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Sugar addiction?

26 replies

Mrsfloss · 05/09/2018 07:25

I am having issues with binge eating and have started seeing a therapist. I am an alcoholic who is sober for years. Also an addict recently clean.

When I eat sugar or a lot of carbs I feel this ‘triggers’ me to overeat. Seem therapist on Monday who advised that sugar addiction is not a real thing and I need to learn to eat all foods in moderation.

Any thoughts?

OP posts:
Cailleach · 05/09/2018 09:03

I have exactly the same issues with sugar and have had to give it up entirely. Ditto bread. As soon as I have a glucose hit I need more. It's an appallingly strong craving which is almost impossible to resist.

I have ASD (diagnosed)) and almost certainly ADD or ADHD on top. Addiction issues are common comorbids with these neurological disorders and you may want to read up on them and see if any of it applies to you. I firmly believe that my cravings are linked to my abnormal neurology and are something I will always have issues with.

Your therapist is talking bollocks IMHO - would they advise an alcoholic to drink in moderation or a junkie to have just the occasional fix every now and again?

Best of luck to you. X

Cailleach · 05/09/2018 09:10

This link everything explains why people with ADHD struggle with glucose addictions - and indeed addictions in general - and the neurological reasons behind it.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

DayKay · 05/09/2018 10:38

I think it’s a real thing.
I’m trying to not eat breakfast at the moment as I think it triggers me to overeat. I usually have toast, sometimes cereal but it’s always quite carby.
I am craving toast. Really craving it. It’s just constantly in my thoughts.
I’m trying to hold out but I swear it’s got a hold on me like any addiction.

purpleme12 · 05/09/2018 10:43

I think sugar addiction is real. I'm pretty sure I must be addicted to sugar

saltedcaramelmuffin · 05/09/2018 10:45

Giving up sugar is the only way I managed to beat 20 years of eating disorders. I have it up 3 years ago and it wa me the beta thing I’ve ever done.

(Ignore my username. I don’t eat them, I don’t even miss sugar, but a girl can dream!)

NiamhNaomh · 05/09/2018 10:50

I don’t think sugar itself is addictive. James Smith an instagrammer does a good explanation on this where he reminds us we would all be downing packets of sugar if sugar itself way addictive. However nice food with a very specific ratio of fat and sugar or flavours and sugars are very pleasurable for lots of people and it is likely that activating those pleasure centres is addictive.

Either way the same as any addiction it is finding ways to overcome impulsivity abd responding to those impulses in the moment is the key to overcoming the addiction. Mindfulness meditation is showing very successful results at achieving this. It might be worth looking into.

thecatneuterer · 05/09/2018 10:50

I also think your therapist is talking bollocks. I don't have an addictive personality but I still think I had a sugar addiction. I gave it up (30 years ago) and have had no food addiction issues since.

thenewaveragebear1983 · 05/09/2018 11:26

I think it’s real. I also think it’s largely linked to addiction to other things. A lot of heroin addicts for example develop an incredibly sweet tooth (like 6 sugars in a cup of tea) after giving up. If sugar isn’t addictive, dopamine certainly is, and we seek out our ‘hit’ anywhere we can find it.

Aside from the fact that no one needs to learn to eat sugar in moderation because it has zero nutritional value whatsoever. You can cut out sugar and not miss out on a single nutrient/vitamin/ so there’s no need to eat sugar. What perhaps you need to do is learn to have some things and not then binge on loads of sugar- although that binge response is likely due to your existing addiction problems.

I am also a lifelong addict, (drugs cigarettes, and food)

DidoAndHerLament · 05/09/2018 11:49

Perhaps it depends on how your therapist is defining addiction. But what's not in doubt is that sugar stimulates dopamine release, so it drives the craving and reward cycle.

Gillian Riley writes really well about these things if you're interested.

MrsFloss · 05/09/2018 12:18

She says she is unwilling to work with me if I keep thinking about it as an addiction as nhs model so different.

Just left me confused and unsure what to believe

OP posts:
HardyforTom · 05/09/2018 12:29

For those who have given up sugar can I ask how you did this and which food you included? Did you just cut out sweets, cake, chocolate and desserts? Do you also not eat things like ketchup and condiments? Do you eat bread, potatoes, pasta? I am very interested in cutting out sugar as I think it will help with my tenancy to binge when stressed but I don't know how far to take it. Do you eat bananas? Grapes? Thanks.

thenewaveragebear1983 · 05/09/2018 13:14

Hardy I did it using the Michael Moseley book the 8 week blood sugar diet. I wanted to lose weight too, although you don’t have to calorie count and in theory you could do it purely to quit sugar. I completely cut out pasta, rice, grains, bread, potatoes and sugar for 8 weeks. I still do this nearly 2 years later although I do still have them at certain times.

It’s really fructose that you are quitting when you quit ‘sugar’ so it’s worth reading about and doing your research.

This book is very helpful, if a little Americanised and ‘self helpy’ and the strategies in it are similar to those used in addiction services that I have used myself and delivered.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B014V1Q6SI/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

thenewaveragebear1983 · 05/09/2018 13:16

This is our blood sugar diet thread on here if anyone is interested. Please do pop in and say hi and ask any questions you want, we’re very friendly

Blood sugar diet thread 12http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/fasting_diet/3322467-blood-sugar-diet-thread-12

saltedcaramelmuffin · 05/09/2018 13:32

I gave up most added sugars (although I do still eat ketchup and baked beans). So anything with sugar, honey, syrup, molasses etc I don’t eat.

I do eat bread, pasta, potatoes, all fruit etc.

I gave it all up cold turkey. I thought it would be much harder than it was. I used to binge pretty much daily on chocolate, biscuits, sweets etc. I would wake up with a sugar hangover, and then crave more. It was awful. I don’t miss or crave sugar AT ALL now, which I never thought I would say. The more I used to have, the more I would want. Not eating it has completely stopped those cravings for it.

thecatneuterer · 05/09/2018 14:22

I'm the same as Saltedcaramelmuffin. I just gave up (and I've just realised it was 40 years ago, not 30). I was only 17 at the time and I realised that sugary things made me feel crap. So I decided the solution was to just not eat them.

I still have loads (and I mean loads) of fruit, and St Dalfour jam (pure fruit spread), and Nakd bars and the like. None of those affect me. I just avoid everything with added sugar/honey. If it has a little added sugar but it's not actually sweet then it doesn't matter and doesn't seem to be a problem (baked beans for example).

It's been so long I don't even think about it. And it's very easy to avoid. None of those types of foods are essential.

Mide7 · 05/09/2018 14:26

I don’t think sugar addiction is real. No one is buying a bag of sugar at 7am in the morning to set them up for the day.

That being said, eating nice things ( mostly with sugar and fat) is comforting and I guess that can be addictive.

FaithInfinity · 05/09/2018 14:35

I was certainly in a habit of binge eating and my foods were generally high sugar/high fat. I could definitely see a pattern. Someone on MN recommended the ‘No S diet’ where you have no snacks, sweets or seconds except on Saturdays, Sundays and two ‘S’ days (exceptions) per month. I’ve been surprised at how easy it’s been actually. The cravings have gone away quite quickly. I’m not eating like I used to be, even on the days when I have the freedom to eat, it’s not the same as when I was bingeing a lot. I was out on Sunday and I had a magnum. I haven’t had one all summer because I’d been ‘dieting’ but since it was an S day I had one and really enjoyed it!

The key to success with this seems to be eating decent portions of filling foods including full fat food, plenty of protein.

Also have a look at Brain Over Binge by Kathryn Hansen who says essentially the way to stop binge cravings is to stop bingeing...it’s a cyclical behaviour that can be stopped. I’ve certainly found reducing my sugar intake has helped with this. It’s a really good book - she’s a recovered bulimic who did the research herself, the book takes you through her history and then how she stopped.

mikado1 · 05/09/2018 14:54

Perhaps what she's getting at is that you are in control and can control your food intake, tho god knows I feel I can't a lot of the time If it's this I'd stick with her as this is quite an empowering message no? Brain over Binge gives the same message.

Food combinations can definitely trigger the cravings. See www.donteatforwinter.com on this. Very effective apparently. So many of us in the same boat on this.

KimCheesePickle · 05/09/2018 14:57

Sugar certainly is addictive in a physical sense. Read David Gillespie Sweet Poison/ Sweet Poison Quit Plan and watch Robert Lustig's lectures on sugar on youtube. Basically there's no "off switch" for fructose... most foods have a feedback mechanism whereby once your body has sensed it's had enough, it sends back appetite hormones to dull your appetite. Not so with fructose, we're evolutionarily programmed to eat as much as we can, eg gorging on autumnal fruit to survive the barren winter months.

As regards to psychology, it's probably a bit more nuanced, but Robert Lustig goes into this in his book the Hacking of the American Mind, which is about the contrast between dopamine and serotonin, and pleasure and happiness, respectively. Sugar very much fires up the dopamine and pleasure reward circuits, leading to addiction pathways.

I think though where your therapist is coming from is that if you've got a history of eating disorders and addiction, then cutting out food groups could shift those underlying behaviour patterns into orthorexia.

My retort to that though would be that sugar isn't a food group. There's essential amino acids and there's essential fatty acids; starchy food can be a useful boost to energy intake, and can be a vehicle for vitamins & minerals, but is not essential. And fructose (50% component of table sugar & in most processed foods) is a turbo charged carb. Eat real food (meat, fish, vegetables, dairy, eggs, olive oil etc)... avoid processed... cook from scratch, and only eat sweet stuff if it's in the form of whole fresh fruit (ie its fibre is intact, which slows & mitigates fructose absorption).

saltedcaramelmuffin · 05/09/2018 15:19

I still have loads (and I mean loads) of fruit, and St Dalfour jam (pure fruit spread), and Nakd bars and the like. None of those affect me. I just avoid everything with added sugar/honey. If it has a little added sugar but it's not actually sweet then it doesn't matter and doesn't seem to be a problem (baked beans for example)

This.

I can have the occasional ice cream/sticky toffee pudding, and it doesn’t set me off on a binge spiral.

thenewaveragebear1983 · 05/09/2018 15:55

Mide7 I beg to differ. Ok, not many people buy kilo bags of sugar to eat, but lots and lots of bulimics and people with binge/purge type eating disorders deliberately and specifically buy large quantities of sugary foods with the specific intention of bingeing on them. Bags of Haribo for example, are effectively bags of sugar.

Sugar is addictive, but bingeing itself is an addictive behaviour and is very difficult to stop. Op, I think you need to find a different therapist who will look at your addictive behaviours as a collective and how one behaviour has evolved into another.

mikado1 · 05/09/2018 16:27

Yy to haribo as a go to... But does a therapist need to find the reasons for or the how to stop... I think the latter is the primary goal. I think I'd like to see what his/her plan is here.

TheViceOfReason · 05/09/2018 16:29

Sugar isn't addictive - the feeling you get from eating it is.

rememberatime · 05/09/2018 16:39

Stopping isn't going to harm you and is likely to make you feel better. So just do it. After a couple of weeks, see how you feel.

if you are prone to addictions, sugar can be addictive. it is described by some as equivalent to cocaine.

Your therapist probably wants you to avoid being obsessive.

It is apparently very common for alcoholics to turn to sugar after they give up the booze. The feelings are similar. It is a high followed by a low, followed by a high until you feel so sick you have to lie down ...