Sugar addiction – a sweet silent killer
SUGAR ADDICTION– A SWEET SILENT KILLER MORE ADDICTIVE THAN HARD-DRUGS
Sugar addiction is a sweet silent killer that is much more addictive than hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin. When I began overhauling my diet, sugar was the one thing that I found nearly impossible to give up. This wasn’t because I had an insatiable sweet tooth (I didn’t), but because it was in nearly every single item in my kitchen cupboards.
Cutting out cakes, sweets and biscuits were easy enough, but as I researched further into the ingredients of my food I was shocked to discover how many of them had a high sugar content!
‘I Quit Sugar’ by Sarah Wilson is a very helpful book and I would recommend reading it as it’s packed with loads of practical advice on how to stop eating sugar and I followed her tips religiously.
Sarah Wilson reversed auto-immune diseases by cutting out her sugar addiction
Wilson reversed several of her auto-immune diseases by cutting out her sugar addiction and eating a clean food diet. I’d already cut out all refined sugars many years ago, but after reading her book, I decided to be even more mindful of hidden sugar found in fruits, honey and coconut sugar.
One in four kids are pre-diabetic or diabetic… sugar addiction is on the rise
“One in four kids have either pre-diabetes or diabetes- what I like to call diabesity. How did this happen?”
-Dr Mark Hyman
Everything we eat is laced with sugar and this is kickstart sugar addictions
The truth is that nearly EVERYTHING WE EAT IS LACED WITH SUGAR. Even supermarket meat and smoked fishes may contain sugar, although this isn’t widely known. Always look at the ingredients to ensure no sugars (sugar, glucose, fructose and so on are added. I found this really shocking once I started noticing this few years ago. I had no idea. The best approach is to buy your meat from a trusted local butcher or organic farm as you know exactly how your meat is being prepared or always look at the ingredients carefully.
Low fat epidemy, low-fat food, and more dietitians than ever before
Wilson also says in her book that the epidemic of ‘low-fat’, ‘zero-sugar’ products don’t seem to be making any difference. “We’re eating more low-fat food than ever before. More light products than ever before. More dietitians than ever before. We’re joining more gyms. More diet products than ever before. Yet we’re putting on more weight.”
Today we eat more than 2 pounds of sugar a week
“Today we eat more than 2 pounds of sugar a week. Just 150 years ago we ate next to none. Low-fat food often contains more sugar than the whole food version. (Sugar is added to make food taste more like the original.) The low-fat industry is big business.”
Hidden sugars that crave addictions are hidden everywhere
WHAT’S THE CONNECTION BETWEEN TOXIC SUGAR AND HAIR LOSS?
Excessive sugar consumption creates more insulin production. Insulin (we’ll talk more about this in the Hormone chapter) is a hormone, which when it goes off balance, can really cause havoc to our health – including the state of our hair.
You see, it’s not just the reproductive hormones (oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone) that cause hair loss. A hormone is a chemical messenger which, having been formed in one organ or gland, is carried in the blood to another organ (target organ) where it influences activity, growth and nutrition of that organ or other body parts.
Your hormones and endocrine glands suffer from sugar
Glands that excrete hormones are called endocrine glands. Among them are the pituitary gland, the thyroid and parathyroid glands, the adrenals, the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas, the thymus and the pineal gland. If you clog up your body with sugar or if you’re constantly dehydrated, it will affect all these glands as well, and that means that they begin to over-function or under-function. This leads to further imbalances in your temperature control, your immune system and many other problems. If your weak point is your hair, this imbalance will then also end up affecting your hair growth cycle.
Sugar is a legalised multi-billion-dollar drugs industry that causes sugar addiction
ALWAYS READ YOUR FOOD LABELS, AS TYPICALLY EVERYTHING IS LACED WITH SUGAR
Studies show sugar is more addictive than hard-drugs such as cocaine and heroine!!! Say whaaat???! Yes, these industries are guilty of the rising and alarming sugar addictions and diseases throughout the world.
Sugar is very unhealthy, and it’s not good for you in many ways. In several chapters of this book, we emphasise that sugar and processed foods catapult your insulin levels through the roof. Additionally, sugar is an inflammatory, sugar ages you and it may cause you digestive problems and many other health issues.
Furthermore, research indicates that a diet high in sugar increases the risks of pancreatic and breast cancer.
STILL NOT CONVINCED TO ELIMINATE SUGAR ADDICTION FROM YOUR LIFE?
Sugar is a multi-billion-dollar industry, but it is also one of the biggest “legalised” drugs in the world. Like other dangerous drugs, it’s incredibly easy to get hooked, leading to sugar addictions and terrible withdrawal symptoms! Weaning myself off sugar was difficult, but my health problems had escalated so much that I had no choice but to go ‘cold turkey’.
I suspected that my autoimmune problems with my thyroid, adrenals and chronic fatigue were, to an extent, linked to the amount of “hidden” sugars I was consuming, along with other bad habits. Eliminating my sugar addiction was a big step forward in my health recovery.
SUGAR CAN TIP INSULIN LEVELS OVER AND DISRUPT YOUR HORMONES
Sugar can tip insulin levels over, which can have an evil effect on stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) and neurotransmitter levels (dopamine). Many bad bugs that are in our immune system also live and thrive off of sugar. Lyme, parasites, candida, to name a few, they all want sugar baby.
My thyroid problems and Hydrocortisone mistreatment also saw my weight skyrocket, and at my heaviest, I weighed nearly 80 kg. It was an awful period in my life, and I was left feeling down and depressed. During this period, I was paying a lot of attention to my diet, my sugar- intake, etc.
Eliminate sugar and sugar addictions from your life
I was done riding the roller coaster of sugar highs and lows so along the road to health; I eliminated white and processed sugar from my diet completely. Was fed up with my sugar addiction and the result is that I feel and look so much better – I look younger now than I did ten years ago! This is partly to do with eliminating sugar and processed foods from my diet.
I now use coconut sugar as a replacement, and it’s a great substitute, however, sugar is sugar. And as I said before, after reading Wilson’s book, I am more mindful of using it.
Of course, I’m no saint, and there are days when I slip up. I still eat a bit too much raw honey, and I try to limit my fruit intake. I also drink a glass of wine now and again, which probably isn’t right for me either, but hey, I’m only human – I still want to live and enjoy life!
I’ve come such a long way with my health that I think the odd glass of wine won’t hurt. Sometimes it’s okay to be a little bad 🙂 hah!
Did you know there are 275 names for hidden sugars?
“There are 257 names for sugar, and despite very minor variations, they all create the same damage. If you have type 2 diabetes, you might even need to stay away from fruit sugars altogether; but for the most part, low-glycemic fruits should be fine for many people.”
“So yes, high fructose corn syrup is absolutely worse for you than the natural sugar found in berries and apples, but for the most part, sugar is sugar is sugar. It all it all wreaks havoc on your health.”
By now you may be wondering why I cut down on fruit, after all, we’re told that it’s healthy, right? This is not always the case as Dr Mark Hyman explains:
I looked these names up and found them on the website of integrative Doctor Dr. Alan Christianson.
257 Names of Sugars that cause sugar addictions
for the full list, please go to http://www.integrativehealthcare.com/257- names-of-sugar-which-is-best/
Some of these 257 sugars mentioned on his website are
- Agave nectar
- Agave syrup
- Apple butter
- Apple sugar and syrup
- Arenga sugar
- Bakers special sugar
- Barbados Sugar
- Barley malt
- Beet molasses, sugar and syrup
- Blackstrap molasses
- Blonde coconut sugar
- Brown rice syrup
- Brown sugar
- Buttered syrup
- Dextrin
- Dextrose
- Disaccharide
- Evaporated cane juice
- Fructose
- Fruit Juice Concentrate
- Galactose
- Honey
- Honeycomb
- Honey powder
- Invert sugar
- Lactose
- Ribose
- Rice syrup
- Sucrose
- Liquid fructose syrup (Often with HFCS)
- Honey (liquid)
- Liquid maltodextrin
- Yellow sugar
- Xylose
SARAH WILSON CREATED A SIMPLE CHECKLIST TO DECIPHER IF READERS SHOULD QUIT SUGAR:
- Do you get an energy slump in the afternoon?
- Do you need something sweet after meals?
- Does your stomach get bloated after eating?
- Are you unable to eat just one piece of cake and walk away?
- Are you pudgy around the middle, perhaps even slim everywhere else?
- Do you often feel unclear? That you’re not always sharp and on-form?
If you have a suspicion that sugar is one of the causes that is harming your health, and that you might even suffer from sugar addiction, then have a go and see if quitting works. If you’re planning to give up sugar I’d highly recommend starting by reading Wilson’s book ‘I Quit Sugar’ which also includes great recipes, – it will change your health and your life!
WHAT OTHER HEALTH EXPERTS SAY ABOUT SUGAR ADDICTIONS:
JJ Virgin, CNS, CHFS celebrity nutrition and fitness expert says:
“Sugar holds your health, taste buds and waistline hostage. When you eliminate sugar, which experts argue can become eight times more addictive than cocaine, you finally untether from the vicious bind that high-sugar impact foods create, so you don’t get the afternoon cravings after you eat a healthy and nutritious lunch.”
Dr Mark Hyman, and bestselling author several progressive health books says:
“My advice is to give up stevia, aspartame, sucralose, sugar alcohols such as xylitol and malitol, and all of the other heavily used and marketed sweeteners unless you want to slow down your metabolism, gain weight, and become an addict.”
“Today, two slices of whole-wheat bread can raise your blood sugar more than two tablespoons of table sugar can.”
Empowering others via my anti-ageing wellness platform and holistic health books
I hope you liked this article about sugar addiction. If you would like to learn more about clean eating and my tips and tricks on how I saved my life from being chronically ill and tired to the lively person I am today, ensure to check out other pages of this anti-ageing wellness platform.
Or if you want to discover my no BS guides on how to regain your health, hair and life, ensure to check out my holistic wellness books on this link.
After a frustrating decade of battling several chronic illnesses, I became disillusioned with the medical system and decided to take my health into my own hands.
Now, through my books and wellness platform, I want to empower people around the world do the same and regain their health, hair, life and beauty!
