It is no surprise that we crave sugar. It is hardwired into our biology. Consuming sugar gave our hunter-gatherer ancestors an adaptive advantage. It provided an instant source of energy, and if consumed in large enough quantities, it could increase body fat. This was quite helpful if you didn’t know where the next meal was coming from but in today’s food-rich environment, consuming too much sugar has lead to increases in obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. While we fixate on sugar for many reasons, one of these is the bliss point which has steadily increased, due in part to food manufacturers.

What is the Bliss Point?

The bliss point is amount of an ingredient such as salt, sugar, or fat which optimizes its delicious and satisfying taste. It is the point at which we say “this is perfect” so that we want to eat more. In the book, Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us, author Michael Moss talks about how food manufacturers hired experts in mathematics and human psychology to engineer foods with just the right amount of sweetness to trigger this “more” response. For example, a new flavor of Dr. Pepper started with 59 sweetness variations and went through 3,000 taste tests across the country. The results were then put through a mathematical regression analysis until the perfect formula was found.

Added Sugar in Most Processed Foods Today

We expect food manufacturers to add sugar to baked goods and ice cream, but added sugar is found in most processed food we eat, from ketchup to salad dressing to canned soup. In fact, one popular brand of tomato soup has as much added sugar as two donuts. The challenge, nutritionists say, is this:

“The hidden sugar in most foods creates a subconscious expectation that everything should be sweet. It becomes much harder for us to turn our attention to foods like broccoli or Brussel sprouts because we are conditioned to expect sweetness.”

Are Artificial Sweeteners a Good Solution?

On the surface, artificial sweeteners like saccharin, acesulfame, aspartame, and even a natural no calorie sweetener like stevia offer a great promise: the taste of sugar (well, almost) with no calories. However, when it comes to controlling sugar cravings, artificial sweeteners are part of the problem, not the solution. Because they are 200 to 600 times as sweet as sugar—and because we tend to use them liberally—they actually raise the bliss point and increase our craving for sugar.

Resetting the Bliss Point

Kicking sugar cravings is hard work, and I’m not suggesting you cut it out completely. My advice is to gradually lower your bliss point so that your expectation for sweetness is reduced, similar to turning down the volume on your TV. Try one of these experiments for 3-5 days and see what happens:

Experiment #1: Cut it in half. If you enjoy a packet or two of sugar with your coffee or on cereal, cut the amount in half. Notice the difference in sweetness and see if your tastebuds could adapt.

Experiment #2: Rethink that drink. If you drink diet soda every day, switch to every other day. Substitute unsweetened ice tea, sparkling water, (or yes, even water!) on those other days.

Experiment #3: Have a savory morning. If your ususal morning routine includes pastries, pancakes or pre-sweetened breakfast cereal, switch these with a savory option for a few days. If the thought of an egg turns you off, try cottage cheese with berries or an open faced breakfast sandwich on whole wheat bread. Eating sugary food the first thing in the morning ramps up the expectation for more sugar throughout the day.

Experiment #4: Make it yourself. Reduce added sugar in bottled salad dressings by making a simple dressing yourself with delicious flavored vinegars like these from Sigona Markets. Add flavor and fiber by substituting vegetables and fruit for sugar in both savory and sweet dishes. For recipes, I recommend Jennifer Tyler Lee’s Half the Sugar, All the Love cookbook.