Lots of people today are making some resolutions. Are you one of them?
Hopefully you read my last post about making SMART goals if you are going to make a resolution this year.
Today I am going to debunk a few misconceptions about sugar, since we all love cake.
Sugar is not addictive.
Based on current research there is no real ‘addiction’ to sugar. It tastes good, and you want to eat it for that.
That’s plain and simple.
Eating sugar does cause a dopamine release, so it can be comforting if you are in need of some solace in your time of need. The difference of it NOT being addictive is the fact that is does not cause adaptations like drugs will. Addictive substances alter the mesolimbic dopamine system 1
Therefore, sugar as we have seen so far has zero effects on your body like an addictive substance does.
Addictive behaviors only “occur only in the context of intermittent access to sugar.” 2
So, remember when I told you restricting yourself was only going to harm you in the long run? Here’s the reason.
Go ahead and tell everyone they are wrong when they tell you sugar is addictive!
Sugar does not independently cause you to gain weight
A combination of lifestyle factors will cause you to gain weight 3
Sugar tastes great and it is usually paired with higher fat content and sodium for the ultimate palatable food. Think packaged food! Sodium is usually added for preservative measures (which is a good thing. We have the ability to have food last longer, especially in the case of emergencies. I.E MREs for service members) Fat is added to make things have a ‘creamy’ texture or a ‘soft’ texture. Cookies and cakes are examples here.
If you add these types of foods into your diet, and you eat them often and frequently, the calories can stack up. The key here is being mindful of your calories and food choices. A good rule of thumb is prioritizing protein during the day and being mindful of your choice in drinks4
Consider switching to diet soda - but not because of sugar, but because those calories (like money) can be spent better elsewhere.
Since sugar is neither addictive or the cause of weight gain, why does it get a bad rep?
I honestly couldn’t tell you. It’s most likely because someone wants to have a ‘cutting edge’ nutrition plan that comes with fancy marketing so they can coerce you to open your wallet.
The bottom line is that you can eat food within reason. The lifestyle you start must be sustainable in order to have the permanent changes you are looking for.
Cutting sugar out simply is not a lifestyle change that makes sense. I keep chocolate in my freezer, pantry, and go-bag. I love gummy worms, and I eat food people demonize quite frequently. The key is to make sure you track the food you are eating in order not to derail progress.
Eating the food you want to eat is the only way to be sustainable.
Remember there is no such thing as a ‘clean food’
I hope this was informational for you all, and that you can share with others why you won’t stop eating sugar with data based reasons, not because some rando on the internet told you so and was just charming while they said it.
Jong, J. W. D., Vanderschuren, L. J. M. J., & Adan, R. A. H. (2016, March 17). The mesolimbic system and eating addiction: What sugar does and does not do. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352154616300638
Westwater, M.L., Fletcher, P.C. & Ziauddeen, H. Sugar addiction: the state of the science. Eur J Nutr 55, 55–69 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-016-1229-6
Sun SZ, EmpieMW. Lack of findings for the association between obesity risk and the usual sugar-sweetened beverage consumtion in adults- A primary analysis of databases of CSFII-1989-1991, CSFII-1994-1998, NHANES III and combined NHANES 1999-2002. Food Chem Toxicol. 2007. 45 (8): 1523-1536. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2007.02.012
Popkin BM, Nielsen SJ. The sweetening of the world's diet. Obes Res. 2003 Nov;11(11):1325-32. doi: 10.1038/oby.2003.179. PMID: 14627752.