I wish I could answer "No", but after reading the ten questions from Dr. Kathleen DesMaisons book "The Sugar Addict's Total Recovery Program", I have discovered that my answer may be "Yes". I have always considered myself a pretty healthy eater. I don't drink soda (regular or diet), I eat a mostly vegetarian diet, I get plenty of fiber and whole grains, and stay away from processed food as much as possible. Sounds good to me! How could I be addicted to sugar? Read on....
1. If you don’t get your regular dose of sugar, are you irritable and cranky?
Have you ever taken a long flight and realized you didn’t have the bag of sweets that you thought you had packed? Did you start counting the minutes until the beverage cart came down the aisle so you could get a sugar sweet soda (and whatever else they had)? Have you ever been short tempered with a loved one because you were overdue for your afternoon tea and cookies?
2. Have you ever tried to cut down or control your use of sweet foods?
Are you able to eat just one? If you buy a package of cookies, how long do they last? Have you ever tried to ration out your sugar filled foods, saying that you would only eat one a day, or one per meal, but that one always turns into two, three, four…?
3. Are you using more sweet foods than ever before?
Where before you would buy the regular sized bag of chocolates at the drugstore, do you now seek out the bulk size at the warehouse store? When you are shopping in the mall for business clothes, do you have one eye on the lookout for a sweet and/or gourmet coffee shop?
4. Have you ever lied about how much sweet food you eat?
Do you ever buy sugar filled food (remember, sugar is in fast food, bread, salad dressing, regular soda, and most processed foods in general) and eat it, throwing out the container before anyone else knows about it? Have you ever eaten your children’s Halloween candy and when they ask where the extra went you say that you had to go through it again and throw out any pieces that appeared unsafe?
5. Have you ever gone out of your way to get something sweet?
Have you ever been on the way to an appointment and gone to a drive through, just making it to the appointment with no time to spare? Have you ever been settled in at home and gone out to a 24-hour grocery store late at night just to get a fix of your favorite ice cream?
6. Have you ever gotten upset when someone ate your special food?
Have you ever come home after a long day at work only to find that your favorite food (that you were looking forward to eating all day) is gone, because one of your family members ate it? Did you do your best to seem unaffected while on the inside you were furious and frustrated (and anxiously thinking about what else there was to eat)?
7. Have you ever felt that you had a sugar hangover?
Have you ever binged on your favorite sweets at night, gone to bed because they made you so sleepy, and woken up stumbling about as if you had been out drinking? Was your fuzzy head or a headache immediately relieved as soon as you ate your bagel and jelly?
8. Have you ever binged on sweet or white flour foods?
Have you ever baked special cookies for a family gathering and ended up eating so many that you had to bake an entire new batch? Have you ever bought a box of chocolates for a gift and bought an extra one for you, only to eat the whole box in one sitting?
9. Is it impossible to “just say no” to sweet foods?
Can you turn down sweets at parties and focus on socializing instead? Are you able to keep sugar filled foods in the house without eating them? If there is a “food day” at work? Can you opt out, or are you compelled to eat whatever is there?
10. Is sugar controlling your life?
Does your life revolve around where your next sugar fix is coming from? Are you moody, anxious, and irritable based on how much sugar you either have had or haven’t had? Would you be embarrassed if anyone else knew how you answered these questions?
I may not be a complete sugar addict, but I get a strong mid afternoon sugar craving everyday! I always wondered why I need an afternoon "chocolate fix", even after having a substantial lunch. I have tried to satisfy my urge with a handful of almonds, or an apple and peanut butter, but I am left dreaming about the Bryer's in my freezer.
Why do we get addicted to sugar? Sugar triggers the release of opiates from your brain. Hmmmm...aren't opiates addictive? We wouldn't go around injecting morphine into our arms everyday, but we are ingesting a ton of hidden sugar everyday. Hidden sugars are in most processed foods and beverages that we use everyday, like ketchup, salad dressings, pasta sauces, soda and juices, among others. Sugar also comes in many different forms like corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, barley malt, dextrose, malt syrup, molasses, galactose, invert sugar, sucrose, evaporated cane juice, turbinado, syrup, glucose and aspartame, so read your labels.
We also get tricked into "healthy" sugar traps. Just because a box of brown sugar says "organic", doesn't make it much healthier than regular white sugar. Honey is not any better nutritionally than white sugar either. It is great to eat products labeled "all-natural" and "organic", but sugar is still sugar, in any form. Did you know that every American is consuming the equivalent of 160 pounds of sugar per year. That is about 50 heaping teaspoons of sugar per person per day!
Who cares how much sugar we eat anyway? Why is sugar so bad for us? Let's ask the doctor....
For starters, it raises the insulin level in your blood. Raised blood insulin levels can cause weight gain. Insulin also promotes the storage of fat, so when you eat foods high in refined sugar, you increase fat storage. In addition, refined sugar has no vitamins or minerals, so in order for sugar to be metabolized, it must draw on the body's reserve of vitamins and minerals. Some other adverse health affects of refined sugar include: producing a significant rise in triglycerides; reducing the helpful high density cholesterol (HDL); promote an elevation of harmful cholesterol (LDL); can cause hypoglycemia; can increase the risk of coronary heart disease; can promote tooth decay; can speed the aging process, causing wrinkles and grey hair; can contribute to diabetes; can contribute to osteoporosis; can cause a decrease in insulin sensitivity; can increase systolic blood pressure; can increase the amount of fat in the liver; can cause depression; can cause hypertension; can cause headaches; and many more. You can get the complete list at nancyappleton.com. It is called "146 Reasons Why Sugar Is Ruining Your Health" .
So how are we going to lessen our cravings for sugar? Here is a plan that I think is pretty sensible and easy to follow:
1 - Start reading nutritional labels, and eliminating as much processed food as possible.
Processed food is where we are getting most of our hidden sugar from. We can control the sugar we add to our cooking, but manufacturers are hiding it in almost every product out there. When you do buy processed foods, buy the low-sugar versions that are offered. Also, when it is an option, buy the "organic" and "preservative free" brands. I think the less chemicals we injest, the better.
2 - Avoid processed beverages.
I think this is a super easy one. Drink filtered water as much as possible. Avoid soda, sports drinks (unless you need the electrolytes to replace fluids from working out), sweetened iced teas, flavored waters and even fruit juices. Natural fruit juice is still high in sugar. If you get sick of plain water, make iced herbal tea (Red Zinger is my favorite). I'll bet you are not drinking enough water anyway.
3 - Switch to Stevia or Splenda in your morning coffee or tea.
This is supposed to be a much healthier option than sugar, Sweet'N'Low or Equal. Even better, skip the sweetener all together.
4 - Ditch your childhood cereals for something more grown-up.
I hate to say it, but unless you are in preschool, you should not be eating breakfast with Tony the Tiger anymore. Stock up on plain shredded wheat, steel cut oatmeal, and plain bran flakes. Toss your cereal with a few fresh blueberries and strawberries, and a splash of skim milk, and you have you own personal "breakfast of champions". Plus, it tastes really good!
5 - Go Greek...Greek yogurt that is!
Nonfat, plain Greek yogurt is another great breakfast option. Add in some fresh fruit, and a little Splenda, and you have a great breakfast, or mid-afternoon snack. Filling, high in protein and low in sugar, you will stay full and satisfied for hours.
6 - Do not skip meals.
Skipping meals leads to ravenous hunger. Ravenous hunger means you will eat the first thing you set your eyes on, and you will eat a lot of it.
7 - Don't buy sweets
This seems pretty obvious, but stay out of the candy aisle of the grocery store. Steer away from the bakery aisle. Avoid the ice cream cases (that one will be hard for me!). When it comes to spending your hard earned money on sugar, "just say no"!
8 - Rid your kitchen of refined sugar
Go through the refrigerator, cabinets and pantry and start reading the labels. Remember all of the different forms of sugar that manufacturers put on their labels to hide sugar? If you find products with these words on the labels, toss them! Keep tossing until your kitchen is completely free of refined sugar. "Then if you need a 'fix,'" says Dr. Nancy Appleton, you will have to drive to the store to feed your habit. This will give you time to think, and maybe you'll change your mind. If not, buy only enough to satisfy your craving. Don't buy any more than you can eat at the moment. Buy the smallest size of whatever it is you crave, and throw out what you don't eat. Better wasted outside the body than inside."
9 - Take this one step at a time.
Begin by picking one small modification to your diet that you will try for a few days. This plan will work best if you slightly decrease the amount of sugar you take in each day. Don't plan on eliminating all sugar completely, from day one! Life changes like that rarely work. Set goals that are attainable. For example, your first goal could be to read all of the nutritional information on your food.
Of course, our goal not to eliminate all sugars completely from our diet. That would be unrealistic, unhealthy, and not fun. We want to work sugar into our lives in a more healthy way. Of course, there are proponents out there that are in favor of completely eliminating all refined sugars from your diet. In theory...it is a great idea, but I don't think that is a realistic goal for most of us. Remember...YOU are in control of your actions.....
GED RID OF YOUR MENTAL ATTACHMENT TO FOOD AND SUGAR
This is the most important thing you can do for yourself. Many people are just too attached to needing to eat food all the time. Maybe that is why many people eat when they are watching TV or feeling bored. Time to realize that you will not starve yourself or whither away if you take a short break. Pick one day of the week and eat only dinner! That's right! I am suggesting you skip two meals! Use that time to clear your mind, get perspective, and go for a walk in nature. You may be surprised at the revelations you may have during those quiet times of not eating. Also break that need for eating consistently, you can do fine once in a while without it, but more importantly break your mental attachment to constant food intake. An added bonus to 'fasting' is you will help your body to “reset” some of its natural cravings and instincts. So you may start out craving sugar in the beginning of the fast, but later on your cravings may shift to something else like vegetables or healthy fats. Help your body to find it’s natural and primal instincts once again.
CHOOSE UNREFINED SUGARS AND COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES
Build you diet around fruits, vegetables and whole grains. These foods contain sugars that need breaking down before they enter your bloodstream. They keep your blood sugar level on an even keel, not the up and down "yo-yo" effect of foods made with refined sugar. You will avoid the sugar highs and the sugar lows. As your blood-sugar level stabilizes, you will find yourself craving refined sugar products less and less. Fruits and vegetables have fiber, water and vitamins, so it's nearly impossible to eat too many of them. For example, the average man would have to eat about 50 oranges or 24 pounds of cabbage per day just to maintain his weight.
CONTROL AND MANAGE YOUR STRESS
Control and manage your stress. Stress and your reactions to the environment around are important, as high stress will lead to increased cortisol. Cortisol in turn will lead to increased demands for blood sugar and increased sugar cravings. Take notice in the past when you may have eaten the most sugar and you may see a pattern around stressful and emotional reactions. Control your stress and you can control your cravings. Personally, I love yoga. I highly recommend trying it, especially if you have never given it a chance. Along with controlling your stress, I think it is incredibly important to get enough sleep. How many times have you had sugar cravings when you have been up past midnight?
TAKE IN SUGAR AFTER YOUR WORKOUT
In the hour immediately after a workout, almost none of the sugar you eat will be used to form fat (yay!). This is where high-glycemic-index foods come into play. Since insulin is anabolic--it quickly shunts nutrients into your muscles, stopping muscle breakdown while hastening repair--a quick insulin spike right after a workout is desirable. In English.... post workout, is the only time when "good carbs" and "bad carbs" switch roles. Your post workout meal needs to contain a protein and a carb (and of course, plenty of water). The optimal carb to protein ratio is 4:1 (4 grams of carbs for every 1 gram of protein). A lean turkey sandwich on whole grain bread would be perfect. A protein shake made with fresh fruit is another good option. A less desirable choice, but sometimes this is the only workable option, is a Balance Bar, or a Luna Bar. Most important...EAT!
EAT YOUR DINNER BEFORE DESSERT
A food's glycemic index is affected by what you already have in your stomach or what you eat along with it. Avoid eating high-GI foods all by themselves. If you get a box of Godiva chocolates as a gift, be sure to dip into it lightly and only after a healthy meal.
Don't consider removing refined sugar from your life a restriction. Doing so will give you better health and more energy. So go and enjoy life. You are in control over your choices. Don't worry if you have a cupcake every once in a while. Enjoy life and smile, knowing that you are healthy and in control.
Latest Comments