What is the most common addiction in our society today? Well you
may be surprised to learn that it is sugar addiction. That’s
right, those pretty white crystals sitting on most people’s kitchen
table. The average American consumes 32 teaspoons of sugar
a day. Not only is it addictive, but this very common everyday
product that is falsely believed to be harmless is responsible for many
health problems we find in our society.
There’s a very significant difference between white refined sugar and
naturally occurring complex sugars that are found in whole foods.
In this article we are speaking specifically of refined white sugar, or
its cousins, the other refined sugars, such as brown sugar, powdered
sugar or raw sugar.
White refined sugar is not a food. It is a chemical.
It is an addictive drug. Yes, that’s right, an addictive drug and
when you remove it from your diet you can experience withdrawal
symptoms as excruciating and serious as alcohol withdrawal, including
tremors, flu like symptoms, headaches, and mood swings so intense you
would damn near kill for a chocolate bar. Some say it is as
addictive as heroin.
The biochemical make up of white sugar is almost identical to alcohol,
except for one molecule. Refined white sugar is stripped of
any nutritional value and is an empty calorie food. In addition
to that, in order to be metabolized in the body it has to draw from
your vitamin and mineral reserves and therefore is responsible for
depleting mineral and vitamin levels, which in itself creates numerous
health problems.
What is very sad and devastating is that sugar addiction is an
acceptable addiction. It’s not uncommon for people to know they
have a sugar addiction and to make a joke of it. It’s not seen as
a serious matter, when in reality it is very serious indeed.
Sugar addiction develops in several different ways. Partly it is due to
the fact that sugar effects the area in the brain called the reward pathway in the
same manner as drugs and alcohol, it overstimulates the neurortransmitters until they
no longer function properly, tolerance develops and the mind becomes dependent on
sugar to function. Additionally, because sugar is void of any nutritional value, the
body never gets the chromium and other essential nutrients it needs and therefore it keeps
craving more.
However addiction to sugar often is also the result of a food allergy or food sensitivity.
When you're allergic or sensitive to a food you often develop an addiction to it. You can
ask your doctor to run an allergy test to determine if you have a true allergy, however allergy
testing will not determine if you have a sensitivity. The ALCAT test can be used to identify
hidden food sensitivites like sugar. When you have a sugar sensitivity, you most often have
other food sensitivities that go hand in hand.
Learn more about the ALCAT test.
The list of health problems associated with sugar is enormous and too
large to go into completely in one article, but some of the most common
symptoms created are: depression, mood swings, irritability,
depletion of mineral levels, hyperactivity, anxiety, panic attacks,
chromium deficiency, depletion of the adrenal glands, type 2 diabetes,
hypoglycemia, obesity, candida overgrowth, high cholesterol and it
creates anti-social behavior such as that found in crime and
delinquency.
One of the most important issues that pertains to all of us living with
chronic illness is the impact sugar has on the immune system.
Sugar suppresses the immune system. It depletes levels of
phagocytes (the white blood cells that are needed for strong immune
function and that eat up harmful bacteria) and this reduces the bodies’
ability to fight infection and disease.
Next to exercise, removing sugar from your diet is probably one of the
most important things you can do for yourself and your health.
Removing sugar from your diet is not as easy as you think, because
sugar is used as an additive for preservation and to make things more
palatable. So it is basically found in most commercial
foods. Unless you are living a health conscious life-style and
picking your food wisely, sugar is in your catsup, morning cereal,
spaghetti sauce, soup, salad dressing, peanut butter, pancake syrup,
bread, yogurt, you name it and it probably has sugar in it. They
even put sugar in your salt. You must learn to read labels
very carefully to eliminate sugar from your diet.
Steps to help you kick the sugar habit:
If you need help breaking your addiction you
may want to check into how Cynthia's
holistic
health counseling may help you and here are a few tips to get you started.
- Keep sugar and all sugar products out of the house, so you won't be
tempted and give in during times of stress and hunger.
- When you go to a social event, take your own food, or eat before going.
- Use alternative whole foods snacks such as fruit, dates, whole grain
crackers in place of sweets.
- Exercising will reduce cravings
- Supplementation with l-glutamine can reduce cravings.
- Get emotional support.
- Keep healthy snacks on hand for when cravings come on.
- Supplementing the diet with chomium may be helpful.
Breaking sugar addiction can be very difficult. Be patient and
forgiving of yourself. It will take time to be successful.
More than likely you will fall off the wagon repeatedly. Get back
on and start again.
