How to Conquer Sugar Addiction! 5 Steps!

I think people are being conned into thinking sugar is the devil.  Sugar is really not the problem; the quantity of sugar is the true issue. We live in a time when weight loss, fad diets and supplements have become a billion-dollar industry! And therefore, programs are trying to convince you that you need THEIR diet, THEIR food, THEIR extreme way of eating in order to control your weight and your health. But this is causing people to eat artificial foods/sweeteners, tons of supplements that are not even properly regulated by the FDA (check out podcast episode #86 or CLICK HERE for more details about why you should be very cautious about supplements) and pushing people into such states of deprivation that they all binge on that sugar eventually.

If we can educate people about sugar and diet then maybe they would overcome things like sugar addiction and weight gain without it being so complicated. My intention of this blog (and Podcast #146: CLICK HERE to listen) is to give you a few simple tips on how to conquer your sugar addiction in a manner that will be sustainable over a lifetime instead of just through a diet program.

5 Tips to Overcome Sugar Addiction:

1. SUGAR IS NOT THE ENEMY: The QUANTITY of sugar is doing the damage, not the sugar itself.  So, how much is too much? According to the US Dietary Guidelines, you should limit your ADDED sugars to 10% of your daily calorie intake. For a person eating 2000 calories/day that would be 50 grams of sugar. And what you need to note is that this is ADDED sugars.

ADDED SUGARS: are the main ingredients in the candy, processed foods and even lots of those coffee drinks these days! The 50 grams of sugar/day is NOT taking into account sugar you get from healthy/natural foods. That means you can in fact eat over the 10% of sugar calories/day as long as the amount over the 10% comes from REAL food (fruit, vegetables, dairy, etc.). But you still need to be cautious because fruit/veggies/dairy can still be high in sugar and should not be eaten in an unlimited fashion (especially if you are trying to lose weight). Sugar (no matter where it comes from) can still be a lot of calories.

How can you identify if ADDED sugar is in your food? See if the label includes the following:

• Cane juice and cane syrup
• Corn sweeteners and high-fructose corn syrup
• Fruit juice concentrate and nectars
• Honey
• Malt or maple syrup
• Molasses
• Sugar molecules ending in “ose” (dextrose, fructose, glucose, lactose, maltose, sucrose) 

2. AVOID EXTREME SUGAR ELIMINATION: Being EXTREME with your sugar detox is going to hurt you more than help. These types of diets or the 30-Day Challenges you might be inspired to join are too extreme. They generally want you to have NO sugar (not even fruit, veggies, dairy). This can lead to binging on sugar once your challenge or diet program is over. And if you are avoiding fruits, some veggies and possibly dairy…. are you in fact getting in enough other nutrients your body does need like fiber, calcium, healthy carbohydrates? Don’t go extreme to remove one thing at the expense of your health. And my feeling is that if you can’t sustain a way of eating, don’t do it at all. It’s not worth it and you just go back to your old ways right away.

3. AVOID ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS: I always have to preface this discussion with the fact that if you have diabetes and are told by your doctor to avoid all sugar and use artificial sweeteners, you should always listen to your doctor. But if this is not your situation, you need to know that these artificial chemicals have never been proven to cause any weight loss and can be harmful chemicals to the body. The most common sweeteners you should look for on your labels include saccharin, acesulfame, aspartame, xylitol and sucralose. There are several concerns when it comes to using artificial sweeteners....

According to Harvard Medical School (CLICK HERE FOR ARTICLE):

1. “It’s possible that these products change the way we taste food. “Non-nutritive sweeteners are far more potent than table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup. A miniscule amount produces a sweet taste comparable to that of sugar, without comparable calories. Overstimulation of sugar receptors from frequent use of these hyper-intense sweeteners may limit tolerance for more complex tastes,” explains Dr. Ludwig. That means people who routinely use artificial sweeteners may start to find less intensely sweet foods, such as fruit, less appealing and unsweet foods, such as vegetables, downright unpalatable.

In other words, use of artificial sweeteners can make you shun healthy, filling, and highly nutritious foods while consuming more artificially flavored foods with less nutritional value.

2. Artificial sweeteners may play another trick, too. Research suggests that they may prevent us from associating sweetness with caloric intake. As a result, we may crave more sweets, tend to choose sweet food over nutritious food, and gain weight. Participants in the San Antonio Heart Study who drank more than 21 diet drinks per week were twice as likely to become overweight or obese as people who didn’t drink diet soda.

3. You say you can give up diet drinks whenever you want? Don’t be so sure. Animal studies suggest that artificial sweeteners may be addictive. In studies of rats who were exposed to cocaine, then given a choice between intravenous cocaine or oral saccharine, most chose saccharin.”

So I ask you this..is SUGAR the real devil or is it the artificial sweeteners? 

4. GET SUGAR FROM THE RIGHT SOURCES: As we said earlier, swap the processed sweets for fruit, vegetables and dairy products (organic always recommended) when you need to help that sweet tooth craving. Instead of being extreme and saying “I can’t have dessert or anything sweet for 30 days”, you can say “I am going to swap that cookie I normally eat with Greek yogurt and a cut up peach”. Satisfy the sweet tooth with real food!

5. GRADUAL REDUCTION: if you eat a lot of added sugar daily or even a ton of fruit, slowly decrease the amount over 30 days. If you are a soda drinker, try to have half the amount the first week and continue to drop the total amount week by week (and that goes for diet soda drinkers too since they have artificial sweetner). If you are addicted to those sweet coffee drinks…. go to a small size and again, don’t have it daily. Wean it down slowly.

I like to save my sweet treats for the weekend! I eat super clean Monday-Friday and enjoy a sweet treat (with added sugar) on the weekend. Yep, it’s okay to have added sugar, it just needs to be in moderation. And if it makes you feel better, I eat ice cream every weekend! (ha!)

So, to sum it up:

• Be mindful of how much added sugars you are eating/day (maybe even log the food in an app like LOSEIT! And don’t be afraid to have added sugar, just make sure it’s not more than 10% of your total calories.
• Read the labels to look for those ingredients that show it has ADDED sugar.
• Avoid artificial sweeteners at all costs! I would always rather you eat real sugar over a chemical.
• Get your sweet tooth satisfied with REAL FOOD options like fruit, vegetables and dairy.
• Set up a gradual reduction of your added sugar intake instead of going cold turkey or trying to be too extreme too fast.
• Enjoy a sweet treat, but maybe limit it to the weekends. 

I truly feel if you can do these 5 steps, you will not only stop your sugar addictions, but you will also be happier with your energy levels (no more high to low crashes), you might have less stomach aches/bloating and you will likely drop some weight! Yet not at the expense of being totally deprived which will lead to that binge later. The reality is that the less you eat sugar, the less you will want it. So, getting on track with these steps will lead to decreased cravings.

Give it a shot and if you find this blog helpful please give it a share on social media! Let’s spread the word to as many people as we can about getting HEALTHY the RIGHT WAY!

If you want more help DETOXING your body in a healthy way, you might like my ETB TOX program. It’s NOT a detox because those are generally too extreme, but it’s my version of a detox using healthy food, real food and not starving yourself. It’s a great way to learn more about your nutrition, your body and how to drop some extra pounds while feeling amazing. CLICK HERE for those details.

Thank you for reading my blog today! I’m always here to bring you fitness, nutrition and health information you can put into play right away! And if you are not already subscribed to my podcast, check it out on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify or Stitcher! Just search for the Earn That Body Podcast!