Thursday, April 5, 2012

Give Me Some Sugar!



Sugar is like a drug; we know this. It invites you to take a nibble, and before you know what hit you, you’ve taken a whole barrel-full. Why does sugar affect us so? Well, just like hard drugs, when sugary foods are eaten, the brain releases a feel-good hormone called serotonin. Serotonin gives you a temporary high, which is why you usually feel good after eating a few cookies.

But that high is temporary. Of course, you come down off of it after a little while, and your body starts craving more sugar. In fact, just like heroin, your body builds a tolerance for sugar, and you start needing more and more to achieve the same high.

Excessive sugar intake has been linked to diseases like diabetes and various types of heart disease. And if that does not convince you, there is always the very obvious weight gain. And what’s worse is that substances made with refined sugar don’t keep you full like whole grains do. So you’ll find yourself hungry in very little time.

In my opinion, since sugar acts like a drug, it should be treated almost like a drug. Yes, you can have the little nibble here and there, but you almost have to stop yourself from getting addicted by keeping it outside your immediate environment.

Now, since most of us have already been exposed to this “sugar high”, the first step in counteracting the effects of sugar is to detox. Remove the tempting sugary snacks from your immediate environment, and then replace them with something healthy THAT YOU ACTUALLY LIKE. If you hate celery, and you replace all the cookies in your home with celery, I don’t see that working too well.

As you detox, you body will start becoming less tolerant to the effects of sugar. When that happens, you can start to build out a plan. Decide how much you are allowed to take and when. And device a plan to stick to your sugar allowance. This is probably different for everyone.

Good luck!

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Photo credit: SimplyFantasticBooks.com

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