Unlike Saturday mornings and carbs, sugar addiction is real.
Some studies (do not take me by any chance as a reliable, scientific medical source) compared sugar addiction to dependency from cocaine. While (luckily) I don’t have the means to compare, it is undeniable that sugar creates a dependency effect in your brain, and the sooner we realise it, the sooner we can break the sugar addiction cycle.
This is pretty much how it works according to several different resources you can find online:
- WE EAT SUGAR. We like it, sugary food taste good, it’s addictive. We eat sugar food because it tastes good, because we are bored, because we want to compensate, we seek comfort, etc. etc. etc. whatever the reason, the effect does not change… straight to point n. 2;
- BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS SPIKE. Sugar makes the brain release dopamine, a neurotransmitter used by our nervous system to send messages between nerve cells, which plays a role in how we feel pleasure. Dopamine makes us feel happier, and happiness can be addictive. Consequently, mass insuline is secreted to drop blood sugar levels.
- BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS FALL RAPIDLY, and high insuline levels cause an immediate storage of fats. Our body craves the lost sugar;
- WE ARE HUNGRY AND CRAVE MORE SUGAR. Low blood sugar levels are responsible for causing cravings and increased appetite, we eat sugary food, and the cycle is repeated.
a quick graphic explanation here: https://makeyourbodywork.com/overcoming-sugar-addiction/
(please feel free to correct me for any scientific mistake I probably did)
Once we are aware of sugar addiction, it’s easily recognisable in our daily life. As example, in the last week I consciously let myself go as social life and traveling for business got in the way; haven’t been in the gym for the past 6 days, and didn’t pay too much attention to my diet.
Today at work there was an ‘apple based’ dessert buffet: a giant table was completely covered with apple muffins, strudel, apple pie etc. etc., everything I love. As result of the reopening of my sugar addiction cycle, it was significantly harder to resist, my brain kept on telling me ‘come on, just one slice, it’s ok’; a week ago we had instead a chocolate dessert buffet, and it was incredibly easy to resist, being deep into the workout and eat healthy flow.
The moral of the story is: sometimes, it’s not you being weak: it’s the chemical in our brains that make our decisions more difficult.
It shouldn’t be an excuse, though: but, acknowledging is important to fight it.
Today it was harder to resist to sugar: in a few days, it will be much easier.
How to overcome sugar craving then?
To break the sugar addiction cycle, there are no shortcomings: you have to push yourself hard to say NO. It will be difficult at the beginning, but once your blood sugar levels will regulate, I promise, you won’t be craving for sugar as much. A simple, yet painful strategy is: do NOT buy anything loaded with sugar. Once it’s late night and you REALLY want that chocolate chip cookie, but that chocolate chip cookie is nowhere to be found, there is really nothing you can do. Some examples of highly sugary foods in our everyday grocery? Sugary drinks (sodas etc), cereals, snack bars, flavoured yoghurts, baked processed snacks, white bread, etc. etc.
Also, very helpful is to have a balanced breakfast which includes healthy sources of the 3 macronutrients: carbs, protein and fat. My ideal breakfast consists in an avocado and scrambled eggs toast, with brown bread, black coffee and a freshly squeezed orange juice.
And, of course, you know what else makes our brain release that dopamine that we crave so hard?
Yes, you guessed right… exercise! So, the best action to break our sugar addiction is to put on our sport shoes and move. It will get better every day, I promise!
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