The only way to kick the sugar habit is to completely eliminate it. Sugar is like a drug, having just a little leaves you craving more. You can't do better quality and lower sugar chocolate or replacements and expect success. You must completely eliminate it to get over your cravings.

Are you still eating a fair amount of carbohydrate/glucose from other sources? Do potato and other "paleo" starches and carb sources make up a large amount of your diet? If so that could be a problem: you might not be able to ditch the sugar until you ditch those.

This was certainly the case with me. Whenever I tried to cut out soda and sweets but continued eating medium to high carb I would always start eating soda and sweets again, slowly but surely.

My thought is that it goes something like this: your body needs to switch over its metabolism; you need to get it used to burning more fats and less glucose. Otherwise you're going to continue to want the most extreme, easy-to-deliver form of your preferred fuel source. Your body senses a deficit of its primary fuel and wants to make up the deficit as quickly as possible.

It's not this way for everyone but it definitely was for me, and I've heard anecdotal evidence from others along the same lines.

If this applies to you, then try going low carb for a while, eating lots of fat. Your body will change and your mind will change along with it. After a couple of weeks of this, if you cheat and have a significant amount of sugar, you'll pay the price because it will make you feel miserable. You may not even want the sugar in the first place because it will probably taste overwhelmingly sweet, maybe even nauseatingly sweet.

And then presumably you'd be able to go back to eating carbohydrate after you kicked your sugar habit. (Or you could just never go back, like me!)

I found supplementing with L-Glutamine helped put the nail in the sugar coffin for me. I used a high-quality powder and even took it by the spoonful under my tongue when a serious craving came up. Nora Gedgaudas (Primal Body, Primal Mind) talks about it's use in breaking addiction.

I found it somewhere in here.

I had terrible sugar addiction. I kept making excuses like "Just this one more time." One day I had to say to myself "ok, no excuses today". You have to realise the cravings are coming from a very primitive emotional part of the brain and your rational thinking brain is no match for it. I then got through the sugar withdrawal with lots and lots coffee and diet cola. Not ideal, but it's what I needed. Two weeks later I could deal with the caffeine withdrawal.

Do you know someone who can handcuff you to a chair when your cravings kick in?

Geisha Girl - when you have those cravings at night, try Yogi Peach Detox tea. The wonderful flavors of cinnamon, cardamom and others have a really soothing effect. Also try adding cinnamon to your food, or take a cinnamon supplement. It doesn't CURE your cravings overnight, but does help soothe the sugar monster.

L-Glutamine can help as Riveted suggested, but also consider BCAA's (branched chain amino acids) in general before and after a workout.

Try these things for a minimum of 3 weeks, but do take it one day at a time.

Google how to manage hypoglycemia. Withdrawal symptoms are expected during the first several months. Then sugar, etc. won't even bother you like it never existed.

The only way I know is to just quit cold turkey. Some folks use Stevia - though it's not Paleo I believe it is safe, and has been used for centuries. But I'm of the school of thought that it's just "candy cigarettes," and only keeps your sweet tooth alive. Best course of action is to just let your taste buds adjust to a non-sweetened world.

It is HARD. Just when I think I'm in control, I get sucked back in. The longer you go without it, the easier it gets. I've learned that I can't keep temptations in the house -- I can't stop at just one bite. Right now, I'm trying to discipline myself by giving up all sweets for Lent -- no desserts, dark chocolate, artificial sweeteners, etc. I told a few people, too, so there is some accountablility.

My 25 yr old daughter has suffered from sugar addiction for at least 5 years - and its getting worse. She has gone up to five weeks eating "normally" and then craters and binges on sugar, french fries, pizza, and lots of ice cream and candies for days - its seriously affecting her life and job. Amazingly she is a size 6 but yo yos back and forth up to 20 pounds in just a few weeks. Its just killing us - how can we help her? I've suggested hypnotism - has anyone tried it along with all the other "tricks", diets, supplements, etc...?

Has anyone tried a clinic (i.e. food addiction clinic similar to Betty Ford for alcoholics)? We are getting desperate!

I'm in no way an expert in any sense of the word but I do a fair amount of Paleo research and it seems like a lot of people are talking about getting the right fats for getting your brain health/mental well being in order. A craving is mental too, not just a growling stomach. Really look into the Omega3/Omega6 ratio issue and get lots of good saturated fats like coconut oil and see what happens. The magnesium mentioned is also a great suggestion for cutting out chocolate specifically since your body wants that for the right reason, sugar just hijacked that particular Mg train. Natural Calm ftw.

Balanced Bites has a 21-day Sugar Detox. We haven't done it because we're not too "in" to sugar. We'd both rather fill up on a huge steak instead of popping a few M&Ms or some Reese's.

We've both heard of good things about Balanced Bites, and Diane seems like she'd be a good coach for you.

Maybe give it a shot? Or, avoid the candy aisles at your grocery store, forever.

Natural Calm is another great product. I (Kylie) have been taking it for a few days and notice I just feel better.

First, you have to realize it's not an addiction at all. It's due to insulin resistance. When your cells become insulin resistant you make more and more insulin to overcome it. Your body is producing so much insulin that it's sending all the sugar you consume straight to be stored as fat so now there's not enough sugar left in your bloodstream to provide you with energy. So, your blood sugar keeps crashing and your body keeps screaming for more sugar in the hopes of getting enough energy. The key is to eat a low carb diet and get yourself switched over to burning fat for energy. For me it takes about three days to shut off the cravings. For those three days though you will have to resist the urge for sugar and make sure you eat something else anytime hunger strikes.