Sugar Addiction

Are you addicted to sugar? 

We would probably answer no as we guiltily take a bite of a sugary snack or a sip of soda. Don't worry, most people don't even know they are addicted until you take it out of their diet and let me tell you, it's pretty nasty.

I did a sugar dextox last year. Cut all processed food out of my diet (yes this included sugar for my coffee) and ate clean. It was a rough experience. I cut out a lot of soft drinks over the years and fast food however, I still wanted to lose more weight. Well, the first week was pure Hell. I was moody, had constant migraines, shakes, and even sweats. This was something I thought I would never experience, it was like I was detoxing off of a drug. 

So why is it so addicting?

Sugar is in a lot of things, especially processed food. A study showed that about 80% of food in our grocery stores has added sugar in it. 80%! Wowzers! It's not wonder it's hard to get away from that temptation. 

Sugar also makes you happy. It releases the feel good chemical dopamine (similar to cocaine), so we feel good but then we feel bad after the "high" is gone and we crash, unless we get more sugar into us. Caught in a bad romance indeed. 

If you feel the need for a sugar fix why not munch on an apple, drink some water (sometimes we are just dehydrated), snack on some natural peanut butter. There are always better, healthier, alternatives to go to when you need that fix. ;)