Sugar addiction treatment / recovery

What is sugar addiction?

Test for sugar addiction

Healing sugar addiction

Symptoms of sugar withdrawal

Foods and drinks to avoid

Foods and drinks to use during recovery from sugar addiction

Weight loss and many other benefits

References

What is sugar addiction?

Sugar addiction and its consequences are life-threatening and life-changing. The most obvious sign of being addicted to sugar is being overweight or obese. Other signs of sugar addiction are detailed here, including research references showing that it alters both physical and mental / psychological characteristics and behaviour. Addicts may be in denial, and sometimes go to rock bottom before making a determined decision to recover from sugar addiction.

Sugar craving can also be caused by candida.

Test for sugar addiction

Are you addicted to sugar? This test for sugar addiction takes just a few seconds.

Healing sugar addiction

Breaking a sugar addiction needs your determination. You will not be deprived of anything. On the contrary, you'll feel happier, stronger, more balanced and contented. Of course, your body will look and feel healthy too. But sugar addiction has a grip as strong as alcohol, heroin, morphine, nicotine and other addictive substances.

While recovering from sugar addiction, you can:

• You can eat whatever you want (as long as it doesn't contain sugar). (3)
• You can eat whenever you like.
• You can eat as much as you need (just stop when you feel full).

Doesn't sound too difficult, does it? It's not a diet, because dieting doesn't work. (2)

However, as we have seen sugar is a highly addictive substance. Just knowing how harmful it is, and all the diseases it can cause, is not enough to get most people to give it up. Here are some steps to help you rid yourself of this addictive poison.

1. Understand that your health and life are at stake.
2. Stop the habits and rituals associated with eating sugar and refined carbohydrates multiple times each day. Do you give yourself a little sweet reward for performing a task? Do you have chocolate biscuit(s) with your 10am break? Do you regularly share something sweet with those who are close to you? Make a written list of these habits - you'll be quite surprised how many there are.
   
   It is very important to write down each of these habits. It makes them all quite clear, so there are no exceptions where your addiction can break the rules. Get smart with each of them - you don't have to give up a breakfast orange juice or afternoon Coke, just replace them with a tea or mineral water.
   
   Try to avoid these habits until you break your addiction. Where you keep your routines, replace the sugar with something sugar-free. Exercise if you want to - just stay away from the sugar after. Avoid the situations in which you habitually consume sugar.
3. Eliminate sugar from your home, and all the other places you consume it. You simply have to throw out all the sweet things - in your home, workplace, car and wherever you go. Remove temptation. If it's easily accessible, it's almost impossible to kick the habit.
4. Ask for help from your partner, family, workmates and friends. Tell them exactly what you are doing, and ask for their help. Whatever their behaviour, they'll admire you. Perhaps you can get them to join you on the same journey?
5. Withdraw from sugar. Start your new sugar-free life. Reclaim your slim, healthy body. Give the same gift to those around you, in your home, workplace and social life.

You have to break the sugar addiction completely. If you continue to use sugar in any quantity, you will remain addicted and the dopamine-response sugar craving will continue. Just like any other addiction, you have to stop using the substance completely.

If you go cold turkey, breaking a sugar addiction generally takes a few weeks. Some people, usually women rather than men, can struggle with craving for a few months. At some point, your desire for sugar goes.

Sugar-withdrawal is different for each person. A few people feel just the mildest symptoms for a few days, and then the addiction is over. However, most people really feel the main symptoms for several days, before they start to taper off over the next weeks or months.

If you choose to slowly reduce your sugar intake rather than going cold turkey, it may be a little easier for some people. But expect a much longer withdrawal period, with symptoms lasting longer. Make sure you are actually reducing your sugar intake rather than kidding yourself. Keep an accurate sugar diary with weekly targets. If it is easy to break your own rules, this approach can be a frustrating waste of time and effort.

Symptoms of sugar withdrawal

• Hunger. Most people feel continuously hungry. Actually it is not real hunger, but sugar-hunger. During this period, it is OK to eat a lot of everything EXCEPT any kind of sweet or sugary foods. How to reduce food craving.
• Headache. A mild headache, on and off, can last for a couple of days.
• Low energy, feeling tired.
• Mood swings, feeling cranky.

Above are the main symptoms of sugar withdrawal. Occasionally people have noted the following other symptoms:

• Muscle aches and pains
• Nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, diarrhoea
• High blood pressure, faster heartbeat
• Chills or sweating
• Insomnia, yawning
• Runny nose or watery eyes
• Dilated pupils

For some people, it can be a couple of months before sugar and sweet foods completely lose their appeal and become repulsive. Others may take a year or even longer. At that point the sight of a syrup-dripping doughnut can almost make you feel nauseous, which is exactly what it should do to a healthy normal person. You'll be able to safely stand in front of a plate of chocolate cake or whatever your poison was, and not feel the slightest temptation.

As an ex-addict, it can take years before your body fully heals from the addiction. In the worst case, just one sugar binge can start the craving again, just like one glass of alcohol to an alcoholic. Thankfully, most people can handle small quantities of sugar after they get over their addiction.

Foods and drinks to avoid

• Drinks. Most contain loads of sugar, particularly fructose, the worst kind of sugar. That glass of orange juice in the morning? Loaded with it. Apple juice? Other fruit juices? Sports and powdered drinks? Loaded. Cans of drink? All of them including the 'diet' versions are a deadly no-no. Flavoured milk? Yuk. Beer? Unfortunately, it too is a rich source of sugar. Soy milk - has added sugar.
• Bars - muesli, snack, dried fruit, honey
• Biscuits / cookies / cakes
• Bread - avoid high-sugar breads. White, sweet bread, especially with added raisins or fruit. No bagels.
• Other carbohydrates. Try avoid them. If you have to have some, eat small quantities of sourdough bread or rice.
• Breakfast cereal and muesli. Most are loaded with sugar and dried fruit.
• Condiments and sauces (unless they are home-made with no sugar).
• Confectionary / sweets / chocolate.
• Dried fruit, fruit conserves, fruit juice are all high in fructose, the bad sugar.
• Ice cream (unless it is home-made without sugar).
• Oils - polyunsaturated oils. Grow Youthful explains why.
• Spreads, sauces and condiments. Honey, jam, nut spread, pre-made sauces and conserves are nearly all loaded with sugar when you buy them in the supermarket. Examples: barbeque sauce is 55% sugar, tomato sauce 25% or more.
• Take aways, fast food, restaurants. Most prepared foods have added sugar. The worst are sweet Thai, Malaysian and other ethnic foods created for the American or Australian sugar-addicted taste. When ordering try to avoid those with sauces, especially when they are described as sweet chili or honey something or another. Stick to salads, vegetables and something plain grilled.
• Avoid low-fat, processed, sweet or flavoured dairy products, especiallly those with additives like fruit and sweetened yogurts.

Foods and drinks to use during recovery from sugar addiction

• Vegetables. Eat lots of vegetables, they should be two thirds of what you eat. Steamed leafy greens, boiled sweet potatoes and potatoes, cassava, taro, carrots, pumpkin, squash. Asparagus, mushrooms, garlic in butter. Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, beets, all the veges you can find. Salad vegetables, especially in summer.
  Avoid vegetable juice which concentrates the fructose, especially in carrot and beetroot juice.
• Probiotics. The average adult has more than two kilograms of bacteria and yeasts in their digestive tract. These microorganisms help you to:
  • Digest you food.
  • Control your appetite.
  • Make a variety of essential micronutrients that you need and can't make yourself (for example, vitamin B12 and butyric acid).
  • Are actually an integral part of your immune system. Without them, you would be sick and allergic for the rest of a short life.
  If you have damaged the ecosystem of bacteria in your gut by eating sugar and junk food, or by taking antibiotics, help your micro-biome to recover by eating the kinds of foods that the good bacteria like (prebiotics) and eating foods already containing the good bacteria (probiotics).
• Dairy. Butter is a healthy food and is recommended. Avoid margarine - it is toxic. (1) Cream and full-fat cheese, preferably strong, smelly and high quality, are all recommended. Tart, sour yogurt is recommended (only full-fat unsweetened, without added fruit). Milk kefir is a great probiotic.
  Avoid low-fat, processed, sweet or flavoured dairy products, and those with added fruit.
• Eggs are a great and nutritious food. Use them every day. Eggs for weight loss.
• Meat and fish. Meat, poultry and fish are all recommended. Try to buy them fresh and as unprocessed as possible. If they are pre-prepared, marinaded or processed, they probably have sugar added and should be avoided.
• Oils - olive, coconut, macadamia and saturated animal fats are recommended. Grow Youthful explains why.
• Drinks. Mineral water, soda water, tea, coffee (not instant), full-fat milk and herbal teas (made with fresh herbs, not commercial tea bags) are all good. Try real lemon juice in water (no sugar).
  Alcohol. Dry wines and most spirits contain little sugar. However, sweet and dessert wines, port, champagne, beer, liqueurs and most mixers are high in sugar.
• Fruit. Remember that fruits are high in sugar, especially those that taste sweet. Eat the whole fresh fruit. Do not drink fruit juice. Avoid all dried fruit, especially raisins and currants. Have only one or two pieces of fruit every day. Try to keep to the low-fructose fruits mentioned below. Don't eat large quantities of fruit, especially sweet fruits.
  Good fruits: all kinds of tart berries, sour citrus fruits, various tart or sour fruits.
  Fruits to avoid: high fructose fruits - grapes, apples, pears, ripe bananas, melons, sweet pineapple, sweet apricot, cherry, peach, tangerine. Tropical fruits like mango, paw paw/papaya.
• Porridge. Make it from oats, quinoa, barley or other steel-cut or rolled grains. Unflavoured plain Wheat Bix, Shredded Wheat or Vita Brits are acceptable. You can make your own muesli without dried fruit, sugar or honey.
• Beans and lentils (pulses). Legumes are a source of protein if you are a vegetarian. Have you had trouble digesting them? Gassy? Well that is probably because they have not been prepared properly. How to soak and sprout.
• Fresh tree nuts - less than a handful per day.
• Seeds. Sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds (pepitas), soaked overnight, and/or toasted.
• Spreads. Best to make dressings, mayonnaise, spreads, sauces and condiments yourself, without sugar. Avocado is a great spread. The Grow Youthful Recipe Book has a fantastic selection of ideas here.

Weight loss and many other benefits

Your hormonal appetite control will start to return to normal during the withdrawal period. You won't want to overeat any more. You'll start to feel full when your body has had as much food as it needs. Try to avoid eating out of habit. Question your previous portion sizes, to find what really feels right for you.

You will probably enjoy your food more, so don't worry about not enjoying your meals. You'll need less, and appreciate real food once the sugar fog has lifted. With your mouth no longer craving sugar, your taste buds will be able to experience an intensity of flavour that you may never have known. What used to be bland and uninteresting will change. For example, ripe bananas will taste really sweet.

References

1. Margarine is not a food - the molecular structure is unknown in nature. In Grow Youthful I detail why it is so harmful.

2. Marcia Levin Pelchat. Food Addiction in Humans. Supplement to The Journal of Nutrition, April 2008.

3. Stice E, Burger KS, Yokum S. Relative ability of fat and sugar tastes to activate reward, gustatory, and somatosensory regions. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Dec; 98(6):1377-84. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.113.069443. Epub 2013 Oct 16.