Addicted to sugar
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@kristimason I think you made a couple really great posts.0
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Hi theloo--I hear ya about sugar being a tough one to kick out of the house.
I'm not totally off of it yet (working on it), but one of the first things I did was to stop *drinking* sugar (or calories, for that matter)--I figured that, given the choice between a soda and a slice of chocolate cake, I'd always prefer the cake. the same with tea, coffee, and other drinks.
Also, you mentioned that you enjoy baking. Perhaps cultivating another hobby that scratches the itch to bake? Or could you start baking savoury things instead? (ie. tomato and zucchini tarts, or a meat pie instead of cookies?)
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Initial abstinence can be an empowering and beneficial learning process for those who aren't able to moderate (as of yet)...
I agree with this. I think it's counterproductive to claim it's about addiction, though, as that often means that people give themselves an excuse to or simply expect to lose all control or even binge whenever they do have some whatever-it-is or even are tempted by whatever-it-is. With substances that truly are addictive to them there may be no way around this, and the trade-off of acknowledging the actual addiction is worth it, but it's why I think it's a terrible idea to claim to be "addicted" to something like sugar.
Giving up certain items for a period of time or even for the long term, so long as you don't use it as a crutch or beat yourself up and feel guilty if you eat them on occasion, seems to me just a strategy thing, and people need to experiment with what works for them.
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froggiebecky wrote: »Also, you mentioned that you enjoy baking. Perhaps cultivating another hobby that scratches the itch to bake? Or could you start baking savoury things instead? (ie. tomato and zucchini tarts, or a meat pie instead of cookies?)
This is a good idea. I don't actually like baking that much (I'm more of a throw things together as it strikes me vs. precision person, so like to cook, not bake), but I've found that it's relatively easy to channel my desire to cook and eat more high calorie foods into pleasure in finding the perfect way to meet my taste desires through cooking lower calorie foods and just thinking about healthy things to make. I think enjoying the process actually makes the whole thing a lot easier.
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herrspoons wrote: »herrspoons wrote: »Sugar is not addictive.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-29126872
Excuse making, however, is.
Usually, when someone says "I have a sugar addiction" it is because they are looking for a solution, not making excuses.
Sugar is not addictive. It is an excuse.
The real problem people have is overeating. Once they address that instead of pointing the finger at whatever is the current bogeyman of the food world, then they stand a much better chance of making good, long term, sustainable progress.
Otherwise the chances are that most of them will fall off the bandwagon at some point in the next year or two and end up back where they started.
While I don't believe anyone is addicted to sugar because you dont seeing anyone eating fruit non stop, there are people who have developed unhealthy relationships with food which can cause binges. So I believe your perception of "it's an excuse" might not be entirely true. Now, I will note, that for some people, it is an excuse or an easy out, but there are plenty of people on here and in my personal life with ED's and it's more than an excuse, it's a disorder.0 -
Moderation is a nice concept but does not work for an alcoholic or others with addictive personalities when it comes to certain things. Such people need to just stay away from whatever triggers that compulsive nature.
Sugar is sugar whether it comes in fruit or you put sugar in your coffee. Your body does not know the difference. You don't gain weight from eating too much sugar, you gain from eating too much overall.
^^^^^^^Fruitylicious03 wrote: »Just don't eat it. As simple as it sounds... it is. Don't buy it. And don't have it in the house. That's it.
(*) THIS (*)
Everybody is addicted to sugar. Without it, we all would die. Sugar keeps our bodies functioning. The problem is not so much sugar but processed foods with added refined sugar. Naturally occurring sugars, such as those found in fruit, come from sources that benefit your diet.- SOLUTION: If man makes it, don't eat it.
You're not helpless. Just make this happen, and good luck!
Moderation in all things, unless you cannot eat certain things because you doctor has told you not due for medical reasons.
And, this from a girl who truly believed that she was addicted to sugar until she learned how to use the moderation tool.
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As other have said, take baby steps and eliminate processed sugar foods one by one. First priority, "Don't have them in the house" 2. Eliminate for the health benefits eg sodas which removes calcium from your body. 3. Start reducing your sweetener intake ie use 1-spoon where you had 2-spoons before.
You will find that it gets better as you go.0 -
Sugar is not addictive. Period.0
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The current media attitude towards sugar doesn't help with people's understanding of the diff between addiction to drugs vs the hypapalatability of sugars (and fats etc). I understand people's confusion about what they are actually dealing with.
When you start to "unpack" the difference though it can be a big game changer for people.
Yes, I've heard comments (RL) from people that basically mean they've given up in the belief they are addicted. They only have the access to popular social media, they aren't inclined to dig deeper (may not know how to either). Sometimes the gaps in their information are too wide to bridge in one conversation. And sometimes they simply don't want you to convey the truth. This is where it can be an excuse.
But if someone is on MFP it's far easier to give them that access to better information. They can see people who have succeeded so they know it can be done and I think more often than not, on here, they genuinely don't want confirmation of an excuse - they want to know how to solve it. They want to understand it. Confusion and frustration makes them type the word "addicted" because it's the only word they can use to describe what feels like an overriding compulsion.
One of the reasons abstinence is useful in some instances (it depends on the language they use with regard to sugar which Lemur touched on) is that abstinence can make one see that sugar is not a physiological addiction. They aren't going to sell the DVD player to buy their fix. They aren't going to rummage through the rubbish for it.They learn that they can go days without it. It's a freedom. It solves one part of the equation for them. Once they understand that it is more a behavioural association that needs to be addressed then the nitty gritty starts. More to "unpack".0 -
Yes, I've heard comments (RL) from people that basically mean they've given up in the belief they are addicted. They only have the access to popular social media, they aren't inclined to dig deeper (may not know how to either). Sometimes the gaps in their information are too wide to bridge in one conversation. And sometimes they simply don't want you to convey the truth. This is where it can be an excuse.
I think you may be incorrectly assuming that when people say they are addicted to sugar, that means they've given up. I think quite the opposite is actually true.
An addict usually denies he is an addict until he's ready to make a change. I think most people understand this and know it to be true.
Additionally, someone who has "given up" is not likely to be using this web-site.
Further, it's very insulting and condescending to say that "they" must only have access to popular social media, and that's why they think they have a sugar addiction.
People who feel under compulsion to eat sugar (sweets) do indeed have many of the signs and symptoms of an addicted person:
1 They continue abusing the substance even when they know their health is affected.
2 They maintain a good supply at all times, even sacrificing their budget.
3 They feel they need their fix in order to deal with their problems.
4. They often abuse their substance in solitude and secrecy.
5. They are in denial about their problem.
6. They feel compelled to indulge even when it makes them feel sick.
7. They continue abusing the substance even when relationships are affected.
8. They try many times to change, but end up abusing again.
9. Once they are "clean" they are happier, and regain a sense of personal power.
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 (not social media) 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…
On many MFP threads, we’ve seen 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 dismiss 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?0 -
herrspoons wrote: »herrspoons wrote: »Sugar is not addictive.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-29126872
Excuse making, however, is.
Usually, when someone says "I have a sugar addiction" it is because they are looking for a solution, not making excuses.
Sugar is not addictive. It is an excuse.
The real problem people have is overeating. Once they address that instead of pointing the finger at whatever is the current bogeyman of the food world, then they stand a much better chance of making good, long term, sustainable progress.
Otherwise the chances are that most of them will fall off the bandwagon at some point in the next year or two and end up back where they started.
While I don't believe anyone is addicted to sugar because you dont seeing anyone eating fruit non stop, there are people who have developed unhealthy relationships with food which can cause binges. So I believe your perception of "it's an excuse" might not be entirely true. Now, I will note, that for some people, it is an excuse or an easy out, but there are plenty of people on here and in my personal life with ED's and it's more than an excuse, it's a disorder.
Freelee?0 -
Yes, I've heard comments (RL) from people that basically mean they've given up in the belief they are addicted. They only have the access to popular social media, they aren't inclined to dig deeper (may not know how to either). Sometimes the gaps in their information are too wide to bridge in one conversation. And sometimes they simply don't want you to convey the truth. This is where it can be an excuse.
I think you may be incorrectly assuming that when people say they are addicted to sugar, that means they've given up. I think quite the opposite is actually true.
An addict usually denies he is an addict until he's ready to make a change. I think most people understand this and know it to be true.
Additionally, someone who has "given up" is not likely to be using this web-site.
Further, it's very insulting and condescending to say that "they" must only have access to popular social media, and that's why they think they have a sugar addiction.
People who feel under compulsion to eat sugar (sweets) do indeed have many of the signs and symptoms of an addicted person:
1 They continue abusing the substance even when they know their health is affected.
2 They maintain a good supply at all times, even sacrificing their budget.
3 They feel they need their fix in order to deal with their problems.
4. They often abuse their substance in solitude and secrecy.
5. They are in denial about their problem.
6. They feel compelled to indulge even when it makes them feel sick.
7. They continue abusing the substance even when relationships are affected.
8. They try many times to change, but end up abusing again.
9. Once they are "clean" they are happier, and regain a sense of personal power.
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 (not social media) 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…
On many MFP threads, we’ve seen 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 dismiss 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?
Actually I think you missed my point or maybe I wasn't clear enough (probably...I do edit myself to quit typing so much). Not condencension at all either....from someone who ate spoonfuls of sugar from a bag and for a time relied on popular media for info simply because it never occurred to her to just "Google" and even then....0 -
It isn't any particular nutrient that people are addicted to, sugar for example, it's food addiction where high calorie sugary, carby and fat processed foods seem to be hard to resist. It's not sugar, if it was, sugar bowls would be the main target, but they aren't, and I'm sure there is the odd exception to that but it's the foods they are designed to entice that leads to overeating of these particular formulated recipes.
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You all are crazy to think sugar addiction doesn't exist. Sugar is a drug, just like heroin is drug. Opium gets refined to morphine which is further refined to a white chemical called heroin. Sugar cane is refined down to molasses which then gets further refined down to.. yep, a white chemical called sugar. Both reek havoc on our brains & systems. Methadone is another drug created to (unsuccessfully) combat heroin addiction, just like Insulin is now replicated in a lab to (unsuccessfully) combat sugar addicition. Don't believe me? Start reading anything you can get your hands on about it, and see for yourself.-1
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You all are crazy to think sugar addiction doesn't exist. Sugar is a drug, just like heroin is drug. Opium gets refined to morphine which is further refined to a white chemical called heroin. Sugar cane is refined down to molasses which then gets further refined down to.. yep, a white chemical called sugar. Both reek havoc on our brains & systems. Methadone is another drug created to (unsuccessfully) combat heroin addiction, just like Insulin is now replicated in a lab to (unsuccessfully) combat sugar addicition. Don't believe me? Start reading anything you can get your hands on about it, and see for yourself.
Oh brother.
Lustig, is that you?
Ok, don't believe? Try giving it up. Do it for 3 days, and then tell me it was easy and that you didn't have any withdraw like symptoms & no cravings.0 -
You all are crazy to think sugar addiction doesn't exist. Sugar is a drug, just like heroin is drug. Opium gets refined to morphine which is further refined to a white chemical called heroin. Sugar cane is refined down to molasses which then gets further refined down to.. yep, a white chemical called sugar. Both reek havoc on our brains & systems. Methadone is another drug created to (unsuccessfully) combat heroin addiction, just like Insulin is now replicated in a lab to (unsuccessfully) combat sugar addicition. Don't believe me? Start reading anything you can get your hands on about it, and see for yourself.
Oh brother.
Lustig, is that you?
Ok, don't believe? Try giving it up. Do it for 3 days, and then tell me it was easy and that you didn't have any withdraw like symptoms & no cravings.
Considering your body runs on sugar/glucose, why would you give it up? The fact that you draw parallels between drugs which come with physical, mental and emotional depends and suggest that sugar have the same impacts is rather mind blowing. People aren't addicted to sugar.. they are "addicted" to palatable foods. If they were actually addicted to sugar, then a piece of fruit or veggies would make them binge. This isn't the case with people who have binge disorders.
But if you are going to make a claim, at least back it up with some science instead of suggesting we should go look for it.
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You all are crazy to think sugar addiction doesn't exist. Sugar is a drug, just like heroin is drug. Opium gets refined to morphine which is further refined to a white chemical called heroin. Sugar cane is refined down to molasses which then gets further refined down to.. yep, a white chemical called sugar. Both reek havoc on our brains & systems. Methadone is another drug created to (unsuccessfully) combat heroin addiction, just like Insulin is now replicated in a lab to (unsuccessfully) combat sugar addicition. Don't believe me? Start reading anything you can get your hands on about it, and see for yourself.
Oh brother.
Lustig, is that you?
Ok, don't believe? Try giving it up. Do it for 3 days, and then tell me it was easy and that you didn't have any withdraw like symptoms & no cravings.
Considering your body runs on sugar/glucose, why would you give it up? The fact that you draw parallels between drugs which come with physical, mental and emotional depends and suggest that sugar have the same impacts is rather mind blowing. People aren't addicted to sugar.. they are "addicted" to palatable foods. If they were actually addicted to sugar, then a piece of fruit or veggies would make them binge. This isn't the case with people who have binge disorders.
But if you are going to make a claim, at least back it up with some science instead of suggesting we should go look for it.
You not wanting to be bothered doing the leg work of a simple search tells me plenty. Seems you haven't done the research to comment one way or the other.
Anyway.. sugar does have a physical, mental and emotional impact.
Obviously there is a plethora of info out there, but here are some easy ones. Here you go...
Lustig (but you already know that)
SUGAR BLUES by William Dufty
http://chriskresser.com/is-refined-sugar-really-toxic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMWeRj77aWk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdMjKEncojQ
robbwolf.com/2012/12/21/sugar-drug/0 -
You all are crazy to think sugar addiction doesn't exist. Sugar is a drug, just like heroin is drug. Opium gets refined to morphine which is further refined to a white chemical called heroin. Sugar cane is refined down to molasses which then gets further refined down to.. yep, a white chemical called sugar. Both reek havoc on our brains & systems. Methadone is another drug created to (unsuccessfully) combat heroin addiction, just like Insulin is now replicated in a lab to (unsuccessfully) combat sugar addicition. Don't believe me? Start reading anything you can get your hands on about it, and see for yourself.
Oh brother.
Lustig, is that you?
Ok, don't believe? Try giving it up. Do it for 3 days, and then tell me it was easy and that you didn't have any withdraw like symptoms & no cravings.
I've done it for longer than that. (I'm sure my body still made it, though.) It was easy and I had no withdrawal like symptoms at all.
The hardest part was that I was in the habit of using food--and sweet treats were typically the most accessible for the purpose, as I can't generally find a steak or good cheese in the break room at work and I don't really like chips--as an emotional crutch. So I'd want to eat when feeling bad or stressed, etc., and wasn't able to. But that wasn't at all like a physical addiction (nor would insulin have helped, that's weird, liking sweets doesn't mean you are diabetic). It is why giving it up for a bit was, in fact, a useful strategy for me, similar to the kinds of things _SKIM_ has discussed.
A more important part of that strategy, for me, was giving up using food for emotional purposes like that and most eating outside of set meal times.0
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