Sugar Addiction

With all the talk of gluttony and food addiction lately, I wanted to write about the most common food addiction that I see in my clients: sugar addiction. Studies vary a lot on how many people in America are addicted to sugar, but from my experience with working with clients, the number is above 90%! Why so high? We'll get to that in a second.

*Before you exit out of the blog thinking that you can't possibly have a sugar addiction because you hardly eat any sweets, consider the fact that most of the sugar we eat is hidden in foods that aren't classified as "dessert" and aren't particularly sweet at all.

In 1689 the first sugar factory opened in the United States. The amount of sugar consumed by the colonists shot up with a regular supply of sugar available for the first time. It became common practice to add sugar to porridge at breakfast in the morning.

At this time, the average colonist consumed 4 lbs of sugar per year.
In 2008, the average American consumed over 100 lbs of sugar per year.
In comparison, the average American consumed only 8 lbs of broccoli in 2008.

In America, experts consider 10 grams of sugar per day to be considered safe. Anything above that is considered toxic to the body.
The average American consumes 30 grams of sugar per day!

So what's the big deal with eating so much sugar?
Sugar is what we call an "empty calorie" food. This means that there is no nutritional value at all in sugar. There are no physical benefits to your body. In fact, as we digest sugar, our body actually has to pull nutrients from other sources in the body in order to digest it. This depletes the body of vital minerals.

Long Term Risks of eating too much sugar include:

• Creates mineral deficiencies.
• Suppresses your immune system. This symptom shows up in the people who are "always sick."
• Directly causes obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Cancer cells feed on sugar. When there is an abundance of sugar in the body, cancer cells thrive. Without sugar, cancer cells die. 
• Directly linked to anxiety and depression. As the amount of sugar in the average American diet has increased, the amount of depression medicine prescribed has gone up at the exact same rate.
• Forms free radicals in the brain. In the short term, this causes migraines. In the long term it leads to Alzheimer's Disease.
• Arthritis. Because sugar causes inflammation, it can make mild arthritis much worse.

I call sugar the silent killer because most people don't even realize that they are suffering the damage of sugar until it is too late. Sugar works against your body slowly, over many years. A piece of cake on your birthday isn't going to give you Alzheimer's Disease, but a piece of cake everyday for 50 years just might! This is why it is so important to know the early warning signs that you have too much sugar in your system.

Warning signs that you have too much sugar in your diet:

• Migraines or regular headaches.
• Achy joints
• "Frog" in your throat; feeling like you always need to clear your throat.
• Irritable Bowl Syndrome (IBS). This diagnosis is used when a person has a digestive issue that doesn't have a clear diagnosis. Sugar irritates the stomach and digestive tract in many people.
• Acne
• Itchy eyes
• Swollen gums
• Acid reflux
• Regular skin problems such as eczema, rashes, fibromyalgia, etc.

The general rule of thumb, is that if you have one of these symptoms on a regular basis, it is most likely not due to sugar, but something else. If you have 3 or more of these symptoms on a daily/weekly basis, then you have too much sugar in your diet. If this sugar overdose isn't taken care of, it absolutely will cause major health problems in the future. Again, it is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when. The good news is that all of these symptoms are 100% reversible. Within a few weeks of being off of sugar, your symptoms will be gone!

When I was a freshman in college, I was at my most unhealthy. Between dorm food, beer, ice cream every night, and a major lack of veggies, I was on a diet full of processed, sugary foods. At that time, I had 6 of the 9 symptoms listed above on a daily basis. I thought that was normal. I didn't know any different. Today, I don't have any of these symptoms because I have very little sugar in my diet. If I do splurge and start eating too much sugar, I will start to get headaches and a frog in my throat and those two symptoms are my cue that I need to back off.

It took me a LONG time to get rid of all my symptoms, mainly because I didn't know where the majority of my sugar was coming from. Now, when a client comes to me addicted to sugar and suffering from these symptoms, with a few changes, their symptoms are usually all gone within two weeks. The key: hidden sugars. If you're suffering from 3 or more of these symptoms and don't know where to start, schedule a free consultation with me. Click here to get started.

Hidden sugars are exactly what they sound like. Foods that have a lot of sugar hidden in them, and in my opinion, foods that you should stay away from! These foods all contain more than 10 grams of sugar in one single serving, which, by definition, makes them toxic to the human body. Foods with large amounts of hidden sugars include:

• Soft drinks
• Fruit juices
• Non whole grain carbohydrates (this includes any rice that's not brown rice)
• Yogurt (this includes fat free and greek yogurt)
• Barbecue Sauce
• Others include: canned veggies, baby food, cereal, peanut butter, tomato sauce, and salad dressing. (these aren't as bad as the others listed above, but should still be eaten in small amounts).

Most people are shocked to learn that these foods are so high in sugar. If sugar is bad, why are food companies putting that much sugar in our food? The answer: sugar is addicting, and food companies know it!

Sugar is considered to be an addictive food for two reasons:
1. Eating a tiny amount of sugar leaves you wanting more.
2. When a person cuts sugar out of their diet, they will experience withdrawal symptoms and intense cravings.

Because sugar is so addicting, food companies know that a lot of sugar in their products will get you addicted to their products. That means more sales for them. Think about the foods that you gravitate towards. Most of them are probably loaded with hidden sugars, hence why you naturally pick those foods to eat. You are feeding an addiction that you didn't even know you had.

The only way to truly know where hidden sugars are located is to read the labels on the back of your food. Check to see how much sugar is in the different foods you are eating. It isn't always what you think. Here's an example of how hidden sugars can trick you:

The Sugar Test:
Lemon Poppy Seed Clif Bar
16oz Frappuccino from Starbucks
Chocolate Glazed Donut from Dunkin Donuts

One of these items list above has only 14g of sugar, another has 21g, and the third has 44g of sugar. Which is which? Most people would say that the donut has the most, and the Clif Bar has the least because a donut is a "dessert" and a Clif Bar is "healthy."

In reality, the donut from Dunkin Donuts has the least at only 14g of sugar! 
The Frappuccino from Starbucks has the most at 44g (which is more than 4x the amount of sugar that is considered safe to consume in one day!!)
The Clif Bar has 21g, which means this so called "healthy food" is actually toxic to your body!!

So how do you monitor your sugar intake? How do you keep your limit below 10g per day when a "healthy" Clif Bar has 21g of sugar in it? What about the fact that you NEED your morning Starbucks? What do you do if you're suffering from many of the warning signs listed above? Next week, I will post a follow up blog specifically on this topic. You can also schedule a complimentary consultation with me, where we will discuss your current sugar intake, find all the hidden sugars in your diet, and set up a plan to rid you of your current symptoms.

Folks, sugar isn't something to mess around with. It is a major contributor to the top causes of death for both men and women in the U.S.!

Wishing you all Health, Hope, & Happiness
Abby