You already know that feeling while you’re making an attempt to eat wholesome and also you’re completely crushing it…after which out of nowhere, you’re hit with this irresistible CRAVING for one thing candy?
And out of the blue, it’s ALL you may take into consideration—that donut you noticed within the break room, or the pint of ice cream in your freezer, or the leftover halloween sweet you hid out of your children.
Welcome to sugar habit and—information flash—even when your cravings aren’t for candy issues, however different excessive carb meals like bread or pasta or potato chips—it nonetheless comes right down to sugar.
The excellent news is that there IS a approach to break away and retrain your mind, which is why immediately, we’re going to take a dive deep into the science of sugar habit, and discuss what’s actually happening in your physique and your mind while you eat sugar, and the way you should use that information to your benefit to truly RESET your mind and get off the sugar rollercoaster for good.
Are you able to create the final word 12-month blueprint for reaching your well being & weight reduction objectives this coming yr?
Our free on-demand video coaching will stroll you thru how you can make 2024 THE yr you set well being objectives…and hold them.
As a result of perhaps you’re like me and also you’ve tried to persuade your self that you simply simply have a “candy tooth,” and that it’s completely regular to have these cravings on a regular basis. And actually, for a very long time, I felt completely HELPLESS to vary.
Possibly that’s how you are feeling proper now. Such as you attempt so laborious to be good, however you all the time find yourself again at sq. one—craving sugar like loopy and feeling completely uncontrolled.
And whereas most of us most likely perceive, a minimum of on some degree, that sugar is addictive, I don’t suppose most of us have actually stopped to consider simply how devastating and harmful this habit actually is.
Possibly you’ve heard the tales about lab mice who select sugar water over cocaine, otherwise you’ve learn an article about how sugar habit is simply as unhealthy as heroin habit. Or perhaps you’ve simply skilled these intense cravings and puzzled why it’s so laborious to say no.
However on the identical time, it may be laborious you wrap your head round the concept one thing SO widespread, one thing we eat actually day-after-day, may truly be that unhealthy for us.
And so we simply hold consuming it. And we hold feeding it to our children.
And we hold getting fatter and sicker and extra addicted.
The Harsh Actuality of Sugar Habit
As a result of the cruel actuality is, sugar IS addictive.
However not solely that it’s in just about EVERYTHING we eat. Actually, the meals business has labored actually laborious to verify of it, as a result of they know that the extra sugar they put of their merchandise, the extra merchandise we’ll purchase.
And we’re shopping for it, alright.
People alone eat over 11 million metric tons of added sugar yearly. That’s 11 MILLION TONS. Or to place it in perspective, that’s the equal of over 2 TRILLION kilos of sugar. Yearly. In simply america.
And in case you’re questioning, that breaks right down to about 152 kilos of sugar per particular person, per yr. That’s nearly half a pound of sugar each single day.
It’s a CRAZY quantity of sugar.
And it’s killing us. And I don’t say that mildly.
Added sugar is sort of actually the brand new tobacco. It’s the brand new silent killer. It’s the brand new factor that’s slowly, and generally nearly imperceptibly, destroying our well being from the within out.
And it’s not so new, truly.
A short historical past of fructose
All of it goes again to a single molecule—one thing known as fructose.
Fructose, as chances are you’ll or could not know, is the sugar that’s present in fruit. And in small quantities, like what you’d discover in a bit of entire fruit, it’s probably not an enormous deal. Your physique can deal with it simply wonderful. Actually, it truly has a number of well being advantages, as a result of it’s additionally accompanied by dietary fiber and different vitamins that assist your physique course of it correctly.
However within the late 70s and early 80s, the meals business discovered how you can begin extracting fructose from corn and different sources, after which including it to just about EVERYTHING. And that’s when all hell broke unfastened.
As a result of the issue with this “added” fructose is that it’s not sure to anything. It’s not present in nature. It’s not accompanied by fiber or another vitamins. It’s simply pure, unadulterated sugar. And it’s extremely concentrated and extremely addictive. Actually, it’s estimated that it’s 10 instances extra addictive than cocaine.
And we’re consuming it in RECORD quantities. Like I mentioned earlier than, People alone are consuming over 11 million metric tons of added sugar yearly. And that’s 11 million tons of fructose. Simply in america.
That’s a LOT of fructose.
It’s not simply in candy stuff, both. It’s added to bread, ketchup, sauces, salad dressings, and just about any processed meals you may consider. Potato chips. Cereal. Granola bars. Even issues like yogurt and sports activities drinks. And it’s doing a little critical harm.
Like I mentioned, it’s actually killing us.
As a result of fructose is very poisonous to the physique. It’s poisonous to the liver, to the cardiovascular system, and to the pancreas. And since it’s in just about EVERYTHING we eat, it’s slowly wreaking havoc on our our bodies and our well being.
Actually, it’s what’s behind just about each main well being downside we face immediately—weight problems, diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart illness, stroke, most cancers, autoimmune illness, Alzheimer’s, dementia. You title it. Fructose is the underlying trigger.
How fructose impacts your mind
And if that each one sounds a bit bit miserable, then buckle up, as a result of we’re sadly simply getting began. As a result of the issue with fructose goes even deeper than all of that. As a result of after we eat it, it truly modifications our BRAIN.
That’s proper—fructose is a strong psychoactive substance, that means it has a direct impact on the central nervous system. In different phrases, it’s a drug. And it impacts our mind in a lot the identical method that medication like cocaine or heroin do.
It releases a surge of dopamine—that “really feel good” neurotransmitter that provides us a way of delight and reward. And that dopamine launch is what creates that rapid and nearly insatiable longing for MORE.
But it surely doesn’t cease there. As a result of the extra fructose we eat, the extra our mind turns into desensitized to dopamine. And which means we want increasingly fructose to get that very same excessive. We have to hold feeding the beast.
And that, my associates, is the definition of habit. It’s actually a cycle of craving, indulging, after which needing extra to get the identical impact.
And that is the place it’s actually vital to grasp what’s happening in our mind, as a result of the mind is a difficult factor. It’s hard-wired to hunt out pleasure and reward, and to keep away from ache. And it’s additionally hard-wired to type habits and create neural pathways that change into nearly not possible to interrupt.
And that’s why, as soon as we begin consuming fructose regularly, it’s so laborious to STOP. As a result of our mind has shaped this highly effective connection between the pleasure and reward of dopamine, and the consumption of sugar. And people neural pathways change into so ingrained that it’s nearly like an computerized response. We don’t even give it some thought. We simply do it.
And that’s additionally why, while you resolve that you simply wish to begin consuming more healthy, and also you attempt to lower out the sugar and the carbs, you are feeling such as you’re going CRAZY. As a result of your mind is actually sending you all of those alerts that say “FEED ME SUGAR!” And it’s nearly not possible to disregard.
Actually, research have proven that when folks attempt to lower out sugar, they expertise intense cravings and withdrawal signs which can be similar to what drug addicts expertise once they attempt to give up. They get irritable and moody. They’ve complications. They really feel drained and torpid. They will’t focus. They really feel depressed.
It’s not enjoyable. And it’s not straightforward.
Methods to break away from the sugar habit cycle
However the excellent news in all of that is that it IS attainable to interrupt free from the sugar cycle. As a result of whereas sugar habit may be very actual, it’s additionally one thing that may be overcome. It won’t be straightforward, however it CAN be executed.
And step one in doing that’s actually simply understanding what’s taking place in our physique and our mind, after which making a aware determination to vary and take again management. In different phrases, we have to retrain our mind.
So how can we do this? How can we overcome one thing as highly effective as sugar habit? Effectively, it begins with a number of easy modifications that may have a BIG affect in your mind and your physique.
Shift your method to meals
The very first thing you want to do is begin meals as FUEL, not as a supply of delight or reward. This can be a mindset shift that may be actually laborious, particularly for those who’ve spent most of your life utilizing meals to consolation you or to have a good time or to deal with stress. But it surely’s a extremely vital one.
As a result of after we have a look at meals as gas, it turns into so much simpler to make wholesome decisions. We begin to acknowledge that sugar and processed carbohydrates don’t truly DO something for our physique. Actually, they do the OPPOSITE. They make us sick, and fats, and addicted. They actually steal our vitality and our vitality and our well being. They rob us of the power to dwell our life to the fullest.
And while you begin to see it that method, then hastily that donut simply doesn’t look so good anymore. As a result of it’s not a deal with. It’s poison. And also you wouldn’t willingly eat poison.
Scale back your sugar consumption
The second factor you want to do is definitely begin decreasing your sugar consumption in a method that’s sustainable. Now, I understand that may sound a bit bit odd, coming from somebody who has constructed an entire program round a way of life that’s basically sugar and carb-free.
As a result of YES, one of the simplest ways to beat sugar habit is to truly ELIMINATE the sugar. It’s to get to a spot the place your physique is not depending on sugar for gas, and also you’re capable of change to burning fats as a substitute. That’s the entire concept behind our program—to get your physique tailored to burning fats as a substitute of sugar.
However on the identical time, I additionally acknowledge that it’s not all the time practical to suppose that you may simply fully STOP consuming sugar and processed carbs, particularly for those who’ve spent most of your life hooked on them. It’s simply not going to occur. You’re going to get overwhelmed and pissed off, and also you’re going to surrender.
And that’s not what I would like for you. As a result of regardless that I’m an enormous believer within the energy of TOTAL transformation, I additionally know that change is a course of, and that it must occur at a tempo that you simply’re comfy with. I do know that you need to be READY to vary, and that there needs to be a sure degree of inner motivation for it to truly stick.
So for those who’re not fairly prepared for the massive modifications, then begin small. Begin by reducing out the obvious sources of added sugar out of your food plan—issues like soda, and juice, and sweet, and cookies, and cake. The stuff that you simply KNOW is simply loaded with sugar.
After which, when you’ve executed that, begin wanting on the labels of the opposite meals you eat, and attempt to discover the hidden sources of added sugar. As a result of I assure you they’re there. They’re in your ketchup and your marinara sauce, in your salad dressing and your yogurt. They’re in your protein bars and your granola and your “wholesome” smoothies. They’re in your bread and your pasta and your hamburger buns.
And as you begin to establish these hidden sources of added sugar, begin searching for more healthy alternate options. Discover a sugar-free ketchup, or a salad dressing that doesn’t have any added sugar. Change to a yogurt that has no added sweeteners. Purchase a bread that’s made with almond flour as a substitute of wheat flour. Make small, sustainable modifications that received’t really feel overwhelming, however will nonetheless have a big effect in your well being.
And the extra you do this, the simpler it is going to change into to make even greater modifications, as a result of your mind will begin to type new neural pathways, and your physique will begin to heal.
Heal your physique from the harm you’ve executed
And talking of therapeutic, the third factor you want to do to beat sugar habit is to truly HEAL your physique from the harm that’s been executed. As a result of an enormous a part of the explanation we change into hooked on sugar within the first place is as a result of our our bodies are so out of whack.
We’re consuming a extremely processed food plan that’s filled with sugar and toxins, and that’s inflicting irritation and leaky intestine and all types of different issues. We’re not getting sufficient sleep, or sufficient vitamins. We’re wired and overworked. All of this stuff are contributing to our habit.
And so to be able to overcome it, we’ve bought to begin therapeutic from the within out. We’ve bought to begin caring for our physique and giving it the issues it must operate correctly. Which means getting sufficient sleep and decreasing stress. It means consuming a food plan that’s wealthy in entire, unprocessed meals. It means staying hydrated and getting sufficient nutritional vitamins and minerals. It means caring for your intestine well being and your liver well being.
And it additionally means being affected person, and giving your self grace. As a result of therapeutic takes time, and alter doesn’t occur in a single day. But it surely DOES occur, for those who’re constant and you retain working at it.
Ultimate Ideas
Sugar habit is an actual factor, and it’s truly much more widespread than you most likely suppose. But it surely CAN be overcome, for those who’re keen to make the required modifications and retrain your mind.
Step one in doing that’s to begin meals as gas, not as a supply of delight or reward. The second step is to truly begin decreasing your sugar consumption in a method that’s sustainable for you, whether or not that’s by reducing out the obvious sources of added sugar, or by making small modifications to your food plan that may have a big effect. And the third step is to concentrate on truly HEALING your physique from the within out, by caring for your intestine well being and your liver well being, in addition to ensuring you’re getting sufficient sleep and decreasing stress.However if you’d like extra data, remember to take a look at our free coaching video–Wholesome, Glad & Free in 2024, particularly for those who’re critical about remodeling your well being or reaching your weight reduction objectives this yr. In it, I’ll stroll you thru creating your individual personalised well being plan and in addition clarify a bit bit extra about why so lots of the stuff you’ve tried up to now to get wholesome and drop some weight haven’t truly labored, and what you are able to do as a substitute.
