SUGAR ADDICTION
by Dr. Lawrence Wilson
© September 2021, LD Wilson Consultants, Inc.
All information in this article is for
educational purposes only. It is not
for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure of any disease or health
condition.
Table
Of Contents
What Is An Addiction?
Psychological Causes Of
Addition
II. SYMPTOMS
OF SUGAR ADDICTION
III.
CORRECTION OF SUGAR ADDICTION
Problems In The BodyÕs Fuel
System
Yeast In The Brain
Hair Analysis Patterns And
Sugar Addiction
Slaughter Of The Innocents
Artificial Sweeteners
Sugar
addiction is one of the most important and widespread addictions on planet
earth today, and getting worse every day!
It affects many children and teenagers. It also affects millions of adults, who just let it slide
because it is so socially acceptable.
However,
it leads directly to a host of ailments such as tooth decay, obesity,
osteoporosis, heart disease, cancer, metabolic syndrome or Syndrome X, and
diabetes. Let us examine this
common addictive behavior.
WHAT IS AN ADDICTION?
An addiction is anything that one must have in
order to avoid a negative feeling or symptom. One feels better with the addictive substance or
behavior, but the end result is a weakening or greater dysfunction of the body
or brain.
This tends to worsen the addiction as a way to
offset the weakness, and sets up a vicious cycle in which one needs more of the
addictive substance or behavior.
Addictions
can include almost anything, not just foods, drinks or other physical
substances. For example,
codependency is an addiction to people in your life. One could even be addicted to taking vacations every few
months to get away from the boredom or horror of your daily life.
PSYCHOLOGICAL CAUSES OF ADDICTION
Addictions
are often not just physical in nature.
The negative feeling or symptom that an addiction temporarily ÒcuresÓ
can be most anything. It is often
anger, rage or even a sense of horror.
It could be boredom, fear, loneliness, depression or frustration.
For
example, today many people feel a strong ÒneedÓ to email or text their friends
all day long, even though it is not really necessary. It is just to avoid loneliness or feeling out of sorts,
tired, bored or upset in some way.
Thus, many people live addictive lifestyles - the majority, by the way -
and donÕt even realize it because they donÕt smoke, gamble or drink alcohol.
A
related psychological aspect of addiction has to do with traumas in the
past. For example, your mother,
your childhood dentist or someone else may have given you sweets to reward you
or to calm you down as a child.
This is almost universal.
Most parents do not realize how they are setting their child up for
problems in the future with this reward system.
What
occurs is that each time the adult person eats something sweet, he or she
recalls that this means he or she was a good person. In this manner, eating something sweet becomes an emotional
trigger that unfortunately worsens sugar addiction.
Addictions,
in general, are discussed in another important article. Click here to read about Addiction.
However, the point is most addictions, even sugar, have psychological
aspects as well as being physically-caused.
II. SYMPTOMS OF SUGAR
ADDICTION
Do
you know anyone who just has to have a glass of soda pop, a piece of fruit, a
glass of sweet juice, or something else sweet? This is sugar addiction.
It
might also be a need for a sweet dessert after each meal, or sweetened tea or
coffee or even carrot juice. It
could also be a strong need for a candy bar or a drink of alcohol, particularly
wine or beer, at the end of the day.
Other
examples include people who love chocolate, sweetened coffee or tea at
Starbucks, peanut butter, sweetened cereal, a donut or sweet roll, or just need
raisins or almond milk periodically during the day.
Without
the sweet treat, one may feel tired, light-headed, dizzy or confused. There may be shaking or weakness that
is relieved in a few minutes by eating something sweet.
More
extreme symptoms include shaking or tremors, severe headaches, depression,
anger, nausea or even vomiting.
All this can be part of sugar addiction.
III. CORRECTION OF SUGAR
ADDICTION
NUTRITIONAL BALANCING
I
suggest a complete nutritional balancing program to end sugar addiction. You may begin with the ÒFreeÓ Program. However, an individualized, Full
Program only with one of the Approved Practitioners listed on this website
is much more powerful. For a list
of these practitioners around the world, click here.
This
program, and very few others, in my experience, will slowly restore the bodyÕs
energy system so that it works correctly.
This is the best way to get rid of sugar cravings.
Here
are a few notes about the program related to sugar addiction.
1) The truth about fruit. Fruit is not part of the nutritional
balancing diets, and causes plenty of harm. Fruit is mainly sugar and water, with a few vitamins and
other phytonutrients. It is very
yin in macrobiotic terminology, which is harmful.
Try
to resist the propaganda describing fruit as a healthy food. We do not find this to be true. For much more on this important topic,
and why avoid fruit, please read Fruit-Eating on this
website.
2) Eat at least four meals
daily to help keep your blood sugar up. Always wait at least four hours between
meals. Be sure the meals follow
the guidelines in the nutritional balancing diets. I do not recommend snacking.
3) The supplements on a
nutritional balancing program are also essential to replenish dozens of
minerals, and repair the bodyÕs energy system. Do not add others, however, please.
4) Cultivate excellent
lifestyle habits.
These include sleeping over 8 hours every single night, learning to
relax a lot, and loving yourself no matter what, so you are not eating out of
self-hatred, anger, boredom, aloneness or other psychological causes.
This
is a spiritual quest in the best sense of the word. It does not require retiring to a cave or mountaintop.
However,
it is wise to do the pushing down exercise, which requires separating yourself
daily from friends, work associates and even from family. This will help you look at your life
carefully and lovingly to help discover why you eat what you do, and why you
behave in ways that may not serve you to the fullest extent. To find the only mental exercise I
suggest, please go to The Pushing Down Exericse.
5) Let go of all habits
that feed the sugar habit. You
may discover routines or
tendencies that contribute to the sugar addiction. It is this way with all major
addictions.
You
may want sugar when angry, for instance.
You may want sugar when they have skipped a good meal, or when tired and
you really need to lay down for a nap.
Try
to identify when you want sugar, and what you have done to upset your body
chemistry that makes the craving all the more intense. This is a task for a lifetime, but you
can make fast progress easily if you will pay attention to it.
6) Chromium. Adding 600-800 mcg
daily of chromium picolinate may help to reduce sugar cravings, and will not
interfere with the program. Please
do not add other supplements, herbs or other products, as these will interfere
with the nutritional balancing program.
6) Development. Unlike
other nutrition programs, a complete nutritional balancing program causes development. This is rather unique, and is an
additional aid in correcting sugar cravings. For more on this topic, please read Introduction To Development and other
articles on this subject on this site.
THE TIME FACTOR
Sometimes
cravings will diminish quickly on a nutritional balancing program, but other
times they may persist to some degree for a few years. It can take this long to rebuild the
fuel system of the body and to eliminate yeast in the brain.
Therefore,
be sure to settle in for the long haul and just follow your nutritional
balancing program.
CORRECTION NOTES
Correcting fast versus slow oxidizer
hypoglycemia. If
sugar cravings are severe, slow oxidizers often need to eat protein
several times daily.
However,
fast oxidizers often need to eat fat with each meal, and even as a snack, in
order to maintain a fairly steady blood sugar level and reduce sugar
cravings. This is very important
for some people.
At
times, these sharp distinctions are not clear because the body can shift its
oxidation rate, so one may need to experiment, at times, with these two types
of foods to control sugar cravings.
IV.
CAUSES OF PHYSICAL ADDICTION TO SUGAR
These
are numerous, but many are inter-related.
The main ones are:
1.
Nutrient deficiencies.
2.
Toxic metal excesses.
3.
Weak adrenal glands. The adrenals
help maintain proper blood sugar levels.
4.
At times, diabetes and/or hypoglycemia.
5.
Yeast problems in the gut.
6.
Yeast problems in the brain.
7.
An imbalanced oxidation rate.
8.
Other problems in the Òfuel systemÓ or sugar-handling system of the body.
Let
us examine these in more detail.
1. NUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES
Most
everyone today is mineral-starved and also often deficient in other nutrients
required for health. This is due
to our depleted soils on earth, hybrid crops, use of pesticides and
superphosphate fertilizers, and food refining and processing.
In
addition, most people have poor quality diets, many have hurried lifestyles, do
not rest enough, and have impaired digestion. All of these reduce their nutrition. Here are specific nutrients that are
critical for proper sugar-handling.
Zinc. Plenty of zinc is required for insulin
production and release. Zinc also
extends the action of insulin greatly so it does not break down. Here is a clue to Òinsulin resistanceÓ. Most people are zinc deficient and have
toxic levels of copper, iron, lead, mercury or cadmium, minerals which replace
zinc in the insulin molecule at times, causing it to malfunction and to be very
fragile. This is the main cause of
insulin resistance.
Chromium.
Chromium is needed to help attach insulin to cell walls, so that sugar can pass
into the cells. Chromium
deficiency is also almost universal in America, due to deficiencies in the food
supply, and particularly the widespread eating of white and bleached flour. Whole wheat is much higher in chromium,
but is rarely eaten in comparison with white flour products.
B vitamins
play an important role in insulin metabolism and energy production in the
cells. Some are needed at various
levels of metabolism in order for insulin to function correctly.
These
are also widely deficient, especially if one eats white flour products, sugar
in any form, and little meat, as many vegetarian-oriented people do daily.
Magnesium.
Magnesium is involved in insulin metabolism. It is needed for the enzyme that helps make insulin. It is also a critical mineral for many
enzymes involved in energy production and other body functions. Most people are low in magnesium.
Other. Many other nutrients are required for
insulin production and other aspects of sugar-handling in the body.
2. TOXIC METALS
Toxic
elements such as cadmium, lead, mercury, chlorine, fluorides and copper can
block glandular activity. They can also block any of the steps in the energy
cycle by replacing an essential mineral in that step of the energy cycle.
The
topic of the role of the toxic metals is so large that it is beyond the scope
of this article, although it has been touched upon in several places. It is just another reason to guard what
one eats and avoid all environmental sources of toxic metals as much as is
humanly possible.
I
would suggest that it is simply not worth the trouble to travel to faraway
places or breathe dirty air. It
catches up to even the healthiest people, shortening their lives and causing,
in many instances, imbalances and diseases of sugar metabolism.
3. WEAK ADRENAL GLANDS
This
is a very common problem today.
The adrenal glands produce cortisol and cortisone. These are called the glucocorticoid
hormones. One of their
functions is to regulate the level of glucose in the blood.
If
adrenal gland activity is low, blood sugar levels will tend to be too low on a
chronic basis. As a result, less
sugar than optimal will be available to the body cells and sugar craving is the
end result. This sounds simple,
and in part it is. One must have
adequate adrenal activity or one will crave sweets. This will happen even if one is careful about the diet,
lifestyle and everything else in oneÕs life.
The
adrenal glands can become weakened or even Ôburned outÕ for numerous
reasons. Refer to the article on Adrenal Burnout
Syndrome for much more information about your adrenal glands. For instance, the adrenal glands
require vitamins C, E, and B-complex.
They also require many minerals such as zinc, manganese and others. Deficiencies in these nutrients is all
that is needed to have depleted and sluggish adrenal glands.
4. DIABETES AND/OR HYPOGLYCEMIA
Diabetes means high sugar
in the blood. However, it is
always found with low sugar in the cells.
This is an important cause of sugar cravings.
Hypoglycemia means low sugar in
the blood. However, the level of
sugar in the blood can be normal, and oneÕs cells can still be starving for
glucose. These is no common
medical word for this condition, but it is one of the most common causes for
sugar craving.
Many
cases of diabetes are not diagnosed by doctors. Symptoms can be subtle, and it may not show up on simple
blood tests. A 5-hour glucose
tolerance test is required, and this is a much more involved, costly, sometimes
unpleasant test. As a result,
doctors do not routinely order it.
Also,
problems with blood sugar are so common that some blood laboratories have
responded by expanding the range of normal values, instead of insisting that
anyone with a fasting glucose level outside of the narrow range should be
diagnosed correctly as hypoglycemic or diabetic. To learn more, please read Diabetes
and Hypoglycemia on this site.
5. YEAST IN THE INTESTINES
This
is another extremely common condition, especially among those who eat any
sweets at all, and among those who eat a lot of grain and other starches. The sugars and starches are the natural
food for yeasts, so there will be die-off if one reduces or stops eating these
foods.
In
these cases, the craving for sugar may be due to the unpleasant effects of
die-off of yeast if one does not eat some sugar regularly.
Among
other chemicals, some yeasts produce alcohol in the intestines that give a
person a slight alcoholic lift or high.
When this stops due to stopping sugar, one can feel depressed, anxious
and irritable.
One
could even go through a full-blown alcoholic withdrawal with tremors, and even
delirium. This will drive most
people back to sugar very quickly, especially if they do not understand why
they have such severe symptoms when they stop eating sugar.
6.YEAST IN THE BRAIN
Another
reason for sugar addiction is that there is yeast in the brain that thrives on
sugar. This is very common
today. If one does not eat sugar,
the yeast starts to die off.
One
might think this is a good thing, and it is. However, many people today actually like the brain yeast
because it produces alcohol. This small
amount of alcohol gives them a slight ÔhighÕ all the time, and numbs their
consciousness a little. This
reduces feelings such as depression, anxiety, anger, rage and others.
This
is an extremely common problem and most people and most doctors do not
understand it well, at all. To
overcome it, one must:
1.
Alter body chemistry so that yeast does not grow well and thrive inside the
brain. This requires making the
entire body more yang in macrobiotic terminology, reducing copper toxicity, in
most cases, and balancing and strengthening the body nutritionally.
This
step is most important, and occurs with a nutritional balancing program in all
cases. Otherwise, the brain yeast
tends to persist, and makes it very difficult to ever end sugar cravings.
2.
One must pass through a process of withdrawal from the alcohol ÒhighÓ. If done quickly, this may not be
pleasant. Sometimes this occurs
slowly, in which case one may not notice it much. One simply notices that oneÕs thinking becomes clearer,
memory often improves, and the brain works much better.
3.
If emotional traumas are behind the need for the alcohol production in the
brain, one may need to focus on forgiveness of oneself and others. To read about this, read Forgiving on this site.
To
read much more about yeast in the body – its causes and correction
– please read Yeast on this website.
7. AN IMBALANCED OXIDATION RATE = LOWERED ENERGY
EFFICIENCY
Before
leaving the topic of impaired glucose metabolism (the sum total of all the
above processes), let us address the end result in another way. When the body cannot process its food
properly, it develops what is called an imbalanced oxidation rate. In very simple terms, it means the
fuel system works either too fast, too slow, or some mixed up combination of
the two.
Low Fuel Efficiency. An imbalanced oxidation rate can be
said to diminish oneÕs Òfuel efficiencyÓ.
We all know about fuel efficiency due to our automobiles. In terms of the body, it means that
when the oxidation rate is very sluggish, one does not use food properly to
generate much energy. It is like
driving a car or bicycle in the wrong gear with the engine turning too slow, or
pedaling too slowly. It just does
not work well.
As
a result, the person feels tired and often apathetic and even depressed, and
tends to overeat on sugars and other foods in an attempt to clear up the low
oxidation rate.
Some
people burn their ÒfuelÓ at a faster-than-normal rate. These individuals have
low reserves of glycogen, a storage fuel, in their liver and muscles. If their
diets are inadequate in fats and oils, which are higher calorie foods, they can
literally run out of available sugars.
When this occurs, a craving for sweets or alcohol will occur. It will eventually also give rise to a
large number of common metabolic illnesses and both physical and emotional
symptoms. View the article on The
Oxidation Types for a better explanation of this complex topic.
8. OTHER PROBLEMS IN THE BODYÕS ÒFUELÓ SYSTEM
To
understand sugar-handling better, an analogy with a gas-powered automobile may
be helpful. Please bear with me,
as the analogy may seem corny, but it is accurate in many ways.
As
some people know, in order to move gasoline into and through oneÕs car engine,
one must move it through a number of steps or stages. This requires the fuel pump, the fuel lines, the fuel
filter, and the carburetor or fuel injectors.
Then
one must have functioning spark plugs, valves, timing, and enough air in the
cylinders to burn the fuel correctly.
Finally, the exhaust must be removed so that more fuel can be burned. All parts of the system must work
perfectly, or the car will not run properly!
The
body also has a set of steps or stages that must all work perfectly, or fuel
will not be delivered and burned properly. The steps involve the entire digestive system, the liver,
the blood stream, the cell membranes, and the mitochondria in each cell. All must work correctly to avoid sugar
cravings.
The
exact steps, and the nutrients required for each, are described in a separate
article entitled The Energy System on this site.
HAIR MINERAL ANALYSIS PATTERNS ASSOCIATED WITH
SUGAR ADDICTION
Sugar
addiction is common, and can occur with many hair analysis patterns. The most common patterns include:
1. Either a slow oxidation
rate, or a fast oxidation rate with a low sodium/potassium ratio. Either imbalance can cause sugar
cravings. For more, read Fast Oxidation and Slow
Oxidation on this website.
2. Presence of the
ÔamigosÕ. These are oxide
forms of iron, manganese, aluminum, and at times other minerals such as copper,
nickel, chromium, selenium, molybdenum, cobalt, lithium, boron and
vanadium. For more on this topic,
please read The Amigos on this site.
3. A four lows pattern. To read more about this, please read Four Lows Pattern on this site.
4. Other. High toxic
metal levels, Poor Eliminator Patterns,
and Sympathetic Dominance are among
other common patterns that occur with sugar addiction.
SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS
Congenital sugar addiction. The sugar habit usually starts at a
young age. In fact, today some
children are born deficient in vital alkaline reserve minerals such as zinc,
manganese and chromium. These
children may be born with a tendency for sugar addiction.
Feeding sweets. The addiction may also develop early
due to careless parents assume that children like sweet foods, which is often
not the case until they learn the habit from their parents. Never feed a child sugar, fruit or
fruit juices.
Vaccines and drugs. Giving babies and children antibiotics,
vaccines and other medical drugs further sets the stage for sugar addiction
because these medical drugs all weaken the childrenÕs bodies.
Antibiotics,
in particular, often lead to yeast in the intestines and even in the
brain. Yeast feeds on sugar and
can induce an addiction to sugar.
Sweet rewards. Sweets are also usually used as rewards
by parents, dentists, doctors and other adults who want to placate children.
Food marketers. Most foods marketed as "children's
foods" advertised on television are sugar-coated to help sell the
product. This is a disgrace and is
indecent, as no better word can be found.
It sets the children up for a lifetime of illness and disability.
In
this manner, advertisers and parents alike cultivate the sweet taste in
vulnerable children. They begin to regard it as normal when it is not. The results include attention deficit,
learning problems, autism, hyperactivity, infections, brain tumors and a rash
of other disorders that are ÒnewÓ for children, such as depression,
obsessive-compulsive disorders, manic-depression or bipolar disorder, random
violence and the list goes on.
To
add insult to this, even more insidious in many cases it sets the stage for
sugar addiction and adult diseases and shortened lives that go with sugar
problems.
THE TRANSITION
Here
are some tips for breaking the sugar habit:
-
Avoid temptations as much as possible.
Do not keep sweet foods or other sweet items in the house. Make yourself go out for them.
-
Fruit can be worse than other sugars, and is more yin. Do not substitute fruit for other
sugars. Honey and maple syrup are
the least yin if you need a substitute, but I donÕt recommend any sweeteners.
-
Eat frequent meals – up to 6 per day if cravings are intense. Be sure the meal has some fat or
protein (depending on your oxidation type), if this helps with sweet
cravings. Meals need to be 4 hours
apart, at least. Do not snack,
however.
-
Distract yourself instead of eating.
Perhaps have a cup of tea if you are at home.
USE OF SWEETENERS
If
you have a sugar addiction, try to avoid all of them. They will all keep the
sweet taste alive.
Many
people turn to artificial sweeteners, thinking this will avoid the problems of
sugar. This is not only not true,
but in some ways can make the problem worse. Nutrasweet, in particular, also called Equal or aspartame,
has more side effects than can be listed in one short article. One can check this on the internet.
Even
natural sweeteners such as xylitol, mannitol and stevia, which are probably a
little better, are not that safe and keep the sweet craving and taste
alive. So I do not recommend any
of them.
Studies
have shown that people who use Nutrasweet, for example, often will then eat a
sugary food as well, easily defeating the value of the low-calorie artificial
sweetener.
Once
again, avoid the sweet craving problem by not feeding sweets of any kind,
including honey or any fruit juice – even diluted - to yourself or
especially to children.
SUBSTITUTES FOR COMMON ADDICTIVE SWEET FOODS
Candy
– perhaps a few dark chocolate chips. DonÕt have carob chips, which are even more yin than
chocolate.
Cookies
– stay away from fruit-sweetened ones and try to substitute cooked
vegetables.
Pastries and
donuts – Blue corn chips, and have sweet vegetables such as carrots,
onions, sweet potato and yam. Do
not only
have these vegetables, but they may help with sweet cravings.
Soda pop, coconut
water and juices – substitute water or sparkling flavored spring
water is also okay.
Ice cream
– some cream cheeses taste just like ice cream and are quite
healthy. Even some whip cream may
satisfy a craving for ice cream.
If you must have ice cream, look for one with fat, perhaps, rather than
a low-fat type, and one with few chemicals in it.