Summary: Have you ever felt addicted to sugar? Is it really an actual addiction?
Do you ever feel like you’re addicted to sugar sometimes? Do you find it impossible to stop eating it once you start? Do you crave bread and sweets?
I used to be this way until I got my nutrition in gear. I realized that often I was craving sweets because I was missing certain nutrients in my body.
In the past five years, more and more research points to the fact that sugar can be as addictive as cocaine. There are also doctors who are doing research on how things like mineral and vitamin imbalances, candida overgrowth, the health of the gut and hormonal imbalances can lead to sugar cravings and feed a sugar addiction. So, yes, the science is there: there’s absolutely a physiological component to a sugar addiction.
But, for many people there’s also an emotional component. You may be eating sugar to care for your emotions, to numb pain, to manage stress, or to care for your emotional, psychological or relational needs.
How do we deal with this need for sugar, both physiological and emotional?
You don’t stop eating sugar through will power, nutritional knowledge or by shaping your behavior through punishments and rewards. You change through the maturation process itself – through the emotional brain. In order to stop any compulsive habit, you need to feel the futility that the compulsion doesn’t give you what you’re looking for.
No matter how much sugar you eat, it doesn’t bring you any long-term relief. It doesn’t bring you the rest, stress relief, love, or relief that you seek. Sure, it may work for a few minutes. It may numb the pain temporarily or soothe the stress for a few minutes. But it doesn’t bring lasting relief, and bingeing on sugar can harm your body, mind and heart.
The realization and understanding that sugar isn’t actually helping is what will help you move past your need for it, along with adding in missing nutrients, healing your digestive system, and eating plenty of whole foods.
This realization will help you:
- Eat more whole foods without resistance.
- Soften the inner rebel, feelings of “you can’t make me” or “I don’t want to”.
- Love the foods that love you back.
- Reduce or eliminate the amount of sugar you’re eating.
Have you ever felt addicted to sugar? Let us know in the comments.