BREAK UP WITH SUGAR
The most notorious simple carbohydrate—and one of the major
causes of excess weight and poor health—is sitting in a bowl in your kitchen.
It’s pure and white, sparkly and sweet—but don’t let its innocent appearance
fool you. No matter how benign it may look, sugar is just plain bad for you, and
cutting it out of your diet—if not completely, then mostly—will not only help
you lose weight and cut your risk of disease, but it will probably make you feel
a whole lot better, too.
Most of us eat way too much sugar. The American Heart
Association recommends limiting added sugar to no more than 100 calories a day
for women and 150 calories a day for men. But we Americans consume, on average,
355 calories from sugar each day—that’s about 22 teaspoons of sugar daily. Over
the course of a year, that’s enough calories to pack on 37 extra pounds!
But we’re not sitting around munching on sugar cubes or spooning
the white stuff into our mouths from our sugar bowls—rather, we’re consuming it
in the food we eat and the beverages we drink. Sugar is found in the expected
places, such as cookies, candy, cakes, muffins, ice cream, sugary cereals, and
pastries. And it’s in foods we don’t necessarily think of as being very sugary,
such as breads, pastas and many sauces and dressings. And of course, it’s in
soft drinks—soda, sweetened iced tea, sports drinks, fruit punches, lemonade,
sugary coffee drinks, and other kinds of “liquid candy.”
Our bodies are biologically programmed to seek out the taste of
sweetness. Back when our cavemen ancestors were roaming the forests, seashores,
and prairies, sweetness equaled safety—in general, if something tasted sweet, it
was unlikely to be poisonous. A sugary taste was linked with good health and
long life, which is a bitter irony when you consider how many modern lives are
shortened because of our desire for sugar.
Today we’ve still got that physiological urge to eat sweets. But
now we live in a world in which sugar is everywhere. We can’t just go by what
our bodies want. We’ve got to change the way we think about sugar, root it out
of our diets, and break what is, for many of us, an addiction.
IS IT REALLY AN ADDICTION?
Nutrition experts disagree over whether the constant,
overwhelming craving for sugar that so many of us have is an addiction—meaning a
true physiological dependence—or just a bad habit. My view is that it’s an
addiction, an actual physical craving, and that a sizeable number of people
truly are addicted to sugar.
When an overweight person with life-threatening heart disease
and type 2 diabetes hides candy bars around the house, eats them when nobody’s
looking, and then weeps with self-hatred afterward, I call that an
addiction.
Here’s my thinking. When you’re addicted to something, you have
trouble controlling your use of it. You continue to use it, take it, or consume
it despite realizing that it’s harmful to your health. Even when you try to give
it up, you may find that you can’t. Powerful cravings leave you thinking of it
constantly, but consuming it gives you only fleeting satisfaction.
When we think of addictions, substances like alcohol, nicotine,
and recreational drugs come to mind, as do gambling and sex addiction. But for
some people, sugar can be just as addictive.
Eating sugar causes your brain to release serotonin and
dopamine, brain chemicals that make you feel good. These same neurochemicals are
produced when you fall in love, have sex, or experience any kind of pleasure.
And, not surprisingly, they are released in the brains of people who use drugs
such as cocaine and heroin.
Eating high-sugar food actually stimulates an entire region of
the brain that’s known as the reward center. Not all foods do this—in fact, an
impressive 2013 study published in the American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition found that foods that are high on the glycemic index (in
other words, foods that are high in sugar) stimulate the brain’s reward and
craving regions significantly more than foods that are low in sugar.
It’s a simple equation. You eat sugar, you feel good, your brain
fires off “pleasure” signals, you eat more sugar—and the cycle goes on and
on.
Blood sugar plays a part as well. Again, the equation is simple:
you eat sugar, your blood sugar skyrockets, your blood sugar plummets, your
brain turns on a low blood sugar alert, and before you know it you’re craving
sugar again.
That’s what happened to me when I was a kid. I
grew up drinking tons of sugar, and I truly believe I was addicted to it because
I felt like I couldn’t live without it. What a relief it was for me to break
that addiction and not have to feel so beholden to all those bottles of
soda.
The problem with sugar is that it’s ubiquitous—it’s all around
us. Alcoholics who get off booze can avoid bars, nightclubs, and parties where
it’s served, and recovering drug addicts don’t have to worry that there’s
cocaine in their spaghetti sauce! Not so with sugar. It’s in the vast majority
of processed foods—as well as just about every kitchen, restaurant, coffee shop,
and convenience store—so it’s nearly impossible to avoid it completely.
You can break your addiction to sugar.
Once you decide that you really do want to end your psychological dependence on
this life-threatening food, you can end sugar’s control on your body and your
taste buds. Then, once you’re free of the constant desire for sweetness, you’ll
find it much easier to enjoy the naturally delicious taste of whole foods that
are better for you and that help you burn excess fat.
I GREW UP DRINKING TONS OF SUGAR, AND I TRULY BELIEVE I WAS
ADDICTED TO IT BECAUSE I FELT LIKE I COULDN’T DO WITHOUT IT. WHAT A RELIEF IT
WAS FOR ME TO BREAK THAT ADDICTION AND NOT HAVE TO FEEL SO BEHOLDEN TO ALL THOSE
BOTTLES OF SODA.
|
BREAKING YOUR SUGAR ADDICTION
Ending your psychological reliance on sugar isn’t easy, but it’s
absolutely doable. I’ve created a five-step process that will help you end your
sugar addiction.
STEP 1: FIGURE OUT WHETHER YOU’RE ADDICTED.
I’m not sure if it’s because of genetics or just the way we’re
raised, but it definitely seems that some people are more likely to become
addicted to sugar than others. How do you rate? Are you someone who wakes up in
a sweat after dreaming of chocolate cream pie? Are you immune to sugar—can you
easily say “no thanks” to candy, cookies, and desserts? Or are you, like most
people, somewhere in the middle? Take this quiz to find out where you stand.
Circle the answer that most closely fits each question.
1. Do you eat sweets even when you’re
not hungry?
Very frequently Somewhat
frequently Occasionally Never
2. Do you go overboard on sweets,
eating three or more servings of cake, cookies, candy, ice cream, or other
sweets at one time?
Very frequently Somewhat
frequently Occasionally Never
3. When you’re eating something sweet,
do you continue to consume it even after you start feeling full?
Very frequently Somewhat
frequently Occasionally Never
4. Do you become defensive when
friends and family comment about your intake of cookies, candy, cake, and other
sweets?
Very frequently Somewhat
frequently Occasionally Never
5. Do you lie to others about your
intake of sugary foods? For example, if you eat a bunch of cookies and another
family member is wondering why the cookie box is empty, do you fib to cover up
the fact that you ate them?
Very frequently Somewhat
frequently Occasionally Never
6. Do you experience
withdrawal-type symptoms (irritability, moodiness, depression, anxiety, etc.)
when you try to give up sweets?
Very frequently Somewhat
frequently Occasionally Never
7. Do you have candy and other sweets
stashed around the house where others can’t find them, and do you eat them when
nobody is watching?
Very frequently Somewhat
frequently Occasionally Never
8. Do you feel ashamed, guilty, or
angry at yourself when you eat/over-eat sugary foods?
Very frequently Somewhat
frequently Occasionally Never
9. Do you find yourself thinking about
sweets throughout the day and night, counting the minutes until it’s “time” to
eat them?
Very frequently Somewhat
frequently Occasionally Never
10. Do you automatically reach for
something sweet after finishing a meal?
Very frequently Somewhat
frequently Occasionally Never
11. Do you feel panicked or desperate
when you don’t have something sweet in the house for dessert?
Very frequently Somewhat
frequently Occasionally Never
12. Do you think you may be addicted to sugar and sweets?
Very frequently Somewhat
frequently Occasionally Never
Scoring: Give yourself the following
points for each answer you circled, then use the chart that follows to determine
the likelihood that you’re addicted to sugar:
Very frequently: 3 points
|
Occasionally: 1 point
|
Somewhat frequently: 2 points
|
Never: 0 points
|
SCORE
|
WHAT IT MEANS
|
0-8
|
You’re one of the lucky ones—you can typically pass up sweets
easily and are probably not addicted.
|
9-16
|
You struggle with sweet eating. Although you are sometimes in
control, at other times you are pulled into addictive behavior by your desire
for sugar.
|
17-24
|
Sugar is definitely a problem for you. Although you may not be
experiencing full-fledged addiction, your mind and body rely heavily on
sugar.
|
25-36
|
You are most likely addicted to
sugar.
|
STEP 2: IDENTIFY THE ADDED SUGAR IN YOUR DIET.
Even if you’re not loading up on cake and pie or drinking can
after can of soda, you’re probably taking in much more sugar than you realize.
That’s because sugar is added to so many foods—even the ones we don’t think of
as being sweet, such as spaghetti sauce, frozen dinners, and salad dressings.
Sugar boosts flavor, tones down bitterness, and balances the sharpness of
high-acid foods such as tomatoes and vinegar. It also helps preserve foods,
which is one of the reasons it’s in so many processed products.
To find the hidden (and not-so-hidden) sugar in the foods you
eat, start reading labels. The Nutrition Facts section of the label gives you
total grams of sugar, but that includes natural sugars as well as added sugars.
For example, according to the food label, a cup of skim milk has 12 grams of
sugar. But that all comes from lactose, a natural sugar in milk. Although some
people think you need to cut out lactose and other natural
sugars in order to break your addiction to sugar, I don’t agree.
So when you’re looking at food labels, consider the total amount
of sugar grams, but more importantly, look at the food’s ingredients. If sugar
is one of the food’s first ingredients, consider avoiding it.
But you have to be on your toes. When sugar is added to a food,
the word “sugar” may not even appear on its label. That’s because on food
labels, sugar often hides behind a range of different names. When you see these
words on labels, sugar alarm bells should go off in your head:
- agave nectar
- barley malt
- beet sugar
- brown rice syrup
- brown sugar
- cane juice
- cane sugar
- cane syrup
- corn sugar
- corn sweeteners
- corn syrup
- date sugar
- dextran
- dextrose
- evaporated cane juice
- fructose
- fruit juice concentrate
- fruit nectars
- glucose
- glucose solids
- high-fructose corn syrup
- honey
- invert sugar
- lactose
- malt syrup
- maltose
- maple syrup
- molasses
- rice syrup
- sorghum syrup
- sucrose syrup
- turbinado sugar
STEP 3: MAKE THE DECISION TO CUT OUT SUGAR.
You may be thinking, “But Dr. Travis, I’ve already made the
decision to stop eating sugar—in fact, I’ve made it about a million times!”
That’s OK. I know it’s hard. But I’m talking about really making a choice here,
committing to it and telling yourself you’re really going to follow through. You
might even want to write yourself a letter or make a contract with
yourself—doing something formal like that can move the decision from something
you kind of want to do to something you absolutely are deciding to do.
There are two ways to cut excess sugar from your diet: gradually
and cold turkey. Opinions differ on which is the better way to go, but here’s
where I stand: do whatever works for you. And it’s OK if you don’t know which
path to take—you can try both approaches and see how you fare. The goal is to
get all that extra sugar out of your diet, and as long as you reach that goal, I don’t really care how you do it.
Some people feel great waking up one day and saying, “That’s it,
no more extra sugar!” and they’re all ready to jump on the bandwagon for good.
If this is how you want to approach it, go for it.
But an all-at-once approach isn’t for everyone. If you’re
consuming a large amount of sugar—say you’re drinking multiple cans of soda or
sweetened iced tea every day—going cold turkey may not work for you, especially
if you’re also taking in a lot of caffeine. Doing so could lead to headaches,
irritability, and other symptoms. For heavy-duty sugar users, cutting back on
sugar over a series of days (or even weeks) may work better for you.
Go with your gut, and use whatever method will bring you the
most success.
STEP 4: CHOOSE LOW-SUGAR ALTERNATIVES.
Once you uncover the added sugar in your diet, choose naturally
low-sugar foods that contain little or no added sugar. For example, if your
breakfast cereal has lots of sugar, choose a different type, but not one with
artificial sweetener (which I will discuss more next). If your favorite tomato
sauce is high in sugar, pick a different brand—or better yet, make your own out
of fresh or canned tomatoes. Same with your salad dressing—instead of something
with high-fructose corn syrup or other sweeteners, just splash your salad with
olive oil and balsamic vinegar mixed with chopped fresh herbs.
If you usually drink soda, sweetened iced tea, or other sugary
beverages, switch to plain water, unsweetened tea, or unsweetened seltzer with a
dash of fruit juice or real fruit.
Look, I’m not going to tell you that you can’t ever have sugar. But I do think you should cut as much
added sugar out of your diet as possible. Our bodies are simply not designed to
process all the sugar in the typical American diet. When you look at the rising
rates of most chronic diseases, they correspond with a similar increase of sugar
intake among Americans.
Do your best to cut added sugars out of your diet. If you do
need a little bit of sweetness in your coffee or oatmeal, choose honey, molasses
or maple syrup, which contain antioxidants. That way, at least you’ll get a
little something good, too.
STEP 5: WEAN YOURSELF OFF ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS.
Notice I’m not suggesting you replace sugars with artificial
sweeteners. I have real concerns about artificial sweeteners—the fat-free craze
of the 1990s coincided with a massive uptick in their use, and studies suggest
an association between artificial sweeteners and obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Artificial sweeteners are just another part of our fascination with overly sweet
foods.
You’d think that since they have few or no calories, artificial
sweeteners would help with weight loss. But some studies suggest that’s simply
not the case. For example, guzzling diet soda is actually associated with an
elevated risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. This is the conclusion of a number
of studies, including an analytic review of research published in July 2013 in
the journal Trends in Endocrinology. Researchers think
artificial sweeteners trick your body into thinking it is consuming real sugar,
which causes your body to release insulin and store belly fat. On top of that,
artificial sweeteners may also contribute to carbohydrate cravings.
Do I think it’s going to kill you if you consume artificial
sweeteners occasionally? No—but I firmly believe they play a part in setting
your taste buds up to expect highly sweetened foods all the time and to crave
sweets and simple carbohydrates.
I also believe that giving up artificial sweeteners helps reset
your palate so it’s back to normal, able to appreciate the natural tastes of
whole foods rather than always demanding hyper-sweet, sugar-laden foods.
I’ve seen this happen myself: anytime I’ve had diet soda and
then fruit, I’ve noticed that the fruit tastes unusually bland. Even after just
one diet soda, I can feel my taste buds getting reset in the wrong direction. This is why now and going forward, I
personally avoid all artificial sweeteners.
One of my goals in The Healthy Diet is to help you reset your
palate so you can go back to enjoying the natural, more subtle sweetness of
whole foods such as fruits. It’s something I had to learn, and I know you can
too.
ABOUT 80 PERCENT OF ALL PACKAGED FOODS IN THE UNITED STATES
CONTAIN ADDED SUGARS.
|
STEP 6: MAKE A PLAN TO DEAL WITH CRAVINGS.
Once you stop eating sweets, you’ll start having cravings.
That’s OK—it’s normal and it’s part of the process. The cravings may be strong
at first, but believe me, they’ll start to weaken after the first couple of
days, and before you know it, they’ll disappear. Once your body recognizes that
you’re not going to give in to sugar cravings, they begin to lose their power
over you.
In the meantime, make a list of activities you can do to
distract yourself when cravings hit. If you truly are hungry, eat a healthy,
high-protein snack. If you’re thirsty, drink a big glass of water. If you’re
simply bored or just craving something sweet, take your mind off it. Call a
friend, go for a walk, play with your dog, jump on your bicycle, take a bubble
bath, put on some music and dance around the living room, read a trashy novel—do
whatever it takes to occupy your mind until the craving passes, because it will
pass. And when it does, you’ll feel great about yourself for getting through it
without giving in.
If you make mistakes, forgive yourself and move on. Don’t berate
yourself or wallow in self-blame. Just stop yourself, put down the cookie,
recommit to your goal, and start fresh.
It really is amazing how quickly you start to lose your cravings
and your taste for sugar. The truth is that the more sugar you eat, the more you
want—but the opposite is true as well, and the less
sugar you eat, the less you want! Before you know it,
the foods you used to love because of their sweetness will taste overly sweet.
Your taste buds adjust, your brain adjusts, and you move on to a new kind of
sweetness as you savor a healthier life and a leaner body.
ADDED VS. NATURAL
Sugar is a type of carbohydrate that your body uses for energy.
When it’s found naturally in foods such as fruits, dairy foods, grains, and some
vegetables, it’s referred to as “natural sugar.” When it’s added to foods, it’s
referred to as “added sugar.” Makes sense, right?
Some people think that natural sugar and added sugar are equally
bad for you. But I don’t agree. The sugar that occurs naturally in fruits and
other foods is not what worries me. America doesn’t have an obesity epidemic because people are eating too many apples and oranges.
It’s because they’re drinking too much soda, eating too many sweets, and
consuming vast amounts of sugar in processed foods.
HERE’S WHY IT’S CALLED “LIQUID CANDY.” A 12-OUNCE CAN OF
SUGAR-SWEETENED COLA CONTAINS 39 GRAMS (NINE TEASPOONS) OF SUGAR. PEOPLE WHO
HAVE SUGARY DRINKS DAILY—ONE TO TWO CANS A DAY OR MORE—HAVE A 26 PERCENT GREATER
RISK OF DEVELOPING TYPE 2 DIABETES THAN DO PEOPLE WHO RARELY CONSUME SUGARY
DRINKS.
|
Go ahead and enjoy fruit, but be very careful when it comes to
processed foods with a lot of added sugar. Here’s why:
- Added sugar contributes to weight gain. People who eat added sugar are more likely to become overweight or obese. The more sugar they eat, the more they gain.
- Added sugar increases your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Eating too much sugar can interfere with your body’s ability to process insulin. This can lead to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
- Added sugar prevents your brain from hearing the “I’m full” signal. Large sugar intake leads to the production of excess insulin, which can prevent leptin, the appetite-control hormone, from signaling to our brains that we should stop eating.
- Added sugar calories are empty calories. There’s no nutritional value in them whatsoever, and they paradoxically can make you feel less full.
- Added sugar displaces nutritious foods. The more sugar you eat, the less room there is in your diet for healthy foods such as vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, and whole grains.
- Added sugar has dangerous friends. Many processed foods that contain large amounts of added sugar also have trans fats (more on this later), artificial flavors and colors, and other unhealthy ingredients that contribute to poor health.
- Added sugar raises heart disease risk. Quite simply, excess added sugar turns to fat in our bodies. That’s why too much sugar increases belly fat and raises triglycerides, and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, which amps up your chances of heart disease.
GETTING IN CONTROL
It’s no surprise that so many of us are addicted to sugar.
Eating sugar stimulates your brain’s reward center and triggers the release of
feel-good brain chemicals. And because sugar is everywhere, it can be difficult
to break its grip on you.
Facing down a sugar addiction is definitely a challenge—but it’s
something you can do. Once you understand the hold that sugar has on you, and
once you decide to start taking steps to free yourself from sugar’s stranglehold
on your diet, you really can take charge. By following the steps I’ve outlined
here, you can free yourself from sugar’s grasp and open yourself up to the
naturally delicious flavors of healthy foods.
No, it won’t be easy. But look back at your life and count up
all the difficult challenges you’ve confronted, all the victories you’ve
achieved. You’ve done harder things than breaking up with sugar. And you’re
stronger than you realize! Do this now and you’ll achieve one of the sweetest
wins of your life!
No comments:
Post a Comment