We’ve been talking a lot in the past few years about the addictive properties of sugar and why it often takes a sugar detox to get it out of your system. If you still don’t believe me that this addiction to sugar, ice cream and soda is real, do yourself a favour and just cut out all added sugar for 48 hours.
Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re doing fine and think you’re just about ready to prove me wrong about this sugar addiction. Sure, a bowl of cereal would be nice and that cup of coffee tastes better with flavoured creamer, but you’re doing just fine without it.
Then those sugar cravings start to get a little stronger and you’re feeling a headache come on. This is getting a little uncomfortable but manageable. Maybe there is such a thing as a sugar detox, but you’re sure you’re only having a mild case of it and will get through this in no time.
A few more hours pass, and things start to get a lot harder. You’re starting to feel the real detox side effects including body and joint aches, chills, nausea and that headache is getting a lot worse. It’s hard to focus on anything. That’s when it hits you that there may be something to this whole sugar addiction thing.
Here’s the thing; consuming that much sugar isn’t natural for us. A hundred years ago, we consumed a small fraction of the sugar we eat today. Our food wasn’t as sweet and sugar was a rare treat. Today, it creeps into everything we eat including a lot of foods we don’t think of as sweet like bread and salad dressing for example.
Sugar used to be an occasional treat. People would eat ripe fruit or use it to make jelly or the occasional cake. The human body could handle the occasional bit of sugar just fine. What it can’t handle well is the huge amount of sugar we now consume.
If you’d like support on your sugar detox journey, enrol now in our complimentary sugar detox!
Were you aware that the average American consumes about 126.4 grams of sugar a day! That breaks down to roughly 22 teaspoons a day for each person in America. America is followed by Germany (102.9 grams), the Netherlands (102.5 grams), Ireland (96.7 grams), United Kingdom (93.2 grams), Switzerland (76.1 grams), France (68.5 grams).
Yet the maximum recommended intake is just 36 grams for men and 25 grams for women.
We’re addicted to the sweet stuff and average consumption is still going up. And as it goes up we see more cases of obesity, Type II Diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. But also PCOS, endometriosis, fibroids, and infertility. And each of those bring with them a bunch of other health conditions.
Sugar is making us fat and sick and since it’s so addictive, it’s hard to quit it. The only way is to realise and truly understand just how bad it is for you. That will give you the willpower to break free from your sugar addiction, say no to that cookie and opt for a healthier choice instead.