They say you can’t go home again……and I think they are correct.
This weekend my husband and I went to Northern CA to check out his new grad school (UC Davis) and visit family. Food issues have always been a family affair for me. Dad was overweight and had a stroke in 1995 and mom shared my love of cake frosting and baked goods most of my childhood. I’d say to some degree we all had an eating disorder. Never was there left-over ice cream or desserts in my home, no matter how large a package was purchased. I simply thought it was normal.
So here I am, with my high maintenance diet, going home. I know where all the treats hide: chocolate chips in the outside freezer, homemade biscotti in the spare bedroom, ice cream in the kitchen and whatever was baked for the weekend’s bbq is probably resting in the laundryroom. Yes, I come from a long line of food hiders. Either because the family would eat all of the goodies, or because ants would find their way into the cupboards, food was always kept anywhere BUT the kitchen. There were stashes everywhere, which meant that I adopted a pattern of ‘sneaking’ from a young age.
For the most part I faired well. My mom tries to supply me with healthy options, but unfortunately her Splenda-baked lemon cheesecake just did not work out (no dairy and no Splenda for me). She also lovingly made a HUGE tray of lasagna for everybody to eat….well, except me, as I best not have dairy or white flour. Nothing like watching others eat homemade lasagna while you chomp down on a green salad with chicken to make you want to devour a whole tray by yourself.
So what did I end up doing…..”sneaking”, of course!!! I dipped my hand into the Ghirdhelli chocolate chips several times when I was near the outside freezer. I could feel the tension in my stomach and I did not enjoy them at all. “so this is what I was like growing up…”, I thought to myself. It was all about getting what I was NOT supposed to have.
The good side of ugly: compared with past visits, I did relatively well at staying away from the white stuff. I declined an offer for Starbuck’s drinks when everbody else was slurping down latte’s. I did not eat late at night when I arrived on Thursday evening, despite a growling stomach. Choices I make past 8pm are never in my favor. I even resisted the peanut butter, cheesecake, cheese and ice cream. I did have a homemade biscotti, and damn was it good!
Other off-white survival tips I use:
Start every day with warm lemon water. This helps keep the GI track a flowin’. Lemon water also kills a craving, especially if you add tons of lemon.
Distract myself when food becomes tempting and I’m not hungry. My 4-yr old nephew was a great distraction, and he was up for a little fun anytime.
Make a dish of my own for family picnics, etc. I chose quinoa date salad (recipe below) and tabouleh (from Near East).
Tell your family about your food limitations. I couldn’t be chowing on peanut butter because everybody knew that it wasn’t a great food choice for me. I was rigorously honest so I could keep myself healthy.
Become your own observer. I enjoyed watching myself get into ‘sneaky’ eating mode and seeing how I felt, thought and acted. It really was like Jr. High again. Consequently, Jr. High is when I started obsessing on sugar for the sake of control/rebellion/pleasure.
Quinoa date salad
Serves 4
3/4 cup quinoa, not soaked
1.5 cups water
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp each: cinnamon, ginger, cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped almonds
3/4 cup chopped dates
Add quinoa and water to a medium saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil and then simmer covered until quinoa absorbs the liquid. Just after the boil add vanilla, salt, and spices. Chop the dates and almonds finely. Add to quinoa 2-3 minutes before cooking is complete. Serve warm or cold.
Today I stopped into a Pilot gas station/convenience store to fill up. I decided to take a mosey inside and see what was going on, as the place on I-5 Southbound in the Willamette Valley is always hoppin’. If you don’t know, Pilot “travel centers” offer gas, convenience stores, and usually a restaurant, such as Subway and Taco Bell in this instance.
Here is what I saw: When you walk in, one of the first things you see is a cooler with mixed green salads, sandwiches and dessert parfaits for 2/$5. Then its the coffee bar/soda bar, which takes up approximately 20-25% of the total store space. There is even a fruit stand where apples, oranges and bananas are 2/$1 – not too shabby.
However, its easy to miss these healthy options because 75% of the store is dedicated to utter garbage. Just look at the monthly specials for Pilot LLC, and you can clearly see the focus is on garbage eating. Most of the people in line with me either had candy bars + soda or the 2 chili-dog special, or a 44 oz soda. Most of the people were 20 – 200 lbs overweight. I felt like an oddball being regular sized.
But, let’s break it down a little. I know that junk food, especially “value priced” appeals to the traveller in need of a little grub and little time. But is it really that inexpensive?
For instance, the king sized candybars (Kit kat, Snickers, etc) were 2/$2. What do you get for that $2, when compared to the salad at $2.50/piece.
Calorically: $2 gets you the caloric value of 2 king-sized candy bars. There are 440 Kcal in the 1.94 oz, which equals (for two): 880 kcal for $2 and 4oz of “food”. That is 220 Kcal/oz of “food”, and 440 Kcal/$1 of “food”.
By contrast, the salad, I’d guestimate at about 100 Kcal without dressing, and 250 with dressing. The size is likely 6-8 oz, possibly more. Let’s say 7 oz/ to be moderate.
Therefore, you get 250 Kcal for $2.50, which is 100 Kcal/dollar. You also get only about 38 Kcal/oz of food.
To compare, the better financial “value” is in the candy bar, at 440 Kcal/$1, versus 100 Kcal/$1 with the salad.
Comparing cost per ounce yields a different result. The candy bar is $.50/oz, whereas, the salad is about $.38/oz, which is a better deal.
Let’s look at the health of it: Do we even need to do any math? The salad will yield much better health and in all likelyhood help keep you “fuller” longer because it is real food being digested by your organs, versus sugary junk food that sends a message to your brain for more, more, more!
Yet, in the line I saw, not one person had a salad, despite the better deal in both the health and the cost per oz perspective. We are all trying to save money and improve our health, right? So why do candy bars and chili dogs win out?
Maybe this will help clear things up: Check out this monthly pilot ad: Notice a theme with what is on sale?
Because marketing shows us that “snickers really satisfies” and “gimme a break” from my hard day with a Kit Kat bar. Sexy models chow down and our subconscious mind can’t turn it off. We want a bite of what they are selling. We all feel like we deserve a ‘treat’ for simply living life. I totally fall prey to that. I’ll think about my hard day and how “good” I was, and suddenly I’m pulling up to those same convenience stores or to a cafe for my liquid pleasure: junky hot chocolate. No joking: one of the apects that keeps me coming back to the black juice is the cost value (ust $.89 – $.99 at a convenience store) and the fact that I can get more volume out of my sugary treat with a liquid than with a solid. I get 12-16 oz for the caloric “price” of a regular sized candy bar (esp since I cut the hot chocolate with decaf coffee or water to cut down on sugar). But somewhere in my subconscious mind the trick that working hard = needing sugar certainly stuck. For me its hot chocolate, maybe for you its chips or nachos or soda, or whatever. Notice that fruits and veggies do not have a marketing campaign? The “5 a day” campaign to eat more fruits/veggies has a budget of 5 million/year nationally, whereas the pepsi corporation alone spends $2 billion/year on marketing……gee, I wonder why we pass up the fruit stand at Pilot and head for the soda fountain. And did you check out the specials this month at Pilot? Buy a gigantic soda and get a Kit kat for only $.24…..what a deal, that is added value – even though to our body less is better. We seem to shop and eat from our pocketbook over our stomach and digestion. More food for less simply = unhealthy people, the body does not celebrate the cost savings like the mind does.
Here’s my suggestion when you travel: pack your own snacks/lunch or find a grocery store with a deli and produce section when you are passing through a town. The food is fresher, cheaper, and offers more variety than a gas station anyway. Seriously, if we want for change on a cultural level, we must be willing to go the extra mile (literally, in this case) to get our health needs met and express them as a priority.
That’s what I think today…but maybe I’m just cranky – I am on day 6 of a liver/colon detox…. 🙂
I realize this post may upset a few people, in particular those with Lapband. So, let me just say from the get-go that the reasons for my dislike have NOTHING to do with the the individuals getting the surgery. I have several clients/coworkers with Lapband – all of them wanting for a better life and better health.
I did a little lookey-loo on the Lapband website. Just as I thought, the “nutrition” information was completely inadequate and misleading. In my opinion, any weight loss program that requires you to have up to 6-weeks of liquid/baby-food consistency sustainence AND THEN suggest things like skim milk, sugar-free Popsicles and jello as “healing” is ridiculous and not in alignment with body wellness. This can really mess with a metabolism that is already stressed from years of yo-yo dieting, poor nutrition, stress, ill health, etc.
Whether the body is getting only 800 calories/day or more, if the calories are not quality, the body is going to be stressed. There were several aspects to the Lapband diet which reflect that very conventional thinking that goes with the medical model promoting this surgery . Its all about calories, calories, calories. I have read a few Lapband blogs and see individuals struggling with calorie counting, watching the scale, and wondering when the changes will occur.
When will we wake up and realize that the issue is both emotional/cultural and nutritional. Why not educate people about the importance of healing the body with nourishing soups, no processed foods, and emotional healing post- surgery. Even beyond just giving facts, coaching people and supporting a co-creative effort between those who need support and those who can offer it should be standard with any weight loss program. I feel like the scheme of Lapband is aimed at filling a need/void from individuals who feel desperate and scared about their ability to lose weight. There is not enough support or good information. Its misleading. Howe can margerine (which is mentioned on the dietary recommendations post-Lapband) be a part of a new nutrition plan? Margerine kills people, or at least hampers their health.
I get it that the need is for weight loss, and that comes with certain lifestyle changes, the first of which should be a switch to whole foods, nutritions foods, and nothing more. That is the way. Diet soda, jello and sugar-free foods will not yield long-term success any more than high-calorie junk foods because THEY ARE JUNK FOOD. I was glad to see some language around eating quality foods for the nutrition, but the other contradictions were just too blatant.
I also wonder about the emotional/cultural issues that those seeking Lapband will still have to face. What is going to make that person refrain from going to the food when they are stressed, bored, scared or whatever. Its not like that surgery, or any other, fixes the emotional issues. Is there support for that built into the Lapband promise? I did not see anything of the sort, but I could be wrong.
If anybody out there has had Lapband and wants to comment I’d love to hear from you. I just get so mad because the underlying issues around food are not going to be solved with Lapband, as they go deeper than any surgery and have so much to do with our culture and individual relationship with food.
This weekend my husband and I began to conquer the jungle known as my backyard. We spent nearly an hour digging up this holly root (in the pic).
The whole experience has gotten me thinking about what it means to dredge up old “stuff” and pull out roots that are deep and strong. After recently reading the book Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui, I am on a mission to rid my life and my home of the stuff which hold me back. So much of the “baggage” I keep around, including yard debris, keeps me from moving forward and it also stresses me out . Stress = want to eat, which is no good. I know that in my life, I have associations and attachements to ways of being, thinking and living that are not working for me. For instance, I have fears around not having “enough”. Therefore, I have a tendency to do two things: First, I always want a lot of food around to compensate. This began for me when I took a job that paid 50% of what a previous job paid. That pissed me off deep inside and made me fearful. That is when my food issues were the worst ever. Secondly, I will take things which I don’t want just to ‘have’ something. I’ll buy something on sale because its inexpensive or I’ll take somebody’s second hand items to fill space. The end result is ultimately that I feel “less than”, which also makes me want food.
Food issues are certainly stimulated by fears for me. When I cleanse the house or my body, I am loosening up old energy, expectations and feelings. This can sometimes make me edgy, which I have noticed this weekend. The frustrations in my life about everything not being perfect certainly arise.
In the past, i’ve also found a great way to release pent up energy using a root food: Ginger. This might be appropriate to share since my cathartic experience around yard clean-up was centered around a tree root.
Try this to detox your skin, release anger, and purifies your digestive organs
Run a hot bath and close the shower curtain and door, so the room is steamy.
Cut up about 1/2 cup ginger root and throw it in the bath along with about 1/2 cup sea salts.
Get two towels to take in the tub with you.
Hop in, the water should be slightly uncomfortable, but not painful
Cover yourself with the towels in the tub so the heat stays on your body
You should be sweating, it should feel ‘edgy’, versus relaxing
Stay in for about 20-minutes. Drink TONS of water when you are done.
Take a warm shower after draining the tub, but not a cold one.
Drink some ginger tea if you really want to keep the heat moving.
Go to bed. Journal to release any feelings that popped up.
Ever wish you were the kid picked to visit the chocolate factory in the Willy Wonka stories? Ever make up ridiculous fantasies in your mind about larger-than-life candylands? Yeah…me neither…. 😉 But if you did, or still do, this post is for you. First, a video titled “I want candy”
So, basically, this post is the summation of my whole blogging purpose. GET OFF SUGAR. Do it now! Don’t wait until you have diabetes, arthritis, obesity, depression. Of course, if it were easy, I wouldn’t have a blog, a job, or half of the life experiences I have been blessed with. I suppose being human means that some things are not easy.
I’ll be honest. I am not 100% off white, but I am about 90% off white sugar, 100% off white flour (90% off wheat altogether) and 100% off milk, cheese and yogurt. I feel a lot better, have less sugar craving, and I poop regularly. Seriously, being chronically constipated and ‘full’ all the time was a MAJOR side effect of eating too much sugar and dairy.
So, if you want to get off sugar, here’s what I suggest:
1. Find your willingness. Before you do anything with your diet or lifestyle, you have to find that strong desire for something different. What are you willing to change about your diet? Are you willing to stop drinking soda altogether? Are you willing to have fruits or pass altogether on dessert? Are you willing to spend 3-4x as much for unrefined grains/flours/sweeteners so that you can feel better.
No question is more important than the question of your willingness. On a 1-10 scale, how willing are you to do what it takes to get off sugar. Don’t be upset if its not a 10. Rarely is a sugar addict stoked about this process. But, look for what you ARE an 10 on. For instance, I was a “10” in a willingness scale to give up all candy on Feb 28, 2004 (first day of lent – I quit candy and never looked back), but about a 3-4 to give up hot chocolate. So, now I just make healthier hot chocolate and that helps. You have to start where you are and continue checking in with that willingness.
Let’s say you’re willing and ready. Next steps;
Give yourself a 3-7 day detox period. If you want to do a colon cleanse, that can go on for longer, but clean up your diet for a few days. For me, this means none of the following: wheat, corn, dairy, caffeine, chocolate, alcohol, sugar, fake fats, artificial sweeteners. You will be instead eating TONS of veggies, fruits, lean meats, eggs, olive oil, coconut oil, whole grains like brown rice, etc.
After your detox phase you might crave sugar a lot less already. This is good. Start drinking lots of water. Flush out all the “junk” and cell “memory” of wanting sugar. Your body remembers what you’ve always done and its used to it. If you drank a lot of sugar in soda or beverages, replace the habit with water. Just do your best. Get support if you need it (or start a blog to blab about it, like I do!)
Eat protein at every meal. Vegetarians won’t like me much because I advocate more meat consumption for those kicking sugar than some people might be comfortable with. The reason is that lean protein, esp animal protein, helps stabalize blood sugar, which is KEY in kicking sugar. Also, if you use high quality meats, then you are getting B vitamins, healthy fats, iron, as well as protein. You can certainly eat things like beans, tofu, lentils and nuts, but I find carb-based proteins to “confusing” for my body at first.
Balance that carnage with a boatload of green veggies. You just can’t have too many. Eat 1-3 cups of green veggies/day, cooked or uncooked. Suggestions are: mixed green salads, adding spinach to omelets, steamed asparagus, soups with zucchini, leeks, bell peppers, collards/kale, snap peas, etc.
Express your feelings. So much of our desire for sugar is to taste the “sweetness” of life. What are you really craving? Write about it, talk about it, go for a walk or jog to blow off steam. Whatever you do, get your voice and your ideas heard.
Get rid of all the white stuff in the house. Its a conflict to your mind when you are saying “no” and you still have white sugar/flour. Maybe for a while you keep none in the house. If you must bake or cook with sugar/flour, use sucanat, agave nectar, molasses or stevia. Use whole wheat flour (less ideal, but okay), spelt flour, oat flour, or get to know gluten-free flours. check out www.glutenfreegirl.com if you want some good gluten-free baking recipes.
Cleanse your liver. Start a practice of hot water with lemon in the morning. This will help “lube the tube” as well as detox the liver. If you have a long history of processed foods, your liver needs a break. Other liver cleansers include: stinging nettle tea, green culinary herbs, asparagus and milk thistle. Bitter veggies also cleanse the liver.
Educate yourself about reading labels and finding healthier alternatives to the foods you used to eat. Some things can be modified to have less sugar, such as baked goods and cereals. Other things, like marshmallows or store-bought cookies, are pretty much not and option if you want kick sugar. You might have to pick and choose what its important to you and then let the rest go.
Find out if you have any food allergies. My sugar obsession was made worse by my dairy/soy allergy. I had no idea until I was tested. I think I mentioned this before, but check out Diagnostech if you want to do some testing.
Take it day by day. Progress, not perfection will help you move toward freedom from the white stuff. You can do it. I believe in you. I don’t even know you, and I believe in you because I was the toughest sugar junkie ever and I’ve made it to the other side…..or at least to where sugar is the exception and not the rule in my life anymore.
I was doing some paperwork “purging” and came across the lab results from all my testing I had done last year. The testing came about because I was always feeling run down, had chronic constipation despite a high veggie/fiber diet, had voracious sugar cravings, and got sick all the time. Amongst other issues the test results were loud and clear: Candida.
To make it short, Candida Albicans is a yeast that lives in the body. It is the yeast responsible for “oral thrush” in HIV and cancer patients, and yeast infections in women. Normally we have some in our gut. When it gets out of control, it often creates major upsets in the GI function because it messes with the eco-system of your intestines.
It also craves sugar, its primary food source. That is what screams at me to have some high-sugar fruit after a nice protein/veggie meal. That is was whispers in my ear that a stop for hot chocolate “just this once” is a good idea. That is the name of the voice which tells me to put an extra 7 teaspoons of agave in my tea. Its ridiculous.
When I was diagnosed, my diet changed dramatically and for a while I was on the straight and narrow. My digestion improved and I felt good again. lately, I haven’t been so dilligent.
Getting rid of candida is serious business: No high sugar fruits, no fruit alone, gluten-free grains oil, and LOTS of damn green veggies. GoodNESS you have to eat a lot of green veggies. I think I rebelled against the strictness and started enjoying things like dates and agave nectar and raisins. Harmless to the ‘normal’ person, but I am hardly normal.
So I’m glad I found those results. They humbled me again to realize that I eat for health, and not for my ego. My body is pleading with me for balance, so its important for me to honor that plea. The voice of the Candida is very tricky and easily mistaken for truth.
One thing I do when I’m trying to cleanse my body of sugar craving is this:
1 cup of warm but not boiling water
Juice of 1/4 lemon
1-2 tsp of Bragg’s Apple cider vinegar
Mix and enjoy. Its not tasty, but it cleans the GI tract and Candida hates it. Score 1 for me and none for the Candida. In fact, I’m drinking it right now and feeling grateful that I know what my body needs…..now to only do it everyday……
Part III of sugar and stress to come. But this is like an add-on to that topic, as Candida is certainly triggered by stress.
I can’t believe how long it’s been since I posted. Clearly a sign of being just too busy and not balanced…and what do ya know: my desire for sugar has been higher the past week than in a while.
Stress is an odd little monkey in my body . While the real solution to excessive stress is relaxation, deep breathing, fun, peace….yada yada yada……my body-mind seek things that keep the perpetual wheel of anxiety going: more activity, more stimulation…and more sugar.
Life is so clever. It never ceases to amaze me how I’m always being brought little lessons that remind me to pay attention and keep doing my personal growth work. Just as I decided to blog about sugar and stress, more of “that” kind of stuff pops up in my life. We teach what we need to know, don’t we?
This week really wasn’t too bad, however. I did dive in a bit and add sugar to my hot chocolate (a rarity, usually I use stevia) and I did have some frosting on Friday. Yes, I said frosting…not cake with frosting, just frosting. A birthday celebration at lunch yielded left-over cake with white frosting AND sprinkles. Hello!!! By Friday afternoon, running off of 5 hrs of sleep for several nights, I just gave in. Thank GOD there was only a small amount of cake left. I can’t say for sure what state of affairs my ability to say “no” would have been in had I been staring down 1/2 a cake and nobody in sight to see me take a monster piece.
Some of you readers might still wonder why I am even mentioning what may seem like “small” amounts of sugar. I’m an addict. A sugar addict. There are no small infractions, no small treats. Each tiny morsel stimulates in me a desire for more that sometimes feels larger than life. I will blow off social engagements, isolate from my husband, buy crappy junk food that I don’t even like…all to feed this unsaitable craving. That is, if I’m not mindful, grounded and have done the self-care to stop this from happening.
What is the physiology of this crazy addiction? Am I alone? No way – I see sugar/carb addiction everyday of my life. I see it in my clients who don’t understand why they are so able in many aspects of their lives, but have a complete weakness for some kind of refined food. I see it in our children, who would rather zone out with video games and suck down 4-6 sodas/day (the average # of sodas an American kid drinks, according to some), and who can’t concentrate at school. I see it at the grocery store when I watch people, who look tired and unwell, load the cart with frozen pizzas, boxed cereals, bread, crackers, and maybe 1-2 fruits or veggies. We are so close to it, we can’t even see it. It is both completely socially acceptable (c’mon…just have 1 dessert) and totally unacceptable (hatred of obesity) to be a carb junkie today. American consume about over 120 pounds of sugar. What to know more about that? Check out this article by Nutritionist Dr. Nancy Applegate.
What does sugar do:
Step 1: Seek out some refined carb food and put it in your mouth. You feel stoked, happy, and can’t wait to taste the sweetness (even breads register as sweet in the body)
Cookies…mmmmm……..
Step 2: you chew that food item and your body starts to prepare for digestion of sweet. This is thanks to amylase, a mouth enzyme that breaks down sugar. Now, the design is clever: send a signal to the hypothalamus (in the brain), which signals the pancreas/stomach early so it can be prepared with some insulin. After all, these whole grains/fruits our body has been eating for thousands of years take time to break down, so amylase helps get the ball rolling.
Problem: refined sugar needs no breaking down. It is absorbed quickly in the blood stream. It hits hard, fast, and all at once.
Step 3: lots of insulin is produces once the signal of “sweet” is sent from the mouth (really its the brain experiencing the sensation of sweet) and when the sugar hits the blood stream.
Problem: Too much sugar at all once! Complex carbs break down slowly. Its like putting one box at a time on the conveyor belt. Remember the “I LOVE LUCY” episode from the YouTube video above? She couldn’t keep up, so she stuffed all the excess chocolates in her mouth/pockets, etc. It became an overload. It was stressful. Your body is Lucy when you feed it to much sugar.
Step 4: This excess sugar has to go somewhere. The liver takes some of it and stores it as glycogen. But it can only store 3-400 calories (about 100g of sugar max) at once. Over time, excess sugar consumption will stress the liver and engorge it, as it tries to force more storage of sugar while also trying to deal with all the other stuff it does. When it maxes out, it sends the sugar back into the blood stream as fatty acids. This is partly why excess sugar consumption raises triglycerides, perhaps more than fat consumption.
At the same time, this sugar now stimulates “fight or flight” response. Your adrenals start working. you get a little “high”. But it never lasts long, now does it? You can’t function as well b/c all the blood is being distributed to your periperhy. Your body is prepared to fend for its life. But there is nothing to fend for. You are sitting at your desk entering data into the computer,or watching TV, or anything else non-life threatening. Over time, the fight or flight activation stresses your body and makes you produce excess cortisol.
Also at this time, the hormone insulin swoops down and scoops up all that extra blood sugar so your brain can stay alive. Yay! Another day to live. However, that sugar ain’t coming out for free. Insulin converts sugar to fat. Lucky us- even if your meal was low in calories, if it was high is SUGAR it may go right to our rears. It took me a long time to believe this, until it started happening to me.
Problem: too much cortisol suppresses the immune system, so you get sick more easily . It also contributes to fat storage around the abdomen, in response to potential life-threatening stressors. It does not know the difference between stress caused by food and lifestyle and real, physically threatening stress.
Step 5: You crash. Your blood sugar dips too low and you get lethargic. Your pancreas is stressed b/c its having to play this insulin game all the time and its over it! It stops working well or your cells stop being as responsive.
Problem: Excess insulin production leads to weight gain (insulin stores sugar as fat in the hips, buttocks, abs, and thighs). The system poops out after a while too, which contributes to Type II diabetes, often associated with high-carb lifestyles. You also feel like garbage.
Step 6: The body is a system of habits and patterns. It comes to rely on certain processes, good or bad. After your crash and your “fight or flight”, you’ve now “up-regulated” certain processes in the body. They want to keep on working, so they now stimulate a new desire for more sugar. And the cycle continues.
Problem: some people are HIGHLY sensitive to this little phenomenon. In fact, for some people, sugar binds with other neurotransmitters in the body and moves into the brain to create “euphoria”. This high is similar to heroin. I’ve talked to ex-drug addicts who have told me kicking sugar was harder than kicking drugs. Some people (myself included) experience withdrawal when they get off sugar. Symptoms include:
headaches
dizziness, nausea
overwhelming urge for sugar. You think you “need it”
energy highs/lows
rapid heart beat
insomnia
constipation/diarrhea as the digestive system attempts to rebalance itself
change in appetite
anger, anxiety, irritability
thirst
skin breakouts
So you think your body needs sugar to live?
“Although the body does require sugar (glucose), as this is the only fuel the brain can use, it is important to remember the physiology of digestion. The properly functioning human organism can produce all the glucose the brain needs through the digestion of whole, natural, unprocessed foods” Dr. John Yudkin of Queens College, London, states “allhuman nutritional needs can be met in full without having to take a single spoonful of white or brown or raw sugar.”
All this just for some lousy sugar. And the high doesn’t even last. I also hate the feelings of guilt, tiredness, boredom, lethargy and low self-esteem that I get from too much sugar. It just isn’t worth it, for me.
I’m so thankful that others folks are starting to talk more freely about their carb addiction. Last night I came across an awesome book at Borders:
Okay, I’ve been blogging for way too long (these posts sure do take some time). I gotta get movin!
Have a happy, refined sugar-free day, if that’s your thing 🙂
So I’ve decided to do a little piece on sugar and stress, since it is SUCH a big aspect of my life and I see a lot of the effects of s&s everyday with myself and others. One benefit of having this affliction AND being a nutritional counselor is that I get to experience the impact of food and mood or many levels.
I’m gonna do this in 3 parts because I have a lot to say about this topic, and I think its worthy of a few posts.
Here’s where I’m going to start: WHY do I emotionally (people) crave sugar when I am stressed?
When I was young , the only thing I ever wanted was sugar, sugar, sugar. I obsessed over Halloween candy. I was glued to mom’s side when she was baking, so that I could score some free licks off a spoon or spatula. I always voted for “The Sizzler” when we were picking restaurants, exclusively for the strawberries and whipped cream at the salad bar. I was a junkie.
How did this all begin? First off, did you know that sugar is the first taste we develop? Mamma’s milk is sweet. We are held when we are fed. We feel safe. It goes on and on. Sometimes new mom’s and dad’s are told to bring sugar water to the doctor’s office when their baby gets an immunization, to help calm the pain. Sugar numbs us out. It makes us high. Physically, we do not need sugar to survive. We need carbs, but not necessarily simple sugars. We might then speculate that some of us are not so equipped to handle the impact of sugar. More on that in post #2.
For as long as I can remember, sugar has been a best friend to me. It is always there, in so many shapes, colors, sizes and textures. Its cheap, its socially acceptable, and it makes me feel SOOOOOOOOOOOO good….or does it? I went years harmoniously co-existing on this continuous sugar buzz without a hitch. I bragged about the fact that I could eat a pound of red vines while grocery shopping and not gain any weight. I think I kind of liked being the candy girl. It had a certain charm. My ego devoured the attention I got over sugar. “How cool is this?” I would think to myself. Turns out, not so cool.
But, like all good addictions, it catches up. It turns out that my physical and mental body don’t like being fueled by fructose and glucose 24/7 and that as I get older, my tolerance for sweet is much less, yet my attachment to it is much greater.
The past couple days I’ve been wanting for sweet because I am afraid of change. What? How do sugar and change relate? Well, when you are trying to heal the body-mind from something that was like an old friend (sugar) in your life, and then new variables (like possibly moving to California, and making major life changes) pop up, it sends me running back to mamma’s arms: AKA hot chocolate, oatmeal raisin cookies, or anything warm and sweet.
This desire to soothe is so deeply imprinted in me, and others (I think?!), that it almost seems like the right thing to do . My brain is so good at taking the path of least resistance that I trick myself into believing that I actually need sugar to survive. When uncertainty triggers feeling of aloneness, I need security. It feels deeply carnal, like a survival instinct. My emotional body actually thinks that I will not survive without it.
In the past few years, I’ve done a lot of soul searching and book study about this crazy, wacky phenomenon of sugar-stress. Here’s what I know:
Sweet is the first taste we experience, and nearly all people find “sweet” palatable. Sweet includes breads, pastas, fruits and even meats, such as red meat or lamb.
The average American consumes 140 lb/ year of sugar in some form. That is 44tsp/day. That means we pretty much get it all the time, so it becomes a major physical and psychological habit.
Most kid’s can identify brands like “McDonalds”, “Starbucks”, or some sugar cereal characters before they can actually read. When our sub-conscious mind is wide open, we are bombarded with messages that these companies will provide us with fun, friendship, love and excitement if we just eat what they are peddling.
As a kid many of us develop the association of sweets with reward, soothing our pain, celebrating and drawing attention to ourselves (ever have mom bring in cupcakes on your b-day? Didn’t you just feel like the cool kid at school, even if just for that day?)
When white sugar was first developed, European conquerers used it to over-power the people they were invading. They claimed that it made wise, motivated men “stupid and lazy” (from the book Sugar Blues).
Sugar depresses the nervous system. If you’re a nervous nancy, like I am, you want to stop those neurotic thoughts. What a better way than some cookies and milk, or a piece of favorite cake, or some candy, or whatever…..
ARE YOU EMOTIONALLY ADDICTED TO SUGAR?
Do you find yourself going for breads, cookies, cakes, candy, Starbucks ‘stuff’, fruit, honey, granola bars, power bars, etc when you have had a long day, are over tired or bored?
Are your favorite foods in the dessert category? Would you rather skip dinner and have dessert first?
Do you get edgy or cranky if you don’t have sweets/fruit/breads for a couple of days?
Do you fantasize about sweets, or did you used to do so?
What’s in your cupboard? Lots of boxed, processed foods? Refined cereals? energy/granola bars? Dried fruit? Do these items tend to get eaten first?
Does the thought of never having those favorite sweet treats again feel really sad or scary to you?
Is the concept “portion control” non-existent when it comes to certain, refined carb-based foods?
Are you turned off to bitter or sour foods, like dark green veggies, lemons, saurkraut, relish, etc?
Do you hide stashes of sweets in your car, room, desk or anywhere that nobody can see you eating them?
I’m certainly no expert on your life, but for me, I can answer “yes” to far more of those questions than I’d care to admit to. However, when I do face my truth, I can release the guilt, shame and frustration and move forward. There is life after refined sugar, and I’m learning how to make friends with it, one day at a time.
For those who are curious about unrefined sweeteners: I use them in my life, but they are still sugar. If I’m spooning agave syrup into my mouth, I’m still getting high on sugar, it just doesn’t take as much of a toll. It’s really about why I am seeking out sweet stuff to fix my life. It never works. It never makes me feel better, but my brain has 31 years of conditioning to release.
If you are just starting out your sugar-free life, I have some insight and advice, based on what has worked for me:
Get SUPPORT! Friends, special groups, spiritual groups, blogs like this, etc
Be gentle with yourself and realize it is a process
Begin to replace as much refined carbs with veggies, protein and water. Protein is your friend, as are anti-oxidant rich veggies. more on that tomorrow.
One day, one meal, one moment at a time. Progress, not perfection.
If it’s serious, talk to your alternative health practitioner about getting food allergy or GI function tests done. I learned a TON about the physical reasons I crave sugar when I had tests done by Diagnostechs. They rock!
PS: for the curious – yes, I did have some sugar today. I made hot chocolate w/ rice milk and cocoa. I used sucanat instead of stevia. Not the best choice, but could have been worse.
Like a good piece of dark chocolate, life can be bitter sweet. This weekend was a prime example. The sweet part included a great snowshoe for my husband’s birthday, which included a fun day with two of our dear friends. I even packed a healthy lunch of turkey and avocado wraps on multi-grain tortillas with veggies, and cheese. We enjoyed a nice alpine lunch and good laughs. The day rolled into night with an exotic trip to Morocco via Marrakesh restaurant and laughs with co-workers.
Then the bitter part: Long story short – our car was broken into and my purse, an ipod, some clothes, and a backpack were nabbed. Certainly an unexpected twist to our day……
But back to the sweet: This kind of stuff unglues me, but I was able to keep my cool, deal with it all, and NOT EAT OVER IT!!! Whenever I would think about wanting to “devour” my feelings over it, I would breathe or just talk about it. Maybe my friends got sick of me bringing it up, but the sanity I had over releasing my feelings is worth any annoyance. If you are like me and tend to “digest” your feelings instead of express them, you can appreciate this little victory.
I had already planned on going back to regular food this weekend, so I felt empowered in my choices at lunch and snack time after our snow adventure. What also helped was having already seen the menu of the restaurant we attended, as I could mentally prepare for the choices available.
When I’m stressed, I must have a plan. That plan is like my rock and makes me feel safe. Already it can be hard when I’m with others who are eating all types of food, especially when the continue to offer me treats and tidbits. They don’t know that I can’t have “just one” or that all the little critters in my belly would have a party if I ate certain things. It’s my deal, so I have to make responsible choices.
The Plan:
We had dinner at Marrakesh: a Moroccon restaurant in Portland. I planned ahead to do the following:
Strategically have a “safe” snack pre-dinner. For me this was a turkey/onion/mustard mini-wrap on a large romaine lettuce leaf, some tea, and a few apple slices.
Drink water and nothing else. I’m not a big alcohol drinker anyway, but rarely drink when I’m out. The extra sugar is a no-go for me.
I avoided eating the bread when enjoying the “salad”, which was totally a finger/bread food. I piled up the veggies/hummus on small bits of bread, but didn’t eat the bread.
I tasted all the meat dishes, but had just enough to be satisfied. Some of the flavors included apricot chicken, lamb with couscous, veggies and raisins (ate around the couscous), and lemon chicken with almonds. Yum, yum, yum. Moroccan food blends sweet and savory so well, I just love it! Eating with my hands actually made me go slower, which helped not stuff myself.
Skipped dessert because I had my fill.
What’s funny about yesterday is that I’m so fired up about the fact that the stress did not make me seek out TONS of sugar yesterday or today, that it gives a little sunshine to a frustrating situation.
So, in honor of my bittersweet day, I’d like to speak about chocolate.
I truly believe chocolate can be a health food, depeneding upon what kind you use and how much you eat. For the health benefits look for 70% dark chocolate, which automatically means there will be less sugar. I often keep dark chocolate bars or powder on hand to make low sugar treats because they save me from going on the deep end with sugar.
How to know if you really have a chocolate craving, or a sugar craving:
When you are really craving chocolate, a piece of bittersweet dark chocolate will alleviate the craving. When you crave sugar, the desire is often more for milk or white chocolate (not really chocolate) because milk/white chocolate have milk sugar and regular sugar. Beware: even hershey’s dark and the low-end dark chocolates often have only 30-50% cacao, and still have tons of sugar.
Is chocolate a superfood? Read here and you be the judge:
·Cacao is rich in antioxidants
·Cacao has been associated with decreased diabetes & blood pressure (American Heart Association)
· Cacao is rich in B1, B2 and D vitamins, and magnesium and iron.
· Cacao is associated with improved vasodilation, helping increase stamina during exercise. (Athens Medical School)
· Cacao is cholesterol free. Its phenolic properties may also block oxidation of LDL cholesterol.
· Chocolate is associated with euphoria and reduced depression – due to phenylthylamine.
· Serotonin, a well-studied neurotransmitter, is thought to instill calm and relaxed feelings. Chocolate is associated with increased serotonin levels, a factor that is believed to explain chocolate cravings.
· Some researchers believe that
serotonin is related to premenstrual syndrome (PMS), explaining premenstrual chocolate cravings.
· Stearic acid, chocolate’s predominant saturated fat, has neutral effects on blood cholesterol.
· The European Board of Health lists chocolate as a pre-digestive aid
A good chocolate bar also has about 3-5 g fiber/serving and contains trace minerals, like Selenium.
What about allergies?
Jeremy Drelich, MD assessed a group of 20 individuals who reported allergic reactions after chocolate consumption. After a week without eating chocolate each individual received skin prick and blood tests for allergies to chocolate and component ingredients (milk, soy, almonds, peanuts, vanilla), and consumed unlabeled cacao and non-cacao samples. Sugar allergies were assessed by giving half the participants unsweetened chocolate and half chocolate made with cane juice. None showed definite evidence of a chocolate allergy, though some tested positive for non-cacao ingredients. By choosing organic products made without additives or fillers – such as organic dark chocolate made without refined sugar – you’ll may find yourself happily reunited with chocolate.
Feeling bittersweet? Try these low or no sugar recipes:
CHOCOLATE COCONUT MACAROONS
3 cups shredded coconut
1/3 cups cocoa powder (substitute same amount of almond flour for
blonde macaroons)
1 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup coconut butter (I found at New Season’s)
1 Tb. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
Mix all ingredients in a bowl until moistened. Refrigerate for about
an hour just to make forming the balls easier. Form into balls.
Dehydrate @150 for 12 hours or place on a cookie sheet for roughly 5 – 7 mins @ 350 degrees. This just gives it a little crispness on the
outside.
CHOCOLATE MINT DISKS
Pour I cup coconut oil in a bowl. If oil is solid,place it in a double boiler and heat gently to the liquid state.
Add 1/2 C. dark chocolate or 2 to 3 tsp. cocoa powder . If using chips/chunks, melt chips with solid coconut oil, or melt and add to liquid coconut oil.
Stevia- 2 droppers or to taste.
Peppermint oil- 3 drops
Add chopped nuts, seeds or unsweetened coconut to taste.( raw sunflower seeds, flax seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, or any nut in raw state, excluding peanuts.)
Pour mixture into pie pan and refrigerate.
Cut into squares before they get too hard or set them out for a few minutes and let barely soften to cut up. You can also use a small mold for convenience.
I love Oregon. The people here are amazing. For instance, my husband and I are often the benefactors of garden overflow from two lovely people, who we’ll initial M and B, who have a spectacular 2 acre garden in Woodburn, OR. I went there once and felt like I was in the garden of eden. We sampled fresh figs, got to tour the filbert groves in M’s classic convertible and I left with about 7 (no kidding) boxes of produce. Jackpot!
Well this week, another bounty: Walnuts, and lots of them. Not only walnuts, but a recipe for roasted walnuts to accompany my treasure. Now that is full service generosity. So, I’m naming the recipe: “M and B”‘s. Its like “m&m”s, but healther and no sugar.
4 C walnut halves
2 tsp salt
Filtered water
Mix nuts with salt and water and leave in a warm place for at least 7 hrs. Drain. Spread on a baking sheet and place in a warm oven (150 or less) for 12-24 hrs. Turn occasionally until completely crisp and dry
Spicy walnuts
2 Tbsp butter
2 tbsp dried rosemary
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp cayenne
Melt butter with rosemary, salt and cayenne. Toss with nuts, spread on a baking sheet. Bake at 250 for 10 minutes. Store in airtight container
I am however, happy to report that I remained nut-free today, on day two of my detox.
Today’s feasts included:
Protein shake w/banana
stir-fried Swiss chard/Onions (hardly felt like a cleansing day, the food was so good)
baked spaghetti squash, eaten with a tomato sauce that had nothing but veggies/herbs
spinach salad
a handful of dates – I tell ya, they really help give a ‘treat’ to the experience.
I also topped off the day with a cup of nettle tea, which helps the liver and GI tract in general.
It amazed me how tasty eating light can be. Why do I always want “big” meals? granted, I can’t keep up this way forever, but my body does feel good and my mental energy is spectacular, and in only 2 days.
Tomorrow I’m snowshoeing and doing a little birthday shin-dig for my hubby, so I’m back to solid food, but no wheat/gluten/dairy/sugar. Weird thing, I don’t even miss the sugar and that is normally my biggest vice. Maybe all those long stretches of being free of sugar really have helped…who knows? Or maybe I just want to fit into my skinny jeans again (I’d be lying if I said that losing a few pounds isn’t also a motivation) and therefore have no desire of things that sabotage my efforts…
Okay, TTFN, time for bed. Tomorrow is an early day!
Off White Living 