My feelings on sugar are pretty screwed up. I’ll be the first to admit it! Chocolate and I have the ultimate love/hate relationship, but this is mostly on my part (helped by the fact that chocolate has no emotions). I won’t go in to much detail now as I’ve discussed it in other posts (e.g. here), but basically I have spent most of the last decade riding the sugar peak/crash rollercoaster. Eating sugar = woohoo! Feel awesome, lots of energy, tasty tastiness………. Then BAM. Getting tired, down, bring on more sugar to bring me back up. And repeat. Times 3650 days. Ouch.
Now I am a complex creature, being female and all, and if it was as simple as realising it isn’t good for me and stopping then, well, I would have stopped 3649 days ago. However, it is a well-established fact that sugar triggers a dopamine signal in your nucleus accumbens in the brain, giving you that experience of pleasure. The more frequent this pathway, the weaker the signal, and thus the requirement to eat more to get the same amount of pleasure. Sugar has also been demonstrated to have the addictive properties of cocaine, and it has been described as “the poor person’s drug of choice”. Can’t afford expensive narcotics? Here’s a cheap and legal alternative which is easily accessible at your local supermarket.
Although fat has for decades shouldered the blame for obesity and a whole host of diseases, science is fast realising that in fact sugar is the main culprit. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee made a major revision in the American nutritional guidelines just last month, revising their recommended daily sugar intake to just 12 teaspoons (note: most Americans consume 30-40 teaspoons in a day). It is pretty obvious that sugar has a bad rep, and for good reason.
Wow. Heavy stuff.
See my issue is that I don’t really believe in depriving myself of any food. I’ve worked long and hard to normalise ‘bad’ foods and ‘good’ foods to all become ‘neutral’. I enjoy eating cherry scones laden with clotted cream and jam. I’m no chocolate snob – I love Cadbury’s Dairy Milk just as much as premium brands. I will pretty much eat anything sugary, and I prove it on a regular basis! However, and this is a big however, I often can’t do it in moderation. I sometimes eat a big block of chocolate due to emotional turmoil (“I’ve had a bad day. Let’s cheer myself up with some chocolate”), but I equally sometimes overeat simply because I like the taste of it. I have come a long way from the girl who would overeat in huge amounts every day, but I wouldn’t say I’m ‘healed’. Hell, now that big block of Dairy Milk will put me to sleep on the sofa quicker than anything. But it doesn’t stop me eating the whole damn thing.
Enter my new mentality:
Moderation is good, and low levels of restriction are ok if it’s not making you miserable. Crowd out sugar with whole foods, and enjoy food that doesn’t make you lethargic.
Thanks to my Nutribullet, wholesome lunches (e.g. sweet potato, quinoa and green veggies), lots of fruit, and delicious evening meals, I don’t even think about sugar. My ‘Nakd balls’ recipe helps too, along with any other sugar-free (or coconut-sugar based) baked goods. I don’t miss Dairy Milk, I don’t even think about Dairy Milk, and I have so much more energy now that I’m not eating sugar.
This has been a challenging post to write – I am such a big advocate of intuitive eating, and it’s quite difficult to admit defeat and accept that maybe I do need to monitor my eating habits more effectively. That being said, I know that sugar was having major effects on my mental (mood) and physical (fatigue) states, so I do genuinely feel that I am making the correct decision for my health.
On the plus side, I feel so much more energised, brighter, calmer and more relaxed. I no longer ride that sugary rollercoaster and I feel a lot more level-headed. My complexion is clear and my brand new yoga pants are annoyingly getting too big for me already. So really it’s a win, isn’t it? Except for the yoga pants…
How do you feel about sugar? Do you eat it a lot, or do you try and avoid it – and why?
Tali xxx
