Sugar and your brain
Sugar is my biggest addiction. The moment that sugary goodness touches my tastebuds and lights up my world I feel so much joy. But that joy is temporary, it’s fleeting fast too. It’s not until about 10 minutes after the euphoria and sugar high that my stomach starts to groan and growl and ache. It’s not just a subtle thing either, it hurts but I tend to ignore it because I don’t want to admit I have a problem. But then it hits my gut and that is when I know the battle is lost. My mood immediately becomes depressed or irritable or a mixture of sad sass and whineyness. That is when I vow to stop eating it but then the spike happens right after I finish a healthy meal. I want something sweet. I counter with water, no go. I counter with tea, blasted all. I counter with a piece of black licorice (one of my favs. Don’t judge) no dice. I want more. An apple, no I am still hungry. I know this can’t possibly be true but for my brain it doesn’t register this. All’s it knows is that it isn’t satisfied.
This is why I have gained 10 lbs back that I lost. It’s the reason lately I feel like a bag of shit. I’ve given up smoking 2 years ago. I gave up dairy a year ago, but no matter what I do sugar comes creepy in hard like one of those possessed evil dolls and waits for you when you least expect it. I hate sugar for this reason. Yesterday I had minimal sugar and felt great, the bloat gone, the energy levels up. I have been charging like a rhino daily to meet my goals. Then today, lack of sleep kicked it off wrong. I had a sugary latte, not a lot just a pump, but still that started the downward spiral into my own doom and gloom. Also driving for about 6 hours today to get something for my new office left me driving in a van, bored because the only sound I had was the rattling of pots and pans in the back of this monster.
So there I was with my partner on a long drive down with limited food options because normally I would make food for myself, so instead stopped at a bakery to dive into a sweet treat. That was the 2nd moment I felt it today, that rush of irritability and exhaustion. That is what I believe that mid afternoon lull in the day is for most people. You know when everyone wants to instead drink a coffee because they just got to damn tired. Well it’s probably because 1. There was some kind of sugary breakfast. (Bagel breaks down into sugar don’t fool yourself.) This doesn’t need to be candy or pastries, a lot of food breaks down into sugar. 2. Not a lean protein to start. 3. Coffee and no water. 4. Sitting and not exercising at all. It can be 1 or more of these or all of them but I believe without staying hydrated, eating proper nutrition and doing some kind of movement you wind up reaching for your mocha latte frappacino with extra whip real fast. (EWWW not my thing.)
But this is what sugar does to people. It’s more addictive than cocaine or any other drug. Think about it, you have sugar, you go through sugar high, then crash then withdrawal. You then wind up craving more so that you brain feels better and give in to it and bam same cycle on repeat. It’s a freaking nightmare and the biggest problem I have. But how can you avoid it when it’s literally in everything. Even if something says it’s sugar free and uses some other sugar alcohol or stevia, it’s still sugar. That mask only tricks people to be like well it’s healthy cause it’s not sugar and so you buy it only to feel the same way, gain weight, or just think that it must be something else wrong with you. It’s not, sugar is the silent killer. It damages your organs and we are non the wiser. It makes our bodies so acidic and what lives in acidity? Dis-eases, cancers, tumors, bacteria, and so on. When we become so acidic that is when we increase our likelihood of cancer by 50%. That is huge.
Sugar effects our memory, our mood, our mental capacity. It creates acidity and obesity in the body. It’s literally a poison, especially when done in large quantities. Let’s say you start your day off with a double double coffee (2 cream, 2 sugar) Lactose and glucose, then you add a breakfast sandwich with eggs, bacon, and cheese, then the usual SPK (salt, pepper, ketchup) you have fat protein for both the egg and bacon, then more lactose, then the bread which breaks down into more sugar, then the ketchup which is sugar tomato paste. Where does that leave you? Feeling sluggish probably, maybe bloated, maybe you feel nothing because you just are so unaware of your own body. That turns your blood to sludge, no water, running on sugar and fat. Dear god no wonder obesity has risen.
Not only is sugar causing you more harm than good it is rewiring your brain as well. Sugar is like dopamine “hits.” This repeated hit plays on the reward center and with frequent stimulation of this can lead to a tolerance of it. I want sugar so therefore you must eat more. This can lead to an inability to control behavior and make sound decisions, it can also delay gratification and impulse control. So if you eat more sugar you are likely to crave more high fat, high sugar diet foods even if you aren’t hungry. Like I said it’s a drug. They just don’t label it as that because then no one would buy it.
Now that’s not to say that you don’t need sugar. A healthy amount of sugar is okay. Some berries which are lower on the glycemic index may be the perfect amount for your brain to be satisfied, but don’t over do it. The thing is we are in control of what we ingest. Not anyone else but us, and even with it being as addictive as it is we still are the one giving into that temptation every time. Hey I do it all the time too, I am no better than anyone else. But realizing you get to chose what you ingest in your body is huge. Sure I had some sugar today but normally it’s way worst and I don’t usually feel full when eating. Today I felt full during dinner and stopped myself from going to town on the fajitas. (Dairy free for me please.)
It is through awareness that we really realize we are entirely responsible for ourselves. Our choices all the time are our own, so when you use excuses like I have no time or whatever know that you are choosing this. Instead of prioritizing your nutrition you push the buck onto whatever excuse works. That is your way to blame that instead of taking responsibility for you. Because to be responsible means being aware, being vigilant, making sound decisions that benefit you to the highest good. This doesn’t mean that god forbid you have birthday cake once in a while but it means you make the choice to do it rather than allowing society, outside influences, or your own well its a party attitude dictate that choice.
So knowing this what are you going to chose? What are some ways you can learn about your food and really understand how it is effecting you? Can you make a healthier choice today that will help you live longer rather than take away the little life we have on this planet? Can you switch your perspective of food as a benefit rather than a way to keep you down? Find a way to be friends with your food. Understand what sugar really is, (hello diabetes.) and what it can really do to your body. It’s not just one treat, it’s a lifetime of servitude to food addiction, obsesity, disease, or depression or mood imbalances. And for those of you who can have some sugar and be done, well didn’t you hit the genetic lottery! (I’m just jealous!) I wish that I didn’t crave or love sugar like that!
Today was a 6.