Sugar: 8 Signs To Know You Are An Addict.

Sugar is found in many foods and almost  impossible to avoid. Processed foods and refined grains create additional sugar in the body once the body metabolizes the food. Sugar in moderation is not harmful; however, many overdo it.

Some studies have suggested sugar is as addictive as cocaine. People often enjoy the dopamine release sugar brings. However, due to the addictive nature of sugar, long-term health effects like obesity and diabetes are a risk of sugar overindulgence.

Signs of a Sugar Addiction

1. You Have Tried to Kick Sugar and Failed

This is a common sign that you could have a sugar addiction. Similar to how drug users and alcoholics struggle with kicking the habit, cutting out sugar from your diet only to fail and increase your intake again is a symptom that you have an addiction to the sweet stuff. Considering the amount of sugar that is around in daily life, fighting the urge to eat sugar is certainly a difficult challenge.

2.Making Excuses for Your Sugar Habit

You may notice that you come up with reasons why it’s ok to eat or a drink a specific food to justify consuming it. For some people, this may be as simple as saying “it’s calorie-free” or “it’s organic.” The excuses you make for consuming sugar could be your way of trying to ignore how much your brain wants the white stuff, not to mention, it helps to cover up that perhaps there might be an addictive part of your personality. Regardless of what kind of excuses you make about sugar, chances are you may have a sugar addiction if you notice that you are making excuses at all for eating or drinking sugary foods.

3.  You Crave Comfort Foods at Dinner

One of the first signs that you have a sugar addiction is when you crave comfort foods at dinner time. For some people, the idea of heading home or out to dinner with friends and enjoying a big bowl of pasta, bread, or other simple-carbohydrate-rich foods can be enticing, especially if you have a sugar addiction. For starters here, carbohydrates are not necessarily to blame for your sugar addiction, but your brain may be craving the glucose that is processed from the carbs you eat. Similarly, addiction may be apparent when you crave salty and fatty foods as well. Keeping a close eye on these subtle signs may help you to recognize what form your sugar addiction takes.

4. There’s a history of alcohol dependence in your family.

If one of your parents has struggled with alcohol dependence, especially your dad, a sweet tooth might be in your DNA. Research shows that the same genes are responsible for having a sweet preference and becoming an alcoholic, and that these genes can be passed down to kids.

5. You know the potential consequences and eat sugar anyway

It’s a bad sign “if you eat sugar and junk food compulsively, even though you realize the negative consequences,” Dan DeFigio, author of Beating Sugar Addiction For Dummies. Did you know that there’s a lot of sugar hiding in your condiments?

6. Carbohydrate cravings and loss of moderation control.

A sugar addiction can also manifest as intense carb cravings, such as wanting a giant bowl of pasta. Carbohydrates convert to glucose (sugar) in our bodies and have a similar reward effect in our brains. With addiction, one slice of bread doesn’t suffice–you need at least half the loaf.

7. Intense sugar cravings.

 If you need something sweet to finish off your meal or experience a need for sugary snacks in the afternoon or at night, you might be fighting a sugar addiction. Thinking about sugary treats between meals and obsessively searching for new dessert recipes can be a sign of sugar addiction

8. Experience withdrawal when you don’t have it

If you don’t feed your addiction, you experience sugar withdrawal symptoms
Experiencing things like headaches, fatigue, cravings, mental fog, and a general ill-feeling when you try to cut out sugar is a sign of sugar addiction.

9. You feel better when you eat sugar

The irony is that eating sugar seems to help. Feeling better when you eat sugar is the next sign of sugar addiction.
Being in a state of low blood sugar is a bad feeling. If you are addicted to sugar and eating refined foods multiple times a day, your blood sugar level peaks and bottoms out multiple times a day.
Those sleepy, uncomfortable low-blood-sugar times can be reversed in a moment when you drink a soda or pop a piece of candy into your mouth.

Addiction is a serious issue that should be treated with care and under the guidance of a licensed healthcare professional. But, these ten tips should help get you started on the right path for addressing your sugar addiction, stopping the cravings, and, ultimately, finding freedom.

1. Consider a sugar detox

Quitting cold turkey from sugar may be overly stressful and even unsuccessful, depending on your unique personality. Having a gameplan with a sugar detox can help you be successful in breaking your addiction, and support your body as it rids itself of toxins.

2. Consider complete avoidance

Depending on your personality type, completely cutting sugar and sweet foods can break your addiction successfully. Remove any sugar and sweet foods from your home–make it a family effort, if necessary. Cutting out or reducing sugar can only benefit everyone! A
void sugary foods, limit natural sugars including high-sugar fruits and sweeteners, and eliminate non-caloric sweeteners as well–even stevia, monkfruit, etc. Sweeteners still activate your brain’s reward center.

3. Be gentle with yourself

Remember that you are breaking an addiction that is probably not even your choice–the majority of Americans are raised on sugar. You’re undoing years of programming. Be proud that you are undergoing this and improving your health. Celebrate the wins and support yourself during missteps.

4. Replace the habit

You don’t want to trade one addiction for another. Even if it’s an addiction to eating healthy, it’s still an addiction and inherently harmful. Instead, be mindful of the difference between a habit and an addiction. If it serves you, consider replacing dessert with an after-meal walk or a cup of herbal tea.

5. Eat enough protein and healthy fats

Fat and protein satiate our bodies and keep blood sugar levels stable. Eat a breakfast high in protein, and choose snacks that have a nice balance of protein and healthy fats. A balanced diet should lead to a decrease in sugar cravings.

6. Get enough sleep

Sleep deficiency reduces insulin sensitivity and increases stress hormones, which both contribute to imbalanced blood sugar and subsequent sugar cravings. Aim for 8-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night. If you are having trouble getting quality sleep.

7. Eat breakfast that is balanced in macronutrients.

Many sugar cravings are stimulated because your body hasn't received the nutrients it really craves [10]. The easiest way to eliminate, or at least minimize, these deficiencies is by eating a well-rounded breakfast.
Eat a breakfast meal that includes healthy sources of the 3 macronutrients: Carbohydrates, protein, and fat.

8. Drink water (a lot more water).

Chronic dehydration can not only amplify your sugar cravings but it also slows your metabolism and causes your body to store fat.
The general rule of thumb for water consumption tells us to drink 8 glasses per day, but that should be your bare minimum. If you exercise, add another glass for every 20 minutes that you're physically active.​


How Sugar Addiction Negatively Affects Your Body

Now that you have a bit of information on what causes sugar addiction, now is the time to take a look at its consequences. As described above, sugar addiction is similar to drug or alcohol addiction in the sense that your desire to consume sugar is aggressive.  There are many consequences to sugar addiction that may not be obvious to the layperson, and these consequences may have serious implications for your health.

Death From All Causes

It may sound quite extreme to hear that sugar can kill you, but technically it is true. The consumption of sugar has been well documented over the past several decades, and many sources have outlined how it can be detrimental to your health. And sugar addiction caused by the overconsumption of sugar can lead to premature death. A recent study outlined the negative effects of sugar on your health: eating too much sugar is clearly harmful. This study, which looked at subjects over the course of 15 years, found that individuals who consumed 25% or more of their calories each day from sugar were twice as likely to die from heart disease as those who got less than 10% of their calories from sugar. The takeaway here is that sugar can have a harmful effect on your health, and while it may not directly cause a heart attack, it is linked to heart disease and other conditions.

Increased Fat Storage

The human body has evolved over millions of years to the form we have today. In early days, cavemen would hunt and gather for food, in the hopes of scoring a decent meal. At that time, the human body was adapted to store fat in times of starvation as a means to survive. Today, the human body still has this adaptation, but our ability to store fat is less useful when food is so plentiful. When you have a sugar addiction, your body is consuming more food than your body requires. Too much sugar—or any nutrient, for that matter—can increase the amount of fat your body stores. Even though sugar is not in itself fatty, the excess you eat is converted to fat and stored for future energy needs. The body will continue to do this practically forever; it is capable of storing virtually endless amounts of fat. Excess body fat is associated with cancer, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other health conditions, so regulating fat accumulation in the body is important. So even though you may have switched to a low-fat diet in the past in an attempt to shed weight, it is important to keep an eye on your sugar consumption.

Sugar Addiction Can Contribute to Depression

Your mental health can be greatly affected by sugar addiction. Consuming regular amounts of sugar due to addiction can cause your blood sugar to drastically fluctuate throughout the day. In addition, the highs and lows associated with that fluctuation can cause your mood to swing all over the place. Recent studies have shown that consuming high amounts of sugar can lead to an increase in depression, and the effects may be worse among individuals with schizophrenia. This effect on depression has to do with certain hormones in the blood, and the suppression of a hormone known as BDNF seems to be affected by high amounts of sugar in the diet.

Inflammation

One of the biggest influences on chronic health conditions is inflammation. Inflammation is a natural process that is caused by your body’s reaction when fighting infection or during the healing process; however, your diet can drastically contribute to inflammation as well, and that can be harmful to your health. Certain foods, including sugar, can cause your body to be in a constant state of inflammation that can cause your entire body to act as if it’s sick. It can affect your arterial walls, heart function, stroke risk, cancer risk, as well as contribute to arthritis and other debilitating conditions. Inflammation is not something that you can see with your naked eye, but it’s a major consequence of sugar addiction.

Reduced Immune System Function

Your immune system is the main line of defense against invading organisms in your body, and it is always working hard to keep you healthy. However, there is a link between sugar addiction and reduced immune system function. High sugar consumption can have multiple impacts on your immune system; it can prevent you from getting adequate sleep at night as well as increase inflammation (which can negatively impact your immune system). If you are struggling with sugar addiction and have noticed that you have been ill more frequently, chances are you could be feeling the negative effects of sugar addiction on your immune system.

Insulin Resistance

A lot of people are quick to state that sugar can cause diabetes. While there is a bit of truth to this, sugar addiction may have other consequences. Your body releases insulin in response to sugar in your blood, which occurs shortly after a meal (this is why you may feel sluggish after eating). As the day goes on, your body becomes less sensitive to the insulin your body releases. This is true even in people who are not diabetic, but it’s As a result, you become insulin resistant, which is associated with type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Amputation

Wait a minute, how can a simple sugar addiction lead to amputation of a limb? Amputation is the severing of a body part, usually to preserve health and prevent future health issues, and it’s a possible consequence of diabetes. In the case of sugar addiction, there is a chance that excess consumption of sugar can lead to type 2 diabetes. With the continuing consumption of sugar (because addiction isn’t allowing you to stop) in the setting of type 2 diabetes, there is a chance that your peripheral areas stop receiving blood in adequate amounts. When blood supply is reduced to areas (usually the legs and feet), your cells can die and cause infections. When this occurs, an amputation may be needed—and that’s how it could be a major consequence of sugar addiction.

Hypertension

Approximately 34 percent of adults over the age of 20 years in the U.S. have hypertension, and this may be vastly underestimated since many adults have no clue they have hypertension. Defined as a blood pressure of at least 130/80 mmHg, hypertension can cause increased pressure in your heart chamber walls, which can lead to the heart muscle to thicken (this process is called hypertrophy), which can then result in a life-threatening condition known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. While not every individual responds in this manner, there is a risk for individuals to be diagnosed with hypertension, especially if the sugar you consume is combined with caffeinated beverages such as coffee and sodas.

Decreased Fitness Levels

High amounts of sugar consumption and sugar addiction can make you less likely to exercise. How does this happen? Sugar addiction can cause such drastic fluctuations in your blood sugar levels that you get a quick sugar high followed by a harsh crash later in the day. Typically, this crash can occur prior to dinner time, which is when many adults hit the gym for a workout. As a result, many adults tend to skip the gym, since fatigue or lethargy sets in. The more you skip on the gym, the quicker your fitness levels will dip, which ultimately has an impact on your health.



References
https://www.addictioncenter.com/drugs/sugar-addiction/
https://www.sweetdefeat.com/blogs/sugar-cravings/sugar-addiction
https://www.nsdcnigeria.org/per-capital-consumption/