I've been VLC lately but having very strong sugar cravings, I couldn't figure it out. Then I noticed on a seasoning blend I bought recently "dextrose" is an ingredient; that's a sugar, right? Would that be strong enough to trigger cravings? Too bad, nice blend but I'm going to stop using it and see if that helps. Anyone else assiduously avoid dextrose because it's a sugar?

i would remove it, and see if cravings go away.
if they do, avoid it. if they don't, i would use it and not worry, but try to find what else could be culprit.
for me dose makes a big difference- for example, i wouldn't worry about a trace if serving size is zero g carb and i am using about that much, BUT i won't use something like McCormick's fajita seasoning because each serving is 3g carbs from HFCS and matodextrin, and i would use about 2.5 servings for my meal....so 7.5 carbs and that is before I add up the carbs from veggies, cheese, salsa, etc....and yes, i just looked up label online after buying it once and being really annoyed with myself for not checking at store, which is unlike me.

Yes, I'm going to avoid it, I also had some bloating in my ankles the past few days which is unusual for me. It's not a common brand name, from a regional company, and no carb counts listed. The other two blends I tried from this company ere fine and I see dextrose isn't listed, so I think it's just in this one. Good to know dextrose is a culprit for me and I'll be more careful from now on!

Agree with Robin regarding McCormicks. Seems like any seasoning mix they make includes wheat/starch byproducts and more than one form of sugar. I started making my own seasonings for southwest and Asian dishes and with a little experimentation, you can get great results for dishes that taste right. Make larger batches and you have what you need in the cupboard for quick preparations that taste superior.

I threw out the spice blend (checked ingredients on everything). Within 2 days all sugar cravings vanished completely. But I could feel the urge rising in me for unholy "treats." Scary how small amounts of a sugary ingredient could trigger such strong cravings.

By the way I saw the other post on sugar in pepperoni; I don't seem to have the same reaction with salami or cured meats (though I do avoid if there's HFCS), maybe the difference is if it's used in the curing as opposed to adding for a sweeter taste?

Keep reading labels, assume nothing is "sugar-free"!

You may be onto something - perhaps the curing "eats" a lot of the sugar?

I've noticed the same with cured and uncured meats like bacon, salami, and others of that type. Usually the percentage of added sugar is so small, that I don't get a BG reaction to any of these meats, and will eat them without hesitation. However, pazia is correct in that we should never assume anything is sugar free nowadays. Ingredient labels must be read for anything that we haven't consumed previously.