That SUGAR addiction, the one that was forced upon us when we didn’t want it, do you know how we got it?
It’s not hard to see why there’s an EPIDEMIC of obesity and weight gain in the US and UK and if you listened to the official view, it’s our own fault! 60% of adults are now classified as obese or overweight, with 1 in 3 children leaving school in that same category.
Over 70% of all packaged food on the shelves in our supermarkets has added sugar. It’s in vegetable soup, breads, yoghurts, cereals, sauces, virtually every kind of prepared foods we buy. In the sixties and seventies we were told to ditch the fat because of heart disease, when it has since been found that the evidence and studies that were used should have implicated sugar. This has allowed Big Food Inc. to drive a wedge between us and the truth. That means Big Food Incorporated has got us hooked.
How? Well sugar lights up the nucleus accumbens in our brain, which is also what happens to an alcoholic when they take a drink or a gambling addict as they enter the bookmakers. It gives our reward receptors a huge boost of pleasure. The behaviour of bingers. This then explains why it’s a habit that’s so hard to kick. Why willpower isn’t enough. We have been force fed an addictive substance for most of our lives and it’s not our fault.
So how do we break that sugar addiction and not become one of the many? (a recent study put the death toll, attributed to sugary drinks alone at over 184,000 per year worldwide).
Firstly, steer clear of anything that can spike your insulin levels –that includes sugar, flour and refined carbohydrates.
Do not eat ready meals and in particular anything labelled as low fat.
Look at the ingredients of any foods you buy. Mostly they should only contain one ingredient.
Leave anything on the shelf that contains words ending in ‘-ose’ such as lactose or syrups.
Don’t touch aspartame or brown sugar
Do not drink fruit juice – it has a similar amount of sugar as a Coke per glass.
Then try some of these options;
Raw honey, Stevia (sparingly) or coconut sugar - yes they are all slightly processed but we want you off the big stuff!
Switch off the receptors by going more green. Get a quality organic green powder to take as your first meal (after breaking your fast), you’d be surprised at how quickly you can re wire your brain.
Clear out your colon and digestive system with pre-biotics and you will feel more ‘whole’ and less 'sticky' inside.
But most of all, make a decision to change what you eat. Remember, a decision is only a thought unless you take action. It only takes a moment.