Am I Addicted to Sugar? A Week Long Experiment…

Since Christmas, my sugar consumption has been too high and it’s time it changed. I’m doing an experiment too – I’m going totally cold turkey when it comes to sweet treats and sugar in my coffee, just to see how easy/difficult it is, so I can empathise/chastise clients if I ever need them to do the same! Essentially I am asking the question “am I addicted to sugar?”

It’s time to do a sugar detox…

There isn’t really an excuse for the increased sugar I have been eating. I could blame the usual Christmas, New Year, Valentines Day and birthdays etc (of which there are lots in the early part of the year in our family), but these events are sporadic – every few weeks and only take up a day or two at a time, with a few days hangover where we eat our way through the left over cake and sweets!

More accurate would be a lack of discipline and sometimes being lazy when it comes to food choices. Although the food we cook and eat is great – never processed, always Handy Plan friendly, we have been a bit too indulgent when it comes to something sweet after a meal.

Recently Rachel (my girlfriend) and I have been having a sweet dessert after our evening meal most nights, which has led me to ask myself…Am I addicted to sugar?!

Sugar is addictive – as addictive as heroin according to research. I can see why, given regular dosing the system will, in time, create a dependency on the substance. When you look at the typical western diet containing sugary drinks, chocolate, biscuits, ice creams etc, it is easy to see how and why we become addicted to sugar. There is a frequent, high dose of sugar being ingested by westerners on a daily basis. This leads to metabolic and hormonal disturbances and makes us crave the foods that make us feel good.

When we eat sugar our bodies produce an increased amount of certain neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin and adrenaline. These make us feel good, they give us a temporary boost in energy and are usually delivered via a food that tastes good, or as known in nutritional circles ‘hyper-palatable’.These are foods that are abnormally sweet in comparison to anything nature can produce and are addictive as a result. Ever noticed that you can easily polish off a whole packet of cookies and still want more sweet food? It is a craving that is very difficult to satisfy.

This was my girlfriends amazing mocha birthday cake for me – it was amazing and didn’t last long!

So what makes me think I may have become addicted to sugar?

Well, 2013 has been a great year for Hoyles Fitness so far. I have expanded my business and am spending a lot of time blogging and working on new projects. Alongside this, I have taken on more and more personal training clients. As it stands, I am doing around 40 hours of personal training per week, trying to write 3-4 articles per week and grow my Handy Plan business. On top of that is the admin that I have to do and the launch of my bootcamp. The point is, my time is limited.

With an increase in the size of the business, I have been working from home more. This has led to me drinking more coffee, and I have one sugar in every coffee. We have snacks at home, and I sometimes have some chocolate with a coffee. A little bit of chocolate isn’t especially bad, but when that little bit is 3-4 days per week, it adds up. Additionally, I have disturbed sleep often due to my son waking through the night. When I am up early and haven’t been rested enough, sometimes the sugar boost from a sweet coffee like a mocha helps to get me functioning in the morning.

The birthday cake made by my girlfriend for our son’s birthday

So here is my concern… If I have a sugary mocha say, twice per week, a bit of chocolate three or four times per week, 3-4 coffees per day (1 sugar each) and a weekly cheat day from my diet plan, it means every single day I am having multiple sugar hits – not good.

I’m not exactly eating my way through a cake per day, but the small, frequently eaten dose of sugar will do damage on a long enough timeline.

Sugar is toxic. It causes hormonal imbalances, loss of cognitive abilities, fat storage, cancers, hormonal disturbances, tooth decay, diabetes, metabolic syndrome etc – the list goes on. Rest assured, it’s nasty stuff – probably our generations tobacco.

I am questioning whether or not I am addicted to sugar because on the days I am not eating sweet things, I really crave them. Now, is this craving symptomatic of wanting something or needing it? Now is the time to find out!

So, here is the plan…

1. Stop taking sugar in coffee.
2. No sweet treats for dessert. If we have a dessert it will be strictly fruit (yes, I know about fructose, but this is to do with my consumption of refined sugars).
3. No alcohol – the sugars here count too.
4. Prepare most of my meals in advance to prevent going off-track and being distracted by food shops!

I will report back in a week with my findings and thoughts, and also any physical changes I experience with a week off sugar.

Read the follow-up article: My week off sugar – what I learned.

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