Are You Addicted to Sugar?
Kicking the Sugar Habit

As we approach the holidays, sweets seem to be available everywhere around us. Everyone starts the season in a jolly mood while consuming large amounts of cookies, cakes, chocolates and everything else people with good intentions bring to the work place or home. Notice how by mid season people’s faces look stressed, and many of the times this is because we rush to prepare for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. It is important to be aware that the stress not only comes from the approaching holidays but is also originates from within our bodies fueled by the increased sugar consumption. So beware!

Why control how much sugar we eat?

We don’t need refined sugar at all in our bodies! If we never eat sugar again, we would not only survive, but we would get all the sugar we need from fruits, vegetables and carbohydrates. As a matter of fact, our bodies would benefit tremendously from all of the immune boosting properties by eating only what nature provides.

In the last two decades, Americans have reduced fat intake at least 2 percent, but have become 30 percent more overweight. Interestingly, French people eat five and a half times less sugar than Americans, their diet is higher in fat and they suffer less obesity and heart disease than Americans. Get the Sugar Out, Ann Louise Gittleman, M.S., C.N.S. pp. 12-13

USDA recommends no more than 10 teaspoons of sugar a day. Americans consume about 20 teaspoons of sugar daily. Adding 300 empty calories to their diets that get converted into body fat, every day! Center for Science in the Public Interest http://www.cspinet.org/reports/sugar/sugarpet1.pdf Retrieved August 17, 2007

The term “empty calories” refers to food that delivers energy but has no nutritional value. Merriem Webster online dictionary. Sugar is highly processed and outstripped of all its natural nutrients. It is a refined carbohydrate devoid of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, protein and fat leaving behind pure calories.

Sugar requires the body to take calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium from its own cells to digest and make use of this highly refined substance. Simply put, sugar robs the body of its essential vitamins and minerals. Everything you Always Wanted to Know About Nutrition, Dr. David Reuben. New York: Simon & Schuster

Highly sweetened foods provide empty calories and tend to be high in fat. Health A to Z. Sinking on Sugar. http://www.healthatoz.com/ Retrieved August 17, 2007.

Sugary foods give you quick energy for a brief time which causes the body to quickly counteract this raise with insulin. Insulin acts as a downer to neutralize the sugar high causing a significant drop in energy and endurance. The effect of the sugar wears off more rapidly than the powerful effect of the insulin causing a mood swing, more sugar cravings, and the cycle of sugar consumption goes on. How to Beat your Sugar Addiction. Rachel Leslie, MA, HHC, AADP. http://www.acupoflife.com/

The cycle of sugar consumption has an effect on your brain, very similar to that of a drug addiction which causes you to need more of the particular drug to maintain a level of high. Try going without your regular sugar fix, you will experience withdrawals. Nancy Appleton, Lick the Sugar Habit, New York; Avery Penguin Putnam, 1988.
Sugar accelerates aging by contributing to elasticity loss from your skin, organs and arteries. Health A to Z. Sinking on Sugar. http://www.healthatoz.com/ Retrieved August 17, 2007.

A diet high in sugar contributes to health problems such as osteoporosis, diabetes, cancer, heart disease and the obvious obesity and tooth decay. Nancy Appleton, 146 Reasons Why Sugar is Ruining Your Health http://www.nancyappleton.com/pages/damages.html Retrieved August 5, 2007.

How do we manage this habit change?

Pretty much the same way we have talked about managing any change in the past issues of Latina Style’s health and fitness section: take an honest look at your sugar habit, learn about its effects, share this knowledge with love ones, set small manageable goals, and follow through with a dose of self-compassion and determination. Nothing fancy, as usual, it all starts with the desire to improve because we know that the healthier we are the more we will enjoy life!

Tips for Kicking the Sugar Habit

• Clean up your kitchen. Get rid of all of the hidden sugars. Clear out your pantry and refrigerator of processed foods and condiments like ketchup, mayonnaise, and relish, you can keep the mustard. Spice up your life with salsa, Tabasco sauce, horseradish and chilies. Beware of salty foods, they will make you crave sugar.

• Stop adding sugar where is not needed. Practice eliminating or cutting back the sugar you add to your food like cereals, fruits, and drinks.

• Stop drinking sugar. Soda pop is liquid candy. Would you drink a solution with 16 teaspoons of sugar all at once? Need I say more! If you miss carbonation, make your own fruit juice and add sparkling mineral water to it. If you absolutely must sweeten a drink, use Stevia. What happens to your body if you drink a coke right now http://www.healthbolt.net/2006/12/08/what-happens-to-your-body-if-you-drink-a-coke-right-now/

• Know your carbohydrates. Learn the difference between complex and simple carbohydrates. Eliminate white bread, white flour tortillas, white pasta, white flour anything. Eat more fiber in the form of legumes, nuts, vegetables and fruits. These complex carbohydrates will deliver sustained energy and will keep you full.
  Complex carbohydrates are like time-release capsules of sugar. Simple carbohydrates are more like an injection of sugar.
  Complex carbohydrates tend to be in natural foods. In natural foods, the cell walls are made of cellulose fiber that resists digestion, slowing the breakdown and the subsequent release of sugars into the bloodstream, kind of like the way a time-release capsule works.
  Simple carbohydrates are found in most processed or refined foods and some natural foods. These carbohydrates break apart quickly, and enter the bloodstream quickly. Sugary foods--including corn syrup, fruit juices, and honey--contain glucose that is absorbed directly through the stomach wall and rapidly released into the bloodstream, almost as quickly as if delivered by syringe.
  Source: The Human Brain, Nourish-Carbohydrates Fuel Your Brain. http://www.fi.edu/brain/carbs.htm Retrieved August 17, 2007.

• Know your vegetables. Vegetable low in starch can also help keep our blood sugar balanced. Green beans, broccoli, asparagus, cabbage, celery, cucumbers, cauliflower, mushrooms, peppers and dark green veggies. Carbohydrates You Can Eat http://users.wildblue.net/wmson/low-carb-foods.htm Retrieved August 17, 2007.

• Know your proteins. Eat your meat, chicken and fish baked, broiled, sautéed, or stir-fried. Add flavor with fresh ingredients like onions, garlic, chilies, etc. Avoid commercial seasonings that contain added sugar. Stay away from processed meats like hot dogs, sausages, luncheon meats and any preserved protein. Remember the tip from the beginning of the year? Use the palm of your hand as a guide for your protein portions.

• Know how to satisfy a sweet craving. Try dried fruits and nuts combinations, cooked jams, unsalted and unsweetened peanut butter, fresh figs, dates, strawberries, cherries, raspberries, and black berries. If you must have something sweet, share it with someone or eat a small portion very slow.

• Know your drinks. Fruit juices are usually loaded with added sugar, read the labels. Avoid alcohol, another empty calorie that acts like sugar in your body. If you must have it, dilute with water, mineral water, club soda, or seltzer and make it last. Tonic water is not a good alternative since it contains 18 teaspoons for every 12 ounces.

• Sugar of any kind keeps you fixated on more sugar. Limit your consumption of diet foods sweetened with sugar replacements. Continuing to consume sweet foods, even in diet form will not help you break the sugar habit, and artificial sweeteners have other side effects that can lead to intense carbohydrate cravings. Try switching to naturals sugars like those found in raw fruits. Take the sugar addiction Quiz at http://www.nancyappleton.com/pages/quiz.html

• If you have intense sugar cravings and give in to them, your best alternative is to start moving right away, exercise, so that your body uses the extra energy instead of storing it as fat. Moving will also help your body return to a balance state and will prevent you from suffering a sugar low. You may want to learn about the Glycemic index; pay attention to the factors that alter this index. This is not a full proof approach, but it may be a particular good one for you if you are intensely sensitive to sugar. WebMD Glycemic Index: Good vs Bad Carbs http://diabetes.webmd.com/glycemic-index-good-versus-bad-carbs Retrieved August 17, 2007.

• Keep your blood sugar leveled. Eat raw foods and balanced meals in the right proportions. If you must have something sweet, balance it with a lean protein like a slice of lean turkey, or a thin slice of a low-fat variety cheese like mozzarella or ricotta, and drink plenty of water; it helps to flush out toxins. NY Medical Nutrition. Myths of the Food Pyramid. http://www.nymedicalnutrition.com/myths.php Retrieved August 17, 2007.

Celebrating with family and friends does not have to be stressful and fattening. You can initiate new traditions and influence change with the simple, powerful action of cooking a healthy meal. And don’t forget to dance the extra calories off!

Ana Castro works for UnitedHealthcare Latino Health Solutions. Ana has over 20 years of experience in the field of fitness as a personal trainer, lifestyle management coach, and is the producer and developer of six exercise videos in Spanish especially dedicated to Latinas. UnitedHealthcare Latino Health Solutions is leading the way with its commitment to building diversity and promoting opportunities for Latinas in the workplace.

Useful Reference

Center for Science in the Public Interest http://www.cspinet.org/reports/sugar/sugarpet1.pdf

By Ana Castro