A client wrote, "Help me! I thought I was finally getting a handle on my weight issue but the sugar is killing me. I had an awful day. I won't even tell you what I ate today because it is just so unbelievable. All I will say is that 90% of my food today consisted of sugar! I really, really need some help getting past these cravings. I am no doubt a sugar addict. If I could get past this there is no doubt that I will reach my goal."[]
Most people don't realize that alcohol is actually the quickest acting sugar on the brain. In short, a "buzz" is actually a sugar high. The first research on sugar addiction in 2001 was conducted at Princeton University, and scientists have come so far since then that research is now focusing on how to address the problem (not whether or not it exists).
Sugar tends to affect the same part of the brain that heroine, cocaine, and other hard drugs do when a person uses them. The two main neurotransmitters involved with sugar addiction are serotonin and beta endorphins. We think of serotonin as the depression hormone, but it's also responsible for concentration, attention, and impulse control. When your serotonin levels are lower, you may become less able to say "no." Beta endorphins are that feel good chemical that is released after exercise, but this neurotransmitter is also associated with self esteem. Those with lower levels of beta endorphins who have excellent insight and are well accomplished might still have great difficulty with self esteem.
If you've got a habit of watching your favorite TV show with a bowl of ice cream, then breaking that habit is another obstacle.If you don't work out ways to overcome your obstacles perhaps through discussion and compromise with your husband, or habit breaking exercises for your ice cream habit, there's bound to be a problem. Just saying you're not going to do something any more rarely works. Instead determine what might stand in the way of achieving your goals, find a way around them, and you're much more likely to actually achieve those goals once and for all.The statement, "if this one thing were handled, then everything else would fall into place" is an "If Then" statement and gets people into trouble. They want a fairy godmother to make it all better. A strong belief that one single thing such as, "eating sugar is my problem," sets you up to fail, especially if you really like eating sugary foods.Getting a handle on your cravings is not an all-or-nothing proposition. You must leave room for occasional deviations. It's not the occasional side trip that causes weight trouble, it's the road we usually travel.
The holidays are over and with them the unrelenting onslaught of sugar-filled goodies. You know those treats aren't good for you but you probably couldn't resist them. How about a fresh start, though? Now may be the perfect time to start coming to grips with your sugar addiction. Because there will be more sugar even if it isn't quite a ubiquitous as it was during the prime of the holiday season.Why? Sugar can hurt you. If you have diabetes or even pre-diabetes, a season filled with sugary stuff can push you over the top and cause serious damage. If you're working at managing your weight, sugar addiction will definitely make your weight creep in the wrong direction. Unless, of course, you find a way off the roller coaster. If you haven't managed to do so before candied plums and company start making their entry, at least give it a shot now that the worst is over.
And with certain sweeteners, notably sugar alcohols (no close relation with the real alcohol), you may not WANT to eat more than a small portion because eating too much leads to major belly aches.And then there's another big step, to be taken gradually and eventually, as you get ready for it:Wean yourself off the sweet stuff altogether. Much like I eventually quit Nicorette, and became a non-smoker for real.Also realize that no matter what, the temptation will always be there, or return occasionally. That's normal. Just ignore it.
It took me most of my adult life to come to the realization that I was an addict - out of control, unable to resist a seductive, toxic substance. I used it daily and relied on it to make everything right. No matter how bad I felt after the buzz wore off, I did not stop. I had to have it. Was I hooked on cocaine, heroine, crack, or crystal meth? Nothing so obvious. In a way, my substance was more insidious because it is widely used, labeled by the Food and Drug Administration as "generally recognized as safe," and often invisible. I am talking about processed sugar.Unless you are consciously avoiding sugar, you eat it all day, every day of your life. According to the American Dietetic Association, the average American consumes in excess of 130 pounds of sugar a year; in other words, 6 ounces a day or 2.6 pounds a week. Over 70% of all processed foods contain some form of sugar because it is used as a preservative, flavor enhancer, fruit plumper, acid reducer, curing agent, fermentation medium, crust colorant, moisture holder, shelf-life extender, and provider of bulk, texture and body.
Just make a real commitment to forego actual sugar and it becomes surprisingly easy not to fall off the wagon. You know you can still indulge, after all, just not then and there, unless you came prepared, which I actually recommend.Secondly, most of these sugar-free goodies don't quite trigger the physiological addiction the way sugar does. For me anyway, I was able to stop at a couple of candies when they were sugar-free, while sugar would have triggered the vicious cycle of eating more of it, and wanting it more often too.
This is different for different sugar substitutes though, so you may want to experiment. Stevia is the healthiest of the bunch, so whenever possible, choose that one. Also, try to reduce the sweetness of what you eat gradually when you have control, for example with coffee or tea. Learn to like it with less -- and eventually even without.depending on which sweetener you picked, you may find that you don't WANT to eat more than a small portion because eating too much of certain kinds, particularly sugar alcohols (maltitol, sorbitol, etc.) leads to major gastro-intestinal distress. So you eat just a little... That's what's called "self-limiting" in medicine, and it works great for sugar addiction as well.
By the end of the first week I actually began to feel "up." The knot in my stomach had untied itself in non-social situations. My outlook seemed brighter and my life felt as if it held promise. I have been off sugar for many years now and have experienced no recurrence of my previous condition except when I tested this potential cause-and-effect relationship. There is no question in my mind that, at least for me, sugar seemed to be an "addictive" substance (perhaps both physiologically and psychologically) and that this substance significantly increased not only my anxiety symptoms. To what degree my anxiety was related, in whole or in part, to the amount of insulin secreted to metabolize all the sugar was something I could not determine. If you experiences anxiety, you might wish to consider the possible negative impact of your sugar intake on your condition. The best way to test it is to gradually withdraw all sugar-related substances to see how your mood, emotions, thoughts, and behaviors respond. This is not easy or comfortable to do. However, if sugar is negatively influencing your anxiety, you will tend to see a more positive mood and a lessening of your anxiety symptoms as you eliminate more sugars. If so, you have what appears to be a correlation - that these two events happen to increase or decrease together.But that does not tell you if sugar likely "causes" your negative moods or anxiety. After you have been off sugar for a while, you need to test to see if a causal relationship exists. To do this you re-introduce sugar a little at a time to monitor your anxiety: if it reappears or worsen. When you are working to alleviate your anxiety, you need to look for all possible concrete, specific contributors, including your diet, and especially sugar.
Most people don't realize that alcohol is actually the quickest acting sugar on the brain. In short, a "buzz" is actually a sugar high. The first research on sugar addiction in 2001 was conducted at Princeton University, and scientists have come so far since then that research is now focusing on how to address the problem (not whether or not it exists).
Sugar tends to affect the same part of the brain that heroine, cocaine, and other hard drugs do when a person uses them. The two main neurotransmitters involved with sugar addiction are serotonin and beta endorphins. We think of serotonin as the depression hormone, but it's also responsible for concentration, attention, and impulse control. When your serotonin levels are lower, you may become less able to say "no." Beta endorphins are that feel good chemical that is released after exercise, but this neurotransmitter is also associated with self esteem. Those with lower levels of beta endorphins who have excellent insight and are well accomplished might still have great difficulty with self esteem.
If you've got a habit of watching your favorite TV show with a bowl of ice cream, then breaking that habit is another obstacle.If you don't work out ways to overcome your obstacles perhaps through discussion and compromise with your husband, or habit breaking exercises for your ice cream habit, there's bound to be a problem. Just saying you're not going to do something any more rarely works. Instead determine what might stand in the way of achieving your goals, find a way around them, and you're much more likely to actually achieve those goals once and for all.The statement, "if this one thing were handled, then everything else would fall into place" is an "If Then" statement and gets people into trouble. They want a fairy godmother to make it all better. A strong belief that one single thing such as, "eating sugar is my problem," sets you up to fail, especially if you really like eating sugary foods.Getting a handle on your cravings is not an all-or-nothing proposition. You must leave room for occasional deviations. It's not the occasional side trip that causes weight trouble, it's the road we usually travel.
The holidays are over and with them the unrelenting onslaught of sugar-filled goodies. You know those treats aren't good for you but you probably couldn't resist them. How about a fresh start, though? Now may be the perfect time to start coming to grips with your sugar addiction. Because there will be more sugar even if it isn't quite a ubiquitous as it was during the prime of the holiday season.Why? Sugar can hurt you. If you have diabetes or even pre-diabetes, a season filled with sugary stuff can push you over the top and cause serious damage. If you're working at managing your weight, sugar addiction will definitely make your weight creep in the wrong direction. Unless, of course, you find a way off the roller coaster. If you haven't managed to do so before candied plums and company start making their entry, at least give it a shot now that the worst is over.
And with certain sweeteners, notably sugar alcohols (no close relation with the real alcohol), you may not WANT to eat more than a small portion because eating too much leads to major belly aches.And then there's another big step, to be taken gradually and eventually, as you get ready for it:Wean yourself off the sweet stuff altogether. Much like I eventually quit Nicorette, and became a non-smoker for real.Also realize that no matter what, the temptation will always be there, or return occasionally. That's normal. Just ignore it.
It took me most of my adult life to come to the realization that I was an addict - out of control, unable to resist a seductive, toxic substance. I used it daily and relied on it to make everything right. No matter how bad I felt after the buzz wore off, I did not stop. I had to have it. Was I hooked on cocaine, heroine, crack, or crystal meth? Nothing so obvious. In a way, my substance was more insidious because it is widely used, labeled by the Food and Drug Administration as "generally recognized as safe," and often invisible. I am talking about processed sugar.Unless you are consciously avoiding sugar, you eat it all day, every day of your life. According to the American Dietetic Association, the average American consumes in excess of 130 pounds of sugar a year; in other words, 6 ounces a day or 2.6 pounds a week. Over 70% of all processed foods contain some form of sugar because it is used as a preservative, flavor enhancer, fruit plumper, acid reducer, curing agent, fermentation medium, crust colorant, moisture holder, shelf-life extender, and provider of bulk, texture and body.
Just make a real commitment to forego actual sugar and it becomes surprisingly easy not to fall off the wagon. You know you can still indulge, after all, just not then and there, unless you came prepared, which I actually recommend.Secondly, most of these sugar-free goodies don't quite trigger the physiological addiction the way sugar does. For me anyway, I was able to stop at a couple of candies when they were sugar-free, while sugar would have triggered the vicious cycle of eating more of it, and wanting it more often too.
This is different for different sugar substitutes though, so you may want to experiment. Stevia is the healthiest of the bunch, so whenever possible, choose that one. Also, try to reduce the sweetness of what you eat gradually when you have control, for example with coffee or tea. Learn to like it with less -- and eventually even without.depending on which sweetener you picked, you may find that you don't WANT to eat more than a small portion because eating too much of certain kinds, particularly sugar alcohols (maltitol, sorbitol, etc.) leads to major gastro-intestinal distress. So you eat just a little... That's what's called "self-limiting" in medicine, and it works great for sugar addiction as well.
By the end of the first week I actually began to feel "up." The knot in my stomach had untied itself in non-social situations. My outlook seemed brighter and my life felt as if it held promise. I have been off sugar for many years now and have experienced no recurrence of my previous condition except when I tested this potential cause-and-effect relationship. There is no question in my mind that, at least for me, sugar seemed to be an "addictive" substance (perhaps both physiologically and psychologically) and that this substance significantly increased not only my anxiety symptoms. To what degree my anxiety was related, in whole or in part, to the amount of insulin secreted to metabolize all the sugar was something I could not determine. If you experiences anxiety, you might wish to consider the possible negative impact of your sugar intake on your condition. The best way to test it is to gradually withdraw all sugar-related substances to see how your mood, emotions, thoughts, and behaviors respond. This is not easy or comfortable to do. However, if sugar is negatively influencing your anxiety, you will tend to see a more positive mood and a lessening of your anxiety symptoms as you eliminate more sugars. If so, you have what appears to be a correlation - that these two events happen to increase or decrease together.But that does not tell you if sugar likely "causes" your negative moods or anxiety. After you have been off sugar for a while, you need to test to see if a causal relationship exists. To do this you re-introduce sugar a little at a time to monitor your anxiety: if it reappears or worsen. When you are working to alleviate your anxiety, you need to look for all possible concrete, specific contributors, including your diet, and especially sugar.
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