"Sugar is not a drug."

TTTT: “Sugar is not a drug.”

Truth:  If it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it's probably a duck.  Or in this case, a drug. 

I can picture it like it was yesterday.  I remember the scene perfectly.  The first time I ever heard someone compare sugar to a drug.  I was approaching 200 pounds and in a room full of people of similar and larger sizes.  …And stilllll oblivious to the fact that this was an effort to get me (and others) to think critically about what we were eating. 

He spoke of his own efforts to avoid added sugars.  He told “folklore” of how processed sugar was originally kept under lock and key.  I didn’t think he was lying, but I thought he was seriously misguided.  I compared the lock and key story to prohibition and dismissed both as mistakes.  (Alcohol not addressed in this post, TMTR for sure!)

About 3 years later, I did my first round of Whole30.  Whole30 allows ZERO sugars- natural, processed, syrup, evaporated, artificial and any other form you can think of.  I completely removed sugar from my diet. 

…and I wasted away with withdrawals for NINE days!  Over a week of being dysfunctional and feeling like trash.  Everything I’ve read says, that’s what it is like to come off a drug addiction.

As I began consistently eating without sugar, I established a new baseline, and I realized how much sugar was affecting my behaviors and my responses to the people around me.  I would go without added sugar for a while and then I’d make my favorite flavor of cupcakes.  Even with moderation, I kept finding myself SO emotionally unstable.  Eventually, I had to accept the reality that was staring back at me- sugar was altering my behaviors.

I had one friend tell me from her own personal experience that it was easier to quit smoking cigarettes than it was to quit drinking sodas.  Yup, sugar was more addictive than nicotine.

A different friend of mine recently went through a hard trial.  I texted her to check on her emotional well-being.  Her response? “I want ice cream and pop.”  What she wanted more than anything else to cope with her circumstances was sugar. 

An addictive substance that we crave, is harmful to our bodies, and alters our behaviors. 

That’s a drug.

If the anecdotes don’t do it for you, check out this article.  It includes highlights and takeaways from several studies researching the effects of sugar. 

This isn’t new data.  These results have been coming out for the entire quarter of the century, and yet added sugars are becoming more and more common in our foods.  It’s getting harder and harder to avoid. 

I could write a whole blog post on the sugar conspiracy, but that’s not the headline for today.  Today, I hope you’ll get more aggressive about removing added sugars from your diet and start paying closer attention to how it affects you when you do consume measurable amounts of sugar.

Now, if I consume refined sugar- it never goes well.  Headaches, always.  Usually something that resembles a hangover the next day.  Stomach off kilter.  It’s brutal.  I never regret passing up on foods or drinks with added sugars and/or artificial sweeteners. 

Get the Tylenol and water ready.  You might have to use a couple days of PTO.  It won’t be easy.  But it is oh-so-liberating to overcome the pattern of self-medicating with sugar.  You’ll find increased peace because you’ve removed the extreme peaks and valleys of your mood.  And who knows, maybe your new coping mechanism will be something that adds value to your life???

As always, please let me know if there is anything that I can do to encourage you in the pursuit of your health. <3