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Scientists are increasingly comparing sugar addiction with drug addiction. In excessive quantities, sweets cause us a feeling of euphoria and provide additional energy. Check if sugar has turned into dope for you.
When sugar enters the bloodstream, the central nervous system transmits impulses to the part of the brain responsible for satisfaction and attachment. It would seem that this is bad? We really often want to treat ourselves to sweets when we are tired or upset about something. Who hasn’t eaten a bad mood or an unsuccessful romance with chocolate?
However, experts from the French National Center for Scientific Research in Bordeaux published experimental data that prove that sugar, when consumed regularly in large doses, causes addiction akin to drugs. And the more sweet we absorb, the more we want and the more difficult it is to stop.
We are talking, of course, only about refined sugar and fast carbohydrates, which are found in carbonated drinks, packaged juices, sweets, cookies, store-bought desserts and pastries. Natural sugar (honey, fruits, stevia) and slow carbohydrates (from whole grains and vegetables) are processed by the body into energy and benefit it.
Regular sugar loses its nutritional value due to industrial processing, and its abuse leads to addiction, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Like many compulsions, sugar addiction, if left unchecked, progresses over time. Nutritionist Laurent Chevalier summarizes this phenomenon with the phrase: “Sugar requires sugar.” Sometimes we start eating more and more sweet things without even realizing it. We simply obey the requirements of the body.
Test yourself. Here are four signs of sugar addiction. If you have at least one, you should seriously think about and start controlling your consumption of sweets.
1. Sweet things calm you down.
Ice cream to cheer up at the end of a hard day, eclair to cool down after a quarrel with a loved one. Familiar situations? Often there is a psychological or emotional dependence on sweets first, which can lead to a physiological one. We justify ourselves when we reach for the 20th candy: “Today was a bad day. I need to somehow relieve stress, and tomorrow I’ll go on a diet.
But it’s not even about extra pounds. If you eat dessert when tired or in a bad mood, chew chocolate when you are nervous or afraid, this is an alarming symptom.
Try not to eat emotions, or at least do it in a more useful way. Put the cake aside, take a carrot or an apple. Does the replacement seem unequal? The cake calms, but the carrot does not, which means you are one step away from sugar addiction.
2. You feel the need for sweets
Although the line is thin, do not confuse the love of good food and food addiction. “It is important to distinguish desire from need,” says Laurent Chevalier. Desire can be left unsatisfied, while need is, by definition, unstoppable, bending us to its will.
There is nothing wrong if you love, for example, cheesecake and order it at a restaurant on occasion. Or sometimes go to your favorite pastry shop for delicate eclairs.
Another story, when you don’t know the limits and can’t stop or refuse sweets, be sure to buy a cake when you enter the store and don’t think of dinner without dessert. For the specialist, the fundamental marker of addiction is the compulsive consumption of sugary foods.
3. Without sweets, you feel anxious.
This behavior is typical for different types of addiction. When the next dose is not available, you feel a slight nervousness, which gradually develops into anxiety and irritation. But it is worth satisfying the need, as a good mood returns.
4. You compensate for the lack of sugar
Having reduced their consumption of sweets, many people turn to junk food – pizza, burgers, chips, etc. The body tries to get pleasure in other ways. This is similar to when people who quit smoking start eating a lot of candy or nuts. As a result, one addiction is replaced by another.
How to deal with sugar addiction?
The mechanism of sugar addiction is no different from drug addiction. You eat a candy – your brain gets pleasure – you reach for the next one. There is only one way to break out of this circle: to radically revise your diet.
Stop drinking sugary drinks and stop shopping for sweets, cakes, cookies, etc. You don’t have to give up desserts completely. It doesn’t matter if you treat yourself to a delicious cake during your Saturday dinner or at a friend’s birthday party.
You can cook healthy desserts at home based on honey and dried fruits (in moderation). But you should not sit down on industrial products with chemical sweeteners. They do more harm than good. By replacing fast carbohydrates with slow ones, you can rebuild your diet in a couple of weeks.
Any nutritionist will confirm that the body can synthesize glucose from proteins and other substances, so there is no vital need for a person to eat sugar or starch. If during the day you feel a breakdown, just allow yourself a healthy snack. Sugarless.
About the Expert: Laurent Chevalier is a Montpellier-based nutritionist and author of So What Do We Eat? and “Weight loss without struggle.”