Ep 43 — Decoding Your Cravings: Sweet Tooth or Salty Snacker?

Why do some days call for chocolate and others for chips? In this episode of The Path to Better A1C, Jenny Peña, NBC-HWC, helps you decode your cravings. Learn what sweet vs. salty cravings might really signal — from blood sugar dips and serotonin shifts to hydration, stress, and even hormonal changes.

✨ What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Why sweet cravings often mean more than just a sweet tooth

• What salty cravings reveal about stress, electrolytes, or hydration

• How craving both at once is actually a signal, not a flaw

• Simple ways to respond with curiosity (not guilt)

🎁 Free Resource: Download your Blood Sugar Balancing Snacks List for quick, satisfying snack ideas that keep your A1C steady — from Greek yogurt with berries to roasted chickpeas to dark chocolate with almonds.

👉 Get it here: https://www.subscribepage.io/snacks

🔗 Connect with Jenny: Website: https://www.jennypena.com

 Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/coachjenp

 YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@coachjenp

Episode Transcript

(00:15):
Hello there, welcome back to thepath to Better A1C podcast.
I am your host, Jenny Pena, National Board certified health
and Wellness coach and diabetes prevention for well and
lifestyle coach. Always bringing some light
awareness tips, strategies so that you can increase your

(00:36):
energy, increase your focus, balance your blood sugar, lower
your A1C while still living a full life.
That's the whole point, right? Having strategies that are
sustainable. Now I'm super excited about
today's episode 43. I can't believe this.
We are going to continue talkingabout cravings, but today we are

(00:59):
going to get into decoding your cravings.
This is super interesting. Do you have a sweet tooth?
Are you a salty snacker? And what can that be actually
telling you about your body? What is your body telling you
when you're craving one thing versus the other?

(01:19):
Now before we dive in, I want toremind you that I have this free
resource that pairs perfectly with this month's theme and that
is my Blood Sugar Balancing Snacks list.
I have updated that list and inside you're going to find
simple snack combos and again, maybe some berries, maybe some

(01:43):
salty stuff, maybe some roasted chickpeas, and yes, even some
dark chocolate in there. And they're all designed and
paired to keep your energy steady and keep your cravings at
Bay so that you can manage them better.
And you can grab them for free. Add subscribe page dot IO
forward slash snacks and I will put everything in the

(02:06):
description of the episode. So don't forget to grab it.
Now let me ask you this. Are you a sweet tooth or a salty
snacker? As for me, some days I'm there's
sometimes that I want something sweet, but I'm more of a salty
savory snacker. It it seems to me.

(02:30):
I was actually surprised we years ago when I was diagnosed
with pre diabetes because I feltthat I was not that I didn't
have a sweet tooth that most people with diabetes tend to
have. And I felt almost like, oh, what
is going on? Like why did I have to do this
when I don't even eat that many sweets?
But I had different situation interms of my diet.

(02:54):
And that's what actually kind oflike caused all that sugar
imbalance. But let's get back into the
theme of the podcast now. Today we are going to decode
this because some days you may be craving chocolate, other days
you may be craving chips, other days you may be craving

(03:14):
pretzels. And sometimes both.
And they do mean something right?
Having sometimes sweets, sometimes salty cravings.
The body is trying to say something and you noticing them
will give you power, not guilt. You being aware that huh?

(03:35):
Every time this happens I tend to crave ABC fill the the line.
Now here's the truth, cravings aren't that random.
A lot of people are like, oh, I just woke up feeling like this.
No, they're not random. They're signals.
Sweet and salty cravings often come from different triggers,

(03:57):
and once you know what to look for, you can respond with
curiosity instead of judgment. That's kind of like almost a
tagline for the entire month. Curiosity instead of judgment.
Be curious about why is this happening now?
Sweet cravings often show up when the blood sugar drops.

(04:21):
Your brain loves fast fuel and sugar is the quickest energy
source. So that's why I keep talking
about keep your blood sugar balance.
Try to keep it steady. It's because that imbalance is
what actually triggers the cravings.
Now there is another element that has to do with emotional

(04:42):
comfort, right? We connect sweets to
celebrations, to nostalgia, to that event, to this routine that
you had on Sunday evenings with your grandmother.
All of these things create that association with certain foods
and comfort. Even stress, sadness can

(05:05):
actually flip those cravings on.We're looking for that comfort.
The other element to think aboutis low serotonin.
Now this is one thing that I, I tell a lot of my clients because
they come up with all of these extreme diets, carnivore,
extreme low carb carbs help produce serotonin and it's a

(05:31):
natural mood booster. So a lot of people that
sometimes have these mood swings, maybe depression, you
know, sadness, carbs actually help regulate all of that.
So when your serotonin levels dip, the brain pushes us towards

(05:55):
that sweet carb for that good lift.
So the body is just trying to survive.
And that's why I, I am not an advocate unless like you have a
specific condition and your doctor recommends.
I'm not an advocate for these extreme low diets, keto, all the

(06:17):
I, I, I see them as something that is going to be a quick fix.
You're going to get results, butunless you can see yourself
eating the way like that for therest of your life, it's going to
be hard to sustain. And there's this element about
the serotonin that the more thatI read about, the more I think
that it's not about the carbs, it's about the right carbs.

(06:39):
But let's let's continue talkingabout this now.
The last element that I want to mention are habit loops.
Sometimes you have these so-called cravings and they are
not triggered by your brain. They are not triggered because
you're hungry, or because you need fuel or because you're

(06:59):
feeling emotional. It is purely out of habit,
right? Having dessert after dinner,
having coffee and a muffin mid morning.
Over time, your brain will expect sweets or expect those
salty things at those times. So the craving becomes a cue,

(07:31):
not hunger. And we talked about that on the
previous episode. We talked about hunger,
appetite, and cravings, right? So that craving that you're
feeling is actually a cue. It's a habit cue.
It has nothing to do with hunger.
Your body is not telling you to eat.
You're just so used to having that at that time that you're

(07:55):
just doing it out of pure routine.
That's it. And and I have a quick story to
tell you. I had a client who always,
always, always reach for cookiesat 3:00 PM.
Always. Not because she was hungry, not
because she didn't have the balanced meals or all of that.

(08:19):
It was just because her brain had learned, OK, three, 3:00, we
get a cookie. Once she noticed that pattern,
she swapped it. And that's where the snacks list
that I I mentioned earlier comeshandy.
She swapped it. She was like, well, instead of a
cookie, let me get some Greek yogurt, let me put berries, let

(08:40):
me put something kind of sweet, right?
For the snack. She still felt that it was a
treat, but her energy levels changed, right?
So that's the power. Either you break that cue or you
replace that for something that is going to give you steady
energy and eventually your body is going to react differently.

(09:06):
Now let's talk about the salty cravings, right?
Like we talked a little bit about the sweet cravings and the
cookies and all that. So let's talk about the salty
cravings. And there are few elements that
actually can trigger these saltycravings.
The very first one is dehydration and lack of salt.

(09:27):
Now, please talk to your provider, talk to your doctor if
you have high blood pressure, All these things in terms of
like salt, but salt is essentialfor hydration.
If you're dehydrated or if you're low on electrolytes, your
body may push you towards the chips and the pretzels.

(09:49):
The other element that sometimeswill push those salty cravings
are stress and cortisol. So stress changes sodium
balance, it actually changes hormone pathways.
And these salty cravings often rise when you're under high
stress or if your adrenal glandsaren't working overtime, right?

(10:12):
So you know how the stress kind of like has your body creating
cortisol is that fight or flightmode?
Like your body is always an alert.
And it's not like it's not supposed to, but you're not
supposed to be at that level fora continuous amount of time for
a long period of time. If you are under constant stress

(10:35):
and you're not finding ways to balance that out and regulate,
you're going to get those salty cravings.
Now the other thing, and this ismainly for women, but men do
have hormonal shifts too. So but many women notice the
salty cravings right before the period and hormone changes shift

(10:55):
fluid balance and then the craving follows, right?
So also knowing the time of the month and understanding and
being aware, me personally, I'm already aware.
I'm like, OK, why am I cravings all these things I'm eating
well. And then I realized, huh, OK,
it's this time of the month, I guess, like my hormones are

(11:16):
shifting. So you see how curiosity and
being aware helps you manage them and troubleshoot.
OK, The other thing is, I know this is nice and simple texture
and crunch. Sometimes it's just about
stimulation and boredom, right? So if you're bored and there is

(11:36):
something about eating somethingcrunchy and hearing the sound
and there's just something aboutit, right?
Like that's why movie popcorn tastes so irresistible again.
First a cue with the smell of the butter.
And it just, it just tells you movies, right?
Like you smell popcorn, you immediately think about watching

(11:59):
a movie and and think about thislike late night craving for
popcorn, right? Like it may not just be the
salt. I don't think all of us think
of, Oh my God, I want popcorn sobad.
I think we just tied it to that event.
So if you go to the movies, it'sthe popcorn and sweets and a

(12:22):
huge drink. Because obviously that popcorn
with all the salt gets you thirsty.
So you want that sweet drink. It just goes together, right?
So it's not just the salt that you're craving.
It's the ritual, it's the comfort, it's the satisfaction
of that crunched all roll into one.

(12:44):
Now there are instances in whichyou may be craving both sweet
and salty. So have you ever grabbed like
chocolate covered pretzels or like a trail mix with chocolate
and salt and nuts? So craving both at once often
signals fatigue, stress, or yourbody stacking signals.

(13:11):
And it could be I need energy and I need minerals.
So there's a nutrient trigger inthere.
There may be some nutrients thatyou're not including in your
diet, not just energy, not just having a balanced meal with
protein and fiber and healthy fats.

(13:32):
There is more, more than the body is trying to communicate.
So here's how to start decoding your cravings, right.
Like you know that how I always like to give you something to
do, right? Like we decoded, we explained
all this beautiful information. So now let's let's start
decoding the cravings. When you're feeling that

(13:55):
craving, pause and name it. Is it sweet?
Is it salty? Is it comfort?
Is it crunch? Is it thirst?
Hydrate first. Have that glass of water.
Most times it calms that salty craving.
Make sure you build your balanced meals.

(14:16):
Remember my PFF formula, protein, fiber and healthy fat
and that is going to try to keepyour steady energy and think
about healthier swaps. So if you're craving something
sweet, and that's why I created that blood sugar balancing
snacks list, if you're craving something sweets, there are
things that are sweet, There arethings that are savory that you

(14:38):
can swap that will give you way more energy and hopefully
satisfy that signal that the body's trying to tell you.
That's why I created the snacks list.
That was the whole point of it because so many people were
coming back telling me that how can I just balance the cravings?
Even while they cleaned up theirmeals and all of that, they

(14:59):
still kind of had those cravings.
So these are great ways of you swapping certain things and
starting to balance your body and your cues.
Now here's a gentle reminder that cravings aren't failures.
They're messages. They're cues.
They're signals from your body. Sweet cravings.

(15:21):
It may be asking for comfort or quick energy because maybe you
haven't eaten what you should beeating.
Salty cravings might be pointingto dehydration and stress, so
when you pause and decode them, you move from reacting with a
guilt to responding with it, with a choice.

(15:45):
And that shifts, changes everything.
So today we decoded sweet and salty cravings.
Next week I'm going to explore hunger versus habit and how to
tell when you're actually hungryand when is just your brain

(16:06):
following a loop. And don't forget to grab your
free blood sugar balancing snacks list add subscribe page
dot IO forward slash snacks. You're going to have some
options there and maybe be inspired.
You can create your own choices by following that PFF formula.
Thank you so much for listening.Feel free to share this if you

(16:31):
know anyone that is struggling with cravings all throughout the
month. We're going to be talking about
all this and hopefully I'll see you on the next episode #44 have
an amazing rest of your week until the next one.