Who would believe eating a buttermint is a way to beat sugar cravings? It's simple, though. Healthy (saturated) fat fills you up. So if you have a treat that's loaded with healthy fats, such as the buttermints in the recipe below, you'll experience blood sugar balance (which helps control sugar cravings) and the added bonus of weight loss, because healthy fats provide profound satiation and energy in relation to amount of calories.

While you can make these "sugar free," the raw honey used in this recipe also plays an important role in satiating sugar cravings. Anecdotal research was done by making a batch of the mints with stevia and another with raw honey. Those testing this recipe, created by Lauren, of the blog Empowered Sustenance (www.empoweredsustenance.com), found they felt much more satisfied with the honey batch.

Lauren explains: "It's all about making a little bit of unrefined sugar go a long ways. Sugar-free diets, meaning diets lacking in even natural sugars like fresh fruit and root vegetables, actually increase the toll of stress hormones on the body. When it comes to enjoying natural sources of sugar, like the raw honey in the recipe, it's all about blood sugar balance. And the copious amounts of healthful fats, such as pastured butter in the Buttermints, slow down the absorption of the sugar so you enjoy sustained, even blood sugar."

Lauren says, "To stop sugar cravings within 10 minutes, savor a few buttermints. Keep these on-hand for after meals or as a snack between meals. If you are yearning for a mid-morning doughnut, just pop 4-6 buttermints instead and see for yourself."

So I tested her recipe and her promise that my sugar cravings would cease and desist. It took about 10 minutes to make a batch (about 64 mints) and about 2 hours for them to harden in the refrigerator. And Lauren was right. Because they are packed with healthy, blood-sugar-balancing fats, these Buttermints instantly stopped my sugar cravings and satisfied my voracious sweet tooth, and just 4 mints filled me up for hours.

If you deal with carb and sugar cravings, too, please give this recipe a try and see if it doesn't work for you as well. You won't believe it until you try it!

And here are a couple suggestions from some of Lauren's readers that I plan on trying soon: 1) For a delicious chocolate version, make this recipe with the addition of 2 tablespoons cocoa powder. 2) If you have heartburn or just don't like peppermint, you can replace the peppermint with maple flavoring or add maple syrup. The readers that tried this all said the results were terrific. I think I will also experiment with lemon and coconut oils, too.

Finally, Lauren continues to experiment with her recipes and wants everyone to know that if you are dairy sensitive and decide to make the mints with straight coconut oil (or ghee, which is also an oil), the honey and oil will not mix. The butter is needed to emulsify the mixture. But there's a way to resolve this issue: Use an immersion blender; blend the mixture for a minute or two and this will emulsify everything.