The Socially Acceptable Drug: 3-Reasons Why you are Addicted and have Sugar Cravings

Sugar has a very addictive quality. It can be even harder to give up than other unhealthy stimulates such as caffeine or cigarettes. If you've ever tried to give up sugar but couldn't, I'm guessing the process might look something like this...

If this seems like you, keep reading to see why sugar is so appeasing, even from the garbage.

We've all eaten something out of the garbage before, right? If you haven't, you're doing better than the rest of us!

In this series of blogs I'll talk about:

1. What causes you to crave sugar

2. What you can do to stop the cravings and...

3. How you can politely refuse sugar in public. 

Here are 3-reasons why you crave sugar:

One Bite is Not Enough

"Everything in moderation." -Oscar Wilde 

Oscar Wilde didn't write any books on nutrition, yet somehow his quote has become the mantra of the century when it comes to food. 

It's a good idea in theory, but when it comes to sugar, it's an impossibility. The more sugar one eats, the more one craves. 

The biggest reason why so many people find it so difficult to break the sugar habit is because it's so addictive. In fact, Joseph Mercola, in his book Sweet Deception, states that, "sugar has the ability to increase pleasure-yielding opioids in the brain, similar to morphine and heroin."  

A study at the University of Bordeaux even compared sugar to cocaine saying, "[sugar] rivals cocaine in its addictive strength."

Now, try telling a heroin or cocaine addict to just moderate their number of hits...yeah, that will never happen. 

It's Your Gut Instinct 

"Always trust your gut reaction." -Moms Everywhere

You've probably heard your mom say this before. It's great dating advice. If your gut is telling you that he's a jerk, it's probably right. Don't waste your time. But when it comes to sugar, your gut can get confused.

In reality, your gut is a much less romantic notion. It's a symbiotic ecosystem composed of microscopic bacteria and yeasts. A healthy gut has a higher ratio of good bacteria to bad bacteria. A diet full of sugar can throw your system off-balance and cause the bad bacteria and yeast to outnumber the good.

One basic explanation for this is that bad bacteria and yeast feed off sugar. So, the more sugar you eat, the more you feed the bad bacteria and yeast in your body.

Once you reach this point, your gut has basically been hijacked and can no longer be trusted. Well, when it comes to sugar, anyhow.

Stress Cannot Exist in the Presence of Pie

"We must have pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of pie." -David Mamet

If you're normal, you probably eat your stress away and you're probably not reaching for vegetables either.

Julia Ross warns us, in her book The Diet Cure, that, "sweet and starchy [foods], can have a drug-like effect, altering our brains’ mood chemistry and fooling us into a false calm, or a temporary energy surge. We can eventually become dependent on these drug-like foods for continued mood lifts."

The irony of eating sugar to relieve stress is that sugar is only a temporary solution to stress and when consumed continuously, actually puts more stress on the body. 

The consumption of sugar temporarily elevates the body's blood sugar level only to cause it to plummet again within a short time span. This causes the body to be stressed and forced to re-stabilize its blood sugar level by pulling from the body's own resources. Sugar only perpetuates this vicious cycle and depletes the body's resources required to stabilize blood sugar levels on its own. Hence, the continuous need for more pie. 

                                                                                                          

Do you feel like Miranda, forced to use dish soap to stop yourself from gorging on the entire cake? You're not alone. Have you used anything other than dish soap? Please share your experiences below so that we can help others dealing with the same issue!

Stayed tuned for my next blog on How to Stop your Sugar Cravings For Good.