As water is boiling, peel sweet potatoes and cut them into 1 inch chunks. Add the sweet potato chunks to the water and cook until they are fork-soft. Drain the sweet potatoes, put them in a large bowl, and mash them up. Add “an insane amount of butter—more than you think you should” (I would start with ½ stick to 1 stick butter, depending on the amount of sweet potatoes you are using, and your relationship to butter. If you can’t do butter, try ghee, or otherwise an unrefined fat—coconut oil might be tasty). Stir this up well, and store it in a non-plastic, covered container in the fridge. Every time you have a craving for sugar, take a small to moderate amount of this mixture (a scoop or two or three?) and warm it up in a small pot, covered, with a splash of water, and eat. Eat this as often as you have sugar cravings, and continue for several weeks. Drop me a note and let me know how it goes for you after you’ve given it a fair shot!

Come see us in SE Portland, OR for personalized natural and Chinese medicine based care. We love helping folks to improve their digestion and boost their spleen qi with customized dietary recommendations, acupuncture, and classical Chinese herbal formulas.