so glad to here another success story.

Awesome, inspiring story!!

 

I love this!  We just don't realize how profoundly sugar affects us until we give it up for a while like Jaki did.  

I know the new year is a time when many people refocus.  This weekend I am going to be attending a talk by psychologist  Doug Lisle who works with Dr. McDougall and True North.  The topic of his presentation will be, "How to Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind."  While I don;t need to lose weight, I am so excited to hear him speak live.

There are still tickets available if anyone is interested.  Link to information is:

http://veggiegrettie.com/2012/01/03/doug-lisle-event-how-to-lose-weight-without-losing-your-mind-vegan/

Congrats Jaki!

Gretchen

According to former head of the Dr. David Kessler, certain foods can be addictive in the clinical sense, in the same way that cocaine is addictive. He mentions sugar, oil/fat, and salt as addictive substances. Dr. Neal Barnard extends the food addiction discussions to food additives including excitotoxins like MSG and aspartame (common in diet drinks). Dr. Nora Volkow who is chief of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, has stated that drugs and junk food activate the same pleasure-sensing neurotransmitters in the human brain.

The theory of addiction to food and other substances is explained clearly in the book titled "The Pleasure Tap" by Douglas Lisle, Ph.D.

Today, we face pleasure traps everywhere. It takes discipline, courage, spirictual integrity, and intelligence to recognize and avoid them.

To piggyback on what Dan mentioned, Dr. Kessler wrote a fantastic book about how our bodies process and respond to fat/sugar/salt and how the food industry engineers processed foods to acheive an addictive response. It is called "The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite." It's well-researched, well written - I  really recommend it.

Great article!  Brings me great joy to read about success stories like this - folks just don't appreciate how BAD sugar is for them, and how it is everywhere!

Wrote about that myself - yep, I did! - on my own blog, was also featured on the Huff Post.  (check it out here! http://meghantelpnerblog.com/2011/11/07/the-spell-cast-by-sugar/)  Thanks for raising awareness about this - sugar really can run your life!

Sugar = Kiddie cocaine. 

Congratulations Jaki on overcoming your addiction. I'm sure the experience was really eye-opening.

Good for Jaki! Sugar really is a demon. It's been compared to CRACK. Years ago my brother gave me a book to read called "Lick the Sugar Habit" by Nancy Appleton, PhD.  It is a really good book! Most people have a yeast overgrowth and don't even realize it, because they only think of women having a 'yeast infection.' But a yeast overgrowth is different...it's in your entire body. It causes acne, stomach problems, lethargy, migraines...all sorts of stuff. Sugar only feeds this yeast. This was a wise choice on Jaki's part, so KUDOS to her!

Mary Bortel

http://themeganlifestyle.wordpress.com/about-2/

I have been thinking about kicking my own sugar habit for the New Year. Thanks for the reminder and the motivation!

Congrats Jaki.

As mentioned in Kessler's book - too much sugar (or fat and salt) in food makes it hyper-palatable. By which he means that it overrides our bodies normal satiation mechanisms. The food industry delights in making food hyper-palatable as it is generally in their best interest that we eat more of their food than we need and then crave more.

Unfortunately alternative sugar products like Agave Nectar and Brown Rice Syrup are just as problematic as regular white sugar. I try to stick to whole foods.

Mark Osborne - www.VeganHealthAndFitness.com

 

Personally I really believe I have difficulties not with sugar, whom I compare to alcohol and cigarette but with cheese... Probably because of my upbringing I got hooked while still in primary school, it's not something I can't get under control, and I figure it's such an harmless treat why live without, especially when I receive unsollicited samples?

Also from my personal experience I believe in the well-known saying who tell "Far from the eyes, Far from the heart", in any case it's true for some girlfriends I had (or might had depending on how I see it)...

I have 3 kids and when starting to breastfeed each one I went off of sugar for a few months. I find it easier when you have something to help kickstart you. Its so amazing how the mind tries to trick you all the time....BEWARE!!!!!!!!!! Something that has helped me when i feel i want somthin sweet is peel soaked almonds (about 7-10) add about 3 or 4 super juicey medjool dates (dash cinnamin, cloves and cardamom if desired) and water (i prefer mine hot) and blend till all is liquified. Yummmy! coconut or soy milk might be good in there too to make it creamier, im just a bigger fan of good ol water...good luck all.  

i've given up sugar before and ALWAYS feel better without it! Ash Wednesday is just a few days away so i've decided to say goodbye to my love to these 40 days. I'll report back afterward!

Well done Jaki-happy to hear you are tuned in to your body and feeling healthy.  Will you continue to avoid sugar in all it's forms? Do you eat fruits and others carbs and just skip the processed sugars?

I tried giving up sugar for 30 days once, because I was assured by those who overcame sugar addiction that 30 days would be the magic point where I would be free and never think about sugar again. Well it didn't work; it was the hardest 30 days ever, I wanted to cry every single day, and on the 31st day I went back to sugar junk food and eat it every day. I think I have one of the worst sugar addictions ever. It really is like a drug. I'm happy for Jaki but sad for people like myself.