The Montana Capitol is filled with candy.  Every office.  Every conference room.  Every hearing room.  Every desk.  We keep Hershey and Mars in business in those lean post-Halloween, pre-Easter months.  (These peanut butter cups are the best candy in the building.)  So when I saw an ad for Sweetkick in my social feed, I decided to give it a try.

Did it help me eat less sugar or quit candy all together?  Let’s find out.

Sweetkick is a ‘sugar control mint’ designed to help you reduce the amount of sugar you consume.  The mint works by dulling the receptors on your tongues that make sugar taste sweet.  Thus, reducing sugar cravings.

Sweetkick sells a 14-Day Sugar Reset Pack to get you started.  So let’s talk about results.

The Sweetkick mints are strong.  And you cannot chew them, they must dissolve completely on your tongue to be effective.  This can take awhile.  And when you’re wearing a mask, results in a somewhat overpowering scent experience.

Afterward, if you try to eat something sweet, that sugary taste is just gone.  Peanut butter cups taste like stale peanuts.  Eating licorice is like chewing styrofoam.  It takes a couple of hours to wear off, so if you forget you’re liable to take a sip soda or latte and get nothing but the temperature of the beverage in return.

But does the effect make you want to eat less candy?  Not really.

I followed the program dutifully for four days.  I tend to eat my feelings, so sometimes I would just reflexively grab candy even after eating mints all day.    That was an unpleasant experience every time.  Didn’t stop it from happening though.

Bottom Line. I just decided enough was enough.  Sweetkick, like almost all diet or exercise related things, works if you have the willpower to keep up with it and achieve the end result.  I did not really want to quit sugar.  So I tossed the mints out and just limited myself to three pieces of fun size candy per day.  Cutting back after session will be a breeze since most of the temptation will be removed.

Beyond that, I will say having my colleagues try the mints and then eat candy was a fun science experiment.  On an otherwise stressful work day, we took a few minutes to marvel at science and share a few laughs.  Because when you put a Jolly Rancher in your mouth and taste nothing but disappointment, it’s a strangely bonding experience to chat about it with others feeling the same odd sensation.

I would not buy Sweetkick again, but if you’re serious about quitting sugar, I can see how it would help get through those first 14-days of cravings.

{Like all Saw It On Social posts, I bought Sweetkick with my own money.  No sponsorships were offered, solicited, or accepted.}