Sugar withdrawals

I've read that taking glutamine can help keep sugar cravings at bay. I haven't tried it myself, but it's worth doing some research if you're struggling.

peer reviewed, published scientific studies comparing cocaine and sugar addiction:

http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0000698#pone-0000698-g006

http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/pha/15/5/481/

from the plosone article

"Here we report that when rats were allowed to choose mutually-exclusively between water sweetened with saccharin–an intense calorie-free sweetener–and intravenous cocaine–a highly addictive and harmful substance–the large majority of animals (94%) preferred the sweet taste of saccharin."

so the rats went for what tasted better?

Also, if the cocaine was given intravenously how did they choose between the water and the intravenous injection? It is not like they can ask …

It would seem to make more sense to have cocaine in water and sweetener in water and see what they went for….no?

Nora D Volkow is a well-respected researcher of substance abuse. She is the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2003 – present.

In one journal article she writes:

“repeated exposure to certain foods (particularly those with a high fat and sugar content) in vulnerable individuals can also result in compulsive food consumption, poor food intake control, conditioning to food stimuli, and, over time, massive weight gain.”

And also: “we propose that some forms of obesity are driven by an excessive motivational drive for food and should be included as a mental disorder”

She says there’s an “urgent need to develop better therapeutic interventions that help mitigate the pathologically intense drive for food consumption.”

http://journals.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=98310
http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/363/1507/3191.short

Those who have never experienced an excessive, intense drive to eat have a difficult time understanding what that’s like, and may be tempted to demonize those with poor impulse control, or criticize them for making the “excuse” that they are addicted to sugar. You know the saying…until you’ve walked a mile in my shoes…

Just on this thread alone we’ve seen many people who say that eating sugary foods makes them lose control of their eating. They report that giving up sugar is incredibly hard, but when they stop eating sugar, the drive to eat excessively diminishes.

Is there anyone reading these testimonies that would have to gall to disregard these very real struggles that people are having, and try to deny that their experiences are credible?

We have to remember that the human body and the human brain are amazingly complex – beyond what scientists can yet understand. We don’t gain any new knowledge by being closed-minded. What is to be gained by saying there is no such thing as sugar addiction?

When I started my little adventure October of 2012 I was honest with myself. Im not giving up sweets altogether. Ill cut down a lot but Ill be realistic. As I used to be hooked on drugs pretty bad in the past it became sort of easy to recognize some the addiction from some of the sweets I was eating. A couple of months ago I actually found myself obsessing about peanut M&Ms. I was actually a little freaked out about it. I guess there was truth in all those stories about how companies are making food more addictive. Recognize that makes it a lot easier to stay away from it. If I want something sweet then I will stick to chocolate with at least 60% dark chocolate in it. Staying away from processed food as much as possible will help in all aspects of your diet and exercise.

James - How has it been with not giving up sweets altogether for you? Has cutting back on sugar decreased your cravings for it, or do you still have thoughts about eating sugary foods through the day? I'd love to hear more about your experience.

My experience has been that after I give up sugar for a number of weeks, the cravings get much milder and I don't find myself obsessing about food. At that point, after I'm "clean," I can have a very small treat (50 cals) once every few days and still stay on track, but it takes a lot of self discipline to keep that treat small.

I'm still cautiously experimenting with this, because I really don't want to sabotage all my efforts to get my brain working optimally. I'd like to find a way to enjoy a small treat occasionally without my prefrontal cortex going haywire. Staying away from sugar seems to keep the "parent" in my brain strong and able to control the child.

I know without a doubt that for me the only way to not binge on refined sugar is to avoid it completely. Complete abstinence. I also really limit my intact of natural sugars (fruit).

When I am not eating sugar at all, I don't crave it at all (after the first week of withdrawal). As soon as I allow myself to eat even a tiny bit of sugar, I immediately become obsessive in my thinking which always leads to obsessive in my eating.

My life is not in anyway enhanced by eating sugar and I"m learning to accept that.