Is Sugar Ruining Your Life?

Is Sugar Ruining Your Life?

Food is supposed to nourish us and give us energy to accomplish our daily tasks and move us forward in life. What happens when our food habits are holding us back, or even making us sick?

What if sugar is controlling you instead of you controlling your sugar habits?

How Is Sugar Or Food Addiction Like Drug/Alcohol Addiction?

Sugar or food consumption can be addiction when two or more of the following indicators of addiction are present:

1. Unplanned Use - consuming more sweets/food than you originally intended or spending more time consuming than you intended. 

2. Neglected Responsibilities - consumption of sugar/food, or the physical discomfort or lack of energy after consumption keeps you from doing your daily activities.

3. Uncontrolled Use - you have wanted to cut back on your sugar/food consumption, but you haven't been able to.

4. Objections - your family, friends, or others have objected to your overeating habits.

5. Preoccupation - you have found yourself preoccupied with seeking out certain foods.

6. Emotional Discomfort - you use food to alleviate emotional discomfort, such as stress, fatigue, sadness, anger, or boredom.

People 'use' sugar differently.

• Recreational sugar users: they can eat a portion once in a while and stop when they are full.
• Harmful users: they eat when they are emotionally distressed and are prone to overeating.
• Sugar addiction: they can try to quit but can't stay away from consumption, often binge-ing and obsessing about sugar/starchy foods.

Like drug/alcohol addiction, sugar addiction is often genetic and deeply influenced by the social or food environment you grew up in or currently live in. 

ADDICTION IS NOT YOUR FAULT. 

You can assess your relationship to sugar/food addiction using the following evaluation.

Sugar Addiction Self-Assessment 

Y=Yes / N=No

a) In the past year, have you ever eaten more sweets or food than you intended, or spent more time eating than you intended to? Y/N

b) In the past year, have you ever felt that you wanted or needed to cut down on eating certain foods or sweet things? Y/N

c) Has a family member, friend, or anyone else ever told you they objected to your overeating certain foods? Y/N

d) Have you ever found yourself preoccupied with wanting sweets or certain foods or found yourself thinking a lot about eating them? Y/N

e) Have you ever used sweets/food to relieve emotional discomfort, such as stress, fatigue, sadness, anger, or boredom, etc.? Y/N

If you answered 'Yes' to two or more of these questions, you may have a sugar or food addiction.

What Does Sugar Do To You?

• Sugar is inflammatory, so it negatively impacts your vital organs and messes up your immune system response, including to COVID-19.
• Bacteria and yeast feed on sugar, so your risk of contracting infections rises with sugar consumption.
• Sugars in your blood attach to protein, which in some combinations causes the skin to lose elasticity and leads to premature aging.
• Sugar rots your teeth and gums and leads to heart disease. 
• Frequent overconsumption of sugar drives up your blood sugar level and can lead to insulin resistance, prediabetes, and diabetes.