But what if sugar addiction is real?

You know the story - being good all week until you eat one thing you're not supposed to (ice cream/chocolate/whatever) and then the entire contents of your cupboard/fridge/insert other place make their way into your mouth without you realising.  Been there?  Me too.

But what if it is the restriction through dieting that is actually CAUSING the bingeing?

And what if sugar addiction is a real thing?

Sugar acts like a drug in your brain.  It affects the same receptors as heroin.

• I've had that single-minded determination to get my drug (sugar).  
• I've buried the evidence in the rubbish bin.  
• I've zoned out and fallen asleep after too much (birthday cake).  
• I've had withdrawal symptoms - the shakes, irritability and headaches after I've not had my drug (sugar) for a while.  

But I didn't realise until much later (Potatoes not Prozac, 1999, to be precise) that sugar addiction is real.  It put a name to something I was experiencing that I hadn't had answers to up until that point.

You can read the article that sparked this post here

Oh, that and my nearly 8 sugar-free years of experience.

Sugar detox

I used to be scared witless at the thought of giving up my drug of choice - sugar.  It was a real love/hate relationship - couldn't live with it, couldn't live without it.

I started doing the food methodically and as outlined in Potatoes not Prozac (rather than my own version of events LOL!) properly in early 2006.  I had dabbled ever since the first book came out in 1999.  This time round I was making steady progress through the steps - feeling hugely better by step 3.

I detoxed from sugar in June 2007 completely by accident.  I was going to have one last summer eating ice creams with my kids (addict thinking anyone?!)  But my body had other ideas.

Looking back at my journal, sugar had been gone from my meals for three days before I even realised!  And it was completely painless too!  A complete non-event.  Nobody more surprised than me.

Who knew?!?!?

Well, it seems that Dr Kathleen DesMaisons did :)

Food Addiction - more proof

'Food addiction' was never taken seriously - until now that is.

New research has shown that the biochemistry of a 'food' addict is the same as that of another 'drug' addict - yep, they've got that one right - addiction is addiction is addiction.  People are talking about it, relating to it and passing it on.  Twitter is ablaze.  The media has taken the research and run with it.  At last!!!

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/brain-activity-food-addiction-similar-addictions-study/story?id=13291191

But the thing is, it's not 'food' addiction per se - it's about 'sugar' and 'fat' addiction - the very same thing that Dr Kathleen DesMaisons has been talking about for the last 13 years. 

And 'food' is not the problem - food is the solution.

To borrow a phrase - there's nothing as powerful as an idea whose time has come.

Being a sugar addict

I remember when I first saw this video - it moved me to tears, in fact, it still does.  I still remember that feeling of wanting, wanting the sugar/alcohol/whatever - knowing that it would make me feel 'better' (fleetingly) and then I'd be off on the roller coaster ride of mood swings, depression, highs and lows again.  Ugh.

I've always known that sugar is a drug and thankfully society and science is catching up.  It is very real. 

When I first started doing the food and I heard that sugar affects the same brain receptors as heroin I was blown away.  Of course it does.  That explains it.  The constant craving, the lies, the broken promises, the withdrawal.  Addiction is addiction.

But knowing that there is a solution to healing sugar sensitivity, sugar addiction, that actually WORKS, phew, that's kinda intense. 

Today the mood swings are gone, so is the depression, and the 'crazies', oh, and the bingeing.  Not to mention the cravings.  Or the weight fluctuations.  

In its place is a steadiness, a calm certainty that I can handle whatever life throws at me.  A confidence that everything will be all right. 

And I wouldn't swap that for the world!

Video by kind permission, Dr K DesMaisons