Spoonful of Sugar Free

Registered Dietitian

Day 3: Sugar is Addictive

By

Welcome to Day 3 of the Summer Kick-Off Challenge!

How is everyone doing? I’ve had a couple people tell me they experienced some sugar-withdrawal headaches, and this is normal. If you are used to eating a lot of sugar, your body might take the no-sugar as a bit of a shock. Just give it a couple of days and keep your eye on the prize! It will get better.

Today’s Reason to be Sugar-Free: 

Some evidence from animal studies suggests that sugar can be addictive. A Princeton University research team has shown that lab rats accustomed to sugar display the cravings and the relapses that signal addiction, as well as brain changes similar to those associated with addiction to narcotics and nicotine. For example, the investigators found that the brain chemical dopamine is released when hungry rats drink sugared water and that a surge of dopamine occurs in the brains of hungry rats that binge on sugar. Over time, these increased dopamine levels resulted in fewer of a certain type of dopamine receptor and more opioid receptors in the animals’ brains. The same studies showed that rats deprived of sugar exhibited anxiety characteristic of withdrawal.  ~Dr. Andrew Weil

Sugar is Addictive. 

Sugar is a highly refined substance that does not appear alone in nature. It looks very similar to cocaine, and sugar acts like heroin when it hits the brain. A study shows that sugar affects the brain chemistry and thus might be expected to cause addictive behavior. In the study, written by Nicole Avena and others, it was shown that sugar bingeing can cause withdrawal symptoms and cravings.

The effects sugar has on behavior is quite similar to the neurochemical changes in the brain that also occur with addictive drugs. One finding shows that sugar and the taste of sweet activate beta endorphin receptor sites in the brain, the same receptor sites that are activated by heroin and morphine.

You can read more about this topic, ways to get over sugar addictions, and watch a video on a post I wrote HERE.

Here is Today’s Sample Menu:

Breakfast: Roasted Sweet Potato and Rosemary Frittata. Vegan Option: Get Up and Go Muffins

Lunch: Heart Stopping Chicken Salad. Vegan Option: Substitute chicken for beans or vegan protein of choice.

Snack: Apple Crisps with Peanut Butter Hummus Dip

Dinner: Slow Cooker Chicken with Artichoke and Olives Vegan Option: Brown Rice Stir Fry

Dessert: Carnival Cookies

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

How are your first few days of sugar-free going? 

Tweet or Instagram your sugar-free meals with the hashtag #sfchallenge. You can follow me on Instagram and Twitter, where I will be posting my daily sugar-free eats.

Also, post about some of your favorite sugar-free meals in the Sugar-Free Food Forum, and  chat with other challengers in the Free Thoughts Forum.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. please email me the day 1 and day 2 of the daily sugar challenge posts.

    they both were accidentially deleted.

  2. Good for you for going sugar free, love this blog and your approach! I used to be a long time sugar addict and over the past couple of years have been working hard to work through this! I can honestly say I almost never crave sugar anymore! I occasionally love some chocolate, and I love my cocktails and wine, but enjoy them from time to time and keep myself balanced by having protein with every meal. I used to eat chocolate covered almonds for dinner! Will be following your blog- such a wonderful journey!

    • Gillian,

      Congrats! Keep up the good work! It sounds like you are doing really well 😀

  3. I was amazed when I was coming off of sugar how much I craved the substance. I couldn’t believe that I was truly addicted to it. It took a few weeks but then one morning I woke up and WOW what a difference. No more stiff & aching joints, tired & dragging body. For the first time in years I felt like myself again. Our whole family has been sugar free for 1 1/2 years – it is TOTALLY worth the change. There is an article that I wrote a bit ago that documents my journey with this: http://www.homecookedhealthy.com/2012/01/the-incredible-shrinking-woman-how-i-lost-weight-without-a-diet/ – hope it helps others out. You can do it!

    • Angela, Wow! That is fantastic! Congrats to you and your family. I’ll go check out the post now.

  4. Hey Alex, So I’m doing your sugar free challenge and so far so good. I have been limiting sugar for a while now so I’m used to how much better it makes you feel but I have a question, do you avoid things like dates and stuff too? I just ate a Larabar and was wondering if I was “cheating” by doing that.

    • Haylee,

      I do eat dates, actually! I don’t eat a whole bunch of them and consider it more of a treat, but I do use them as sweetener in a lot of my desserts. So yes, larabars are perfectly fine.

    • For this challenge it is all sweeteners. Honey, agave, xylitol, splenda, etc. You can read more in depth about what the challenge is, check out the challenge homepage. If you want to modify the challenge, this is up to you because it is your challenge!

  6. Today has been my hardest day! I am fighting the cravings for sugary things quite a bit. I thought going out and buying a salad would work but it is not helping at all. I am also having a hard time getting on this website and I cannot see any pictures of the different recipes.

    • Heidi,

      Sorry to hear, but it will get better! Keep up the good work, and it will get easier. So sorry my site is working properly for you! Is there a specific page you can’t see? I’m in the process of re-doing a lot of my recipe pages because they are hard to read and might have broken links. If there is a specific recipe you want, too, I can email it to you?