Clearly sugar is not great for us.

But its so delicious!

And as anyone whos ever sat down to eat one Twizzler and accidentally polished off the bag (i.e.

everyone) can tell you, once you start, it can be hard to stop.

Its bitter compounds have been used for centuries in traditions like Ayurveda to control sugar cravings and treat diabetes.

Its generally a pretty effective mechanism.

Which one you choose depends on the effects youre hoping for, and how much you mind bitter flavors.

Tea

One of the traditional ways of taking gymnema is as atea.

But its a bitter brew, and not the most user friendly way to consume the herb.

Its inexpensive and straightforward, at least.

Capsules

Gymnema is readily available in capsule or tablet form at health food stores and even atWalMart.

(Prices vary, but one of the cheaper deals is $14.99 for 120 capsules.)

Its sold commercially asSweet Defeat, formerly known as Crave Crush.

A 60-lozenge supply costs $49.99.

Sweet Defeat has funded research, published in theJournal of Psychopharmacologyand conducted by clinical psychologistDr.

Eric Sticeand his team at theOregon Research Institute, on the formulation of the lozenge.

Stice and his research team recruited 67 adults and had them pick their favorite candy from a stash.

Each one ate a single serving, and then took the lozenge or a placebo.

Then, they were offered another sweet hit.

Its kind of like eating cereal after youve just brushed your teeth.

She says that the toughest part of using Sweet Defeat is, well, using it.

Thats the real challenge.

Sweet Defeats single-lozenge foil envelopes are a cheery shade of blue.

Like Lawson, the first hurdle for me was getting started.

I knew I needed to try the lozenges, but I didnt want to.

I thought Id start my experiment maybe tomorrow, after a nice little snort of ice cream tonight.

After two of the peanut butter cups, I tried a lozenge.

It tasted minty and kind of medicinal, not at all unpleasant.

My tongue felt weirdly blunted.

It tasted pretty great.

I sat there and methodically ate [redacted] more.

It didnt slow me down on the ice cream, either.