REFINED SUGAR’S ADDICTIVE EFFECT ON THE BRAIN IS MORE POWERFUL THAN COCAINE

Why I Quit Sugar!

Ryan McGuire 2017

Refined sugar has absolutely no health benefits at all. In fact if you add refined sugar to your diet, it has all the health risks you can think of. First of all it contributes to heart disease, it’s bad for your teeth, it’s high in fructose which can overload and cause damage to your liver, it may cause insulin resistance which is only a few steps away from diabetes, and is well known to give you cancer. Refined sugar also causes massive dopamine release in the brain which is highly additive and more powerful than an addiction to cocaine.

Five years ago I quit sugar for health reasons. But before I understood about my sugar intake I used to eat: two pieces of fruit a day, a handful of dried fruit in my porridge or cereal, a teaspoon of honey in my tea, a (45g) bar of chocolate after lunch and a dessert if I was out for dinner.

On a weekday I would consume approximately 30 teaspoons of sugar. This is not including the hidden sugar contained in tomato sauce and other everyday foods consumed at home. Now you’re probably thinking, sure the ingredients mixed into with the sugar in a health food bar or piece of fruit is really good for you. But you need to look at the chemical composition of which is the same whether it’s in a health food bar or a Mars bar.

LOW-FAT CONTAINS MORE SUGAR

Many people are conscious of eating low-fat food because they’ve trying to lose weight and perhaps are joining a gym or doing yoga. However people are putting on more weight than ever before. Here are the reasons why:

• We eat more than a kilo of sugar per week compared to 150 years ago.
• The low-fat food contains more sugar to make the food taste like the original.

HOW I QUIT SUGAR — IT WASN’T EASY

Quitting sugar isn’t easy. It’s an addiction.. one that we’re not really aware of. Think about it this way — in the afternoon do you get an energy slump where you head for the vending machine at work? Perhaps you feel like something sweet after lunch or dinner? And when you eat something deliciously sweet — do you notice that your stomach gets a little bloated and you need to lie down or rest? If you’ve answered ‘yes’ to any of these you can bet that sugar is the main cause that makes you feel like crap.

When I quit it took me a good two months. To break a habit it takes between 3 -10 weeks. Sugar is an addictive habit, one that was hard for me to break. I love everything chocolate and honey was my go to source. I quit sugar over 8 weeks and it wasn’t easy.

Anything that had sugar had to go. I quit ALL sugar including fruit, fruit juice, honey and anything artificial that contained fructose all at once. There was a detox period where I felt like crap. It lasts about two — six weeks. It lasted two weeks for me. It really depends on how much processed food you eat. After a couple of weeks I found it was ok to introduce one piece of fruit per day.

WHAT I GAVE UP:

• Fruit
• Fruit juice
• Dried fruit (including muesli and muesli bars)
• Jams — even if it says “no added sugar” because it still contains fruit.
• Tomato and barbecue sauces
• Any condiments containing sugar like Balsamic vinegar
• Flavoured yoghurts, even the ones that say “no added sugar”- it’s often disguised as fruit puree
• Honey Agave Palm and coconut sugar
• Chocolate (dear Lord — this one’s the tricky one)
• Soft drinks and flavoured drinks including flavoured mineral water
• Alcoholic drinks that are sweet or mixed with drinks that contain sugar

What you Can Eat

• Grass-fed meats
• Fish/seafood (wild caught preferably over farm raised)
• Fresh fruits (local or organic)
• Fresh vegetables (local or organic)
• Eggs (organic)
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Healthy oils (olive, walnut, flaxseed, macadamia, avocado, coconut)

Do not eat

• Cereal grains
• Legumes
• Diet diary products
• Refined sugar or artificial sugar
• Potatoes
• Processed foods
• Overly salty foods
• Refined vegetable oils
• Candy / junk / processed food

EVERYONE HAS A WEAKNESS — WHEN IT COMES TO FOOD

Mine is chocolate but the addiction has always been a source of irritation. A battle both mentally and physically. The best thing about giving up sugar is that my mood is definitely more positive, I have more energy and now have a restful sleep. My gut feels healthier and I no longer have a craving for sweet things.

Being released from my chocolate craving was liberating. Plus people often say my skin and general health look much better. It’s powerful to say ‘no’ to sugar and I plan to keep it this way.

words by Caria Watt 2017
photo courtesy of Ryan McGuir 2017

If you found this piece interesting or useful, please recommend it, by clicking the heart icon below, so that others can find it on this platform.

Caria Watt is a TV host and writer. She lives in Sydney with her over friendly cavalier dog named Tristan. In her spare time you’ll find her burning toast whilst simultaneously reading or learning code to feed her entrepreneurial addiction. She’s on Twitter @wattisnow, is a weekly columnist for The Good Men Project and The eWord Magazine.

Originally published at theeword.com.au on February 16, 2017