How to battle sugar addiction
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I too have tried to cut out added sugars and had the "withdraw", felt like crap, fell off the wagon, etc.
What have I learned? If I want something sweet, I eat it, log it and move on. Eating what you enjoy and making it fit into your goals is a heck of a lot easier than trying to avoid "bad" foods. Don't make it harder on yourself than you have to by cutting out the things you enjoy. Just budget your calories and allow yourself to have no restrictions (barring any medical issues).
I know this sounds crazy in the world of dieting "woo", but it is the only thing that has allowed me to stay on track, still lose and not feel deprived of anything in the process.5 -
hkincaid87 wrote: »Those saying that its not an addiction are wrong. Its been shown in studies that sugar lights up our pleasure receptors in our brain the same way cocaine and other illicit drugs do. It causes a rush of serotonin and dopamine that makes us feel good. I can absolutely be an addiction.
sorry dopamine center reaction does not equal addiction.
You get the same reaction in your brain from petting puppies, does that mean you are addicted to puppies???
no one in this thread can point to a study that has been done on humans that shows an actual physical addiction to sugar, not one.
The day I see a "sugar addict" steal a bag of sugar from a grocery store and dive into it with a spoon to get their "fix", maybe I'll believe that sugar is an actual addiction.
I've seen alcoholics drink mouthwash for the alcohol. I've seen dopers commit burglaries, robberies and steal from their own families to support their habits. I've seen heroin addicts going through withdrawal - in case you've never seen it, to compare sugar to that is not only laughable, it's ridiculous.
Hyper-palatable foods (many of which contain sugar) are an impulse control issue with some people. They taste good, so people crave them and some have trouble moderating them. I've seen several people in this thread say the best thing to do is not keep them in the house to avoid the temptation. I agree - if you have trouble moderating a particular food item or items, keep them out of the house/out of reach. But a true "addict" would do anything to obtain them even if they weren't there. If you find yourself breaking the window of a local grocery store at 2:00 am to get a donut because you're experiencing withdrawals, then maybe you have an "addiction" problem.
If you can't control yourself around cake or donuts (which are as much fat as they are sugar, btw), then stay away from them - it's probably a good idea. But don't think for a second that you're actually "addicted", because that's not a thing.13 -
Hi OP! So you managed to push a "hot button" here on the forums right off the bat - Congratulations
I really do think the first thing you need to do is STOP thinking of it as an addiction. An addiction is something you have no control over, which totally takes away all your power. You can control it, if you really want to.
Sugar is such a vague term, it's in all sorts of things - straight up sweet stuff like gummy bears and twizzlers, fatty desserts like chocolate, ice cream, cakes, and cookies, fruits and veggies, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, as an additive in some foods that don't even taste sweet. What many of them have in common is they are yummy, and we like to eat yummy things. We also get in the habit of eating the things we like, whether we are hungry or not. Your best bet is to figure out if there are specific foods that trigger you to overeat. Then look at how and when you are eating them. Do you sit in front of the TV and eat an entire bag of M&Ms? Have you ever tried buying the single serving bags, taking one and putting the rest back? Do you stand in the kitchen eating ice cream out of the pint? Have you tried insisting you always eat measured servings out of a bowl?
I find if I take a full package of ANYTHING to the couch (Ice cream, potato chips, a big bowl of cut-up fruit, a bag of jerky, a box of cookies) I will mindlessly eat the whole thing. I put post-its on the fridge and several cabinets reminding myself to take one portion of whatever I wanted, put it in a bowl, put the package away and then go eat it, or don't have it at all. That usually works. And if there is something specific, like say cookies, that you simply can't do that with, then don't buy them.
Focus on filling yourself up with a variety of nutritious foods, including plenty of protein, fat, and fiber, so you are giving your body what it needs, and allow yourself some treats that you have control over. You don't have to give up foods you enjoy, but you do have to find what works for you. Good luck :drinker:6 -
when I am craving that sweet element instead of gummy bears/cookies etc. I make a trail mix with both cranberries and lots of seeds and nuts and have a portion of that. Still sweet, still has sugar, just the quantity reduced. I also started really playing with spices to mix in with something sweet. So for salad, I started adding slivered grapes and slivers of jalapeno, that combination hits all the right taste buds and I don't really need something afterwards that
is sweet to cleanse my palate. Or even lemonade, I like it sweet meaning 3+ teaspoons of sugar to make it palatable, but if I just add cumin powder to it I can stick with a lot less sugar and still have a satisfying and refreshing drink once in a while (becomes jaljeera). Also finally just cooking/baking in general with a lot less sugar and salt. And really experimenting with different cuisines and playing around with combinations to make it fit what you are looking for0 -
yeast are some of the microbes which we need in our digestive tracts, when these are out of balance the yeasts can prompt us to feed them sugar, research is showing this.0
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I always thought that I was a person who couldn't practice moderation with processed sweets and baked goods. I yo-yo'd for years due to self-imposed food restrictions. It wasn't until I made myself practice moderation that I found success. I made (allowed) myself eat sweets every single day. I planned for them in my meal plan. Every single day. Some days I didn't stop at just what I planned and I went way over my calorie budget for the day and I had to analyze what happened (PMS, I was still hungry, I just simply wanted more and had a really hard time controlling myself, stress, etc). Those days (sometimes weeks) are few and far between now. It takes practice and lots of time, but it can be done. I wish you the best OP. I know sometimes it feels like you're literally going crazy and really have no control, but you aren't crazy and you do have control and you can do this!5
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The day I see a "sugar addict" steal a bag of sugar from a grocery store and dive into it with a spoon to get their "fix", maybe I'll believe that sugar is an actual addiction.
I've seen alcoholics drink mouthwash for the alcohol. I've seen dopers commit burglaries, robberies and steal from their own families to support their habits. I've seen heroin addicts going through withdrawal - in case you've never seen it, to compare sugar to that is not only laughable, it's ridiculous.
But we acknowledge that people can be addicted to cigarettes and then just not buy more, go through a period of livable but unpleasant withdrawal, miss the *kitten* out of the cigarettes, but still not rob stores for them or pick up butts out of the gutter and smoke them, right? I mean, I've known smokers who had to stop going to their favorite hang-outs for a while or try to make new friends because they knew they'd give in and smoke if everyone around them was, who had unpleasant physical symptoms, but didn't do anything extreme when quitting.6 -
OP, regardless of what you call it, some people have cravings for sweets and other refined carbs, and it can be a big obstacle to weight loss. You might look into low-glycemic eating plans as a way of reducing those. A couple of the more popular ones are the DASH and South Beach diets.
Best of luck to you. 0 -
nevadavis1 wrote: »The day I see a "sugar addict" steal a bag of sugar from a grocery store and dive into it with a spoon to get their "fix", maybe I'll believe that sugar is an actual addiction.
I've seen alcoholics drink mouthwash for the alcohol. I've seen dopers commit burglaries, robberies and steal from their own families to support their habits. I've seen heroin addicts going through withdrawal - in case you've never seen it, to compare sugar to that is not only laughable, it's ridiculous.
But we acknowledge that people can be addicted to cigarettes and then just not buy more, go through a period of livable but unpleasant withdrawal, miss the *kitten* out of the cigarettes, but still not rob stores for them or pick up butts out of the gutter and smoke them, right? I mean, I've known smokers who had to stop going to their favorite hang-outs for a while or try to make new friends because they knew they'd give in and smoke if everyone around them was, who had unpleasant physical symptoms, but didn't do anything extreme when quitting.
difference is that nicotine has been proven to be addictive in humans, sugar has not.8 -
Watch "The Sugar Film" on Amazon. It's a documentary in the same vein as "super size me". It may help with what your looking for.1
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Also, here's an article with research on sugar from what some believe to be an expert doctor. https://www.rt.com/news/319954-sugar-dangerous-children-study/0
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Don't bring it into the house. If it isn't there, you can't eat it. And after a few weeks, you won't even miss it.
It's the only way that worked for me. Moderation proved to be too difficult for me to maintain. Having a little sugar just set off a massive craving for more sugar. That certainly was not helpful.2 -
prattiger65 wrote: »I have noticed that when I cut way back on sugar (candy, cakes, Ice Cream) after a week or so I dont really miss them. When I go through periods where I eat a lot of those things- I find I want more. So if that is not an addiction then I dont know what is. But what do I know?? You are going to get the "sugar is not bad" 100s of times in this thread. Some people can eat it in moderation others cannot. My advice to break your your non-existant "Addiction" is to not have it around the house. There really is no other way. If you know you over-eat something and cannot moderate - then you only choice it to not go near it. This is true of booze or cigarettes or gambling or drugs -- things that become addictions. So while people can argue positives and evils of sugar (and they will) - I would tell you to avoid. Its not like you are going to hurt yourself in any way by giving up foods with large amounts of sugar.
The bolded is nonsense. And further, comparing something that you absolutely have to have to exist (sugar) to alcohol, cigarettes and gambling is disingenuous at best.
You don't need to eat sugar to exist. Eliminating it will not hurt you at all.3 -
Addictive behavior, is it hard wired into us, or something we choose?
People choose to smoke, drink, use illegal drugs, gambling, or whatever the addiction may be, it certainly is not a necessity of life, none the less, truly addictive to some, while others can try something once, or never, and not feel any need to ever try it again.
You can not live without eating. It seems to me that, at least technically, we are all addicted to food. If you do not eat, you can put your health seriously at risk and will die if you don't eat at all. It could be psychological addiction to certain types of foods, ie sweet, salty, but does that make it less real? So much is really unknown, even by so called experts. We know ourselves best. What will trigger our reactions and how we can, or can not, handle it.
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We really need more information to offer the best advice for dealing with the specifics.
And I get why OP may think that this thread is impossible to wade through, but come back, OP, and give more details about your specific issues with sugary foods. Probably many of us have dealt with similar things.1 -
TheRambler wrote: »Watch "The Sugar Film" on Amazon. It's a documentary in the same vein as "super size me". It may help with what your looking for.
In that case, that just proves that it's absolute nonsense.TheRambler wrote: »Also, here's an article with research on sugar from what some believe to be an expert doctor. https://www.rt.com/news/319954-sugar-dangerous-children-study/
Lustig is a quack that doesn't understand basic science. I literally am not sure how he got his degree.9 -
TheRambler wrote: »Also, here's an article with research on sugar from what some believe to be an expert doctor. https://www.rt.com/news/319954-sugar-dangerous-children-study/
and then there was Lustig who has been discredited numerous times by his peers...3 -
3rdof7sisters wrote: »Addictive behavior, is it hard wired into us, or something we choose?
People choose to smoke, drink, use illegal drugs, gambling, or whatever the addiction may be, it certainly is not a necessity of life, none the less, truly addictive to some, while others can try something once, or never, and not feel any need to ever try it again.
You can not live without eating. It seems to me that, at least technically, we are all addicted to food. If you do not eat, you can put your health seriously at risk and will die if you don't eat at all. It could be psychological addiction to certain types of foods, ie sweet, salty, but does that make it less real? So much is really unknown, even by so called experts. We know ourselves best. What will trigger our reactions and how we can, or can not, handle it.
if you don't breath you will die too, are we also addicted to breathing..
doing something to sustain bodily function and life does not equal addiction ...4 -
3rdof7sisters wrote: »Addictive behavior, is it hard wired into us, or something we choose?
People choose to smoke, drink, use illegal drugs, gambling, or whatever the addiction may be, it certainly is not a necessity of life, none the less, truly addictive to some, while others can try something once, or never, and not feel any need to ever try it again.
You can not live without eating. It seems to me that, at least technically, we are all addicted to food. If you do not eat, you can put your health seriously at risk and will die if you don't eat at all. It could be psychological addiction to certain types of foods, ie sweet, salty, but does that make it less real? So much is really unknown, even by so called experts. We know ourselves best. What will trigger our reactions and how we can, or can not, handle it.
if you don't breath you will die too, are we also addicted to breathing..
doing something to sustain bodily function and life does not equal addiction ...
It isn't exactly a bodily function, nor is it involuntary, as breathing is. I also happen to believe that it is not an addiction (craving and overindulging in sugary foods). I have lived long enough to know that I can speak for no one else besides myself. There is no possible way to know for a fact that people that believe that they are addicted to sugar, or anything for that matter, aren't. There are experts who disagree on both sides of the issue. All I am saying is that I believe there are people who are convinced that they are addicted to sugar. What makes you so sure that they are not? Where is your expertise on this? How can you possibly know for a fact?
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Lustig. Lol, yeah he's kinda of an extremist. When labeling sugar as a "toxic" or "poisonous" to the system, and then having people believe it means he's a good salesman. His book sales are off the charts.TheRambler wrote: »Also, here's an article with research on sugar from what some believe to be an expert doctor. https://www.rt.com/news/319954-sugar-dangerous-children-study/
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