The Sugar Addict's Total Recovery Program

Read an Excerpt

The problem is clear. You are doing something that you don't want to be doing. But the solution isn't so clear. If you could just stop it, you would! You can't just say no. And the longer this helplessness goes on,
the more tricks you try, the more failures you have and the more hopeless you feel. On the outside you may act cool. You might even have flip responses or pat retorts, but each time you hear the "why don't you just say no" message-even if it is subtle-you brace yourself. You ask yourself:
"Why can't I get it together and take care of myself? Where is my willpower? Why aren't I like other people?" They just decide to do something and then they follow through. Again and again you decide, you make a commitment, you start-then your resolve fades. You get busy, you get overwhelmed, you get distracted, and your intention dissipates like the morning fog in the noonday sun.

Nancy is a sugar addict. She has vowed to give up chocolate almost every day of her life. Three days into her commitment to quit, something always happens and she reaches for a candy bar. Rosemary, who is not a sugar addict, decides that chocolate isn't good for her skin. She decides to cut it out of her diet, never buys another candy bar, isn't tempted, and doesn't think of it again. Rosemary's resolve may be inconceivable to you.
Nancy feels like your sister.

When you are a sugar addict, saying no is not an issue of willpower. Your biochemistry has a direct effect on your behavior. Your craving and desire for sugar are profoundly affected by your brain chemistry, and even more significant, by what and when you eat.

You are a sugar addict because you are sugar sensitive. Sugar addiction is a primary symptom of sugar sensitivity. If you are sugar sensitive and your meals are erratic, if you skip breakfast, eat lots of sweet things,
drink quarts of diet soda or eat pounds of pasta and bread, then you will be depressed, moody, erratic, volatile, forgetful, and impulsive. You may have a short fuse, a short attention span, and a reputation for being all over the place. You may have trouble with your weight, you may have an eating disorder, or you may have a problem with aggression.

It has probably not occurred to you that the food you eat could have such a dramatic effect on you. You may have figured out that sometimes you are really cranky when you haven't had your "fix." You have to go out and get a pint of your special brand of ice cream even if it's eleven o'clock at night. Your friends or parents or boss may have noticed that you have something like a split personality. Sometimes you are creative, cheerful,
charming, funny, and delightful. Other times you are a royal pain in the butt and even the people who love you stay out of your way. You are a sugar addict.

When you first hear me talking about sugar addiction in this way, you may not be convinced that it is a real condition. You may not think it is possible to be addicted to something so "harmless" as sugar. Stay with me while I take you through the reasoning for my position.

Criteria for Addiction

Here are the criteria the American Psychiatric Association uses to determine addiction:

¸         The substance is taken in greater amounts or for a longer time than intended.

¸         There is a persistent desire or one or more unsuccessful attempts to cut down or control use.

¸         Major time is spent in seeking, using, or recovering from the effects of use.

¸         Frequent intoxication or withdrawal interferes with responsibilities.

¸         There is a decreased level of social, recreational activities due to use.

¸         There is continued use despite adverse consequences.

¸         There is a marked increase in tolerance.

¸         There are withdrawal symptoms.

¸         There is use to prevent withdrawal.

Let's reframe these criteria and see if we can create a list for sugar addiction.

¸         The substance is taken in greater amounts or for a longer time than intended.

Have you ever planned to have just a cookie and eaten the whole plate?
Have you ever planned to have a caramel double latte once as a celebration and found yourself going back every day? Have you ever planned to have a piece of pie and eaten the whole thing? Can you imagine eating half a piece of cake and leaving the rest because you just weren't hungry for it?

¸         There is a persistent desire or one or more unsuccessful attempts to cut down or control use.

One or more unsuccessful attempts seem sort of funny to sugar addicts.
Have you ever tried to control your use? Does that question make you laugh because it seems so absurd? Have you spent most of your life since eighth grade trying to cut down or control your use of sweet things? Once you start eating sweet things, you cannot stop.

¸         Major time is spent in seeking, using, or recovering from the effects of use.

Do you make sure you always have a can of Coke (or even Diet Coke) on your desk? Do you make a special trip to Costco to get that big jar of jelly beans? Do you feel an inordinate sense of relief when your family is gone so you can eat what you want? Do you have sugar hangovers and feel cranky and irritable the day after?

¸         Frequent intoxication or withdrawal interferes with responsibilities.

Now at first blush, you may think that your sugar use does not affect your life. But are your bills paid on time? Is your desk cleared off? Do you double-book appointments? Are you too tired to function at three in the afternoon? Are you funny, charming, and all over the place when you eat sugar or have your soda or sweetened coffee? Look at your behavior with a different eye and you may be shocked at how true this is.

¸         There is a decreased level of social, recreational activities due to use.

Do you prefer to be alone so you can eat what you want, when? Do you get nervous about visiting your son's apartment because you know he doesn't have anything there for you to eat? Do you shy away from those friends who have given up those sweet things? Are you drawn to the people doing the
"reward meal" on the Carbohydrate Addict's Diet because you know you will have company in eating what you want?

¸         There is continued use despite adverse consequences.

This is the ringer-continued use despite adverse consequences. You know it's bad for you, you know it's killing you, you are in despair, and you go back for more. Hits kinda close to home, yes?

¸         There is a marked increase in tolerance.

You need more to get the same effect. One small cookie won't cut it. You have to eat the whole box. You remember not so much the high feeling, but the feeling of relief-that the world is okay, you fit, and things will be all right. But it takes more to get you there.

¸         There are withdrawal symptoms.

You may not have made the connection to withdrawal per se. You may simply intuitively know that you feel better if you have a cup of tea and a piece of cake. Or you know exactly how much better you will feel once you get your supply down the hatch.

¸         There is use to prevent withdrawal.

You know you are cranky and will feel better if you have something sweet.
Your three-year-old is having a temper tantrum because you said no to her in the grocery story. You get a soda and pop it open and she sits there being a good girl. You take a sugar break at 3:00 p.m. because you know if you don't you will be a basket case by 3:30. You know what time the edginess will start.

Sobering, isn't it? Makes you think. When you first connect with this idea of sugar addiction, it may be a little scary to you. You may find it hard to put yourself in the same class as alcoholics or heroin addicts. You may have been conditioned to think that addiction is bad and only weak-willed people are addicts or alcoholics. This book will help you understand that addiction is a chemical reality. The reason you are a sugar addict is your unique body. You respond to sugar more intensely. You hurt more in withdrawal. You feel better when you have it. The physical dependence is real. You are not a bad person; this is not a character defect. Once you start to think of yourself as having a unique brain and body chemistry,
you can start on the road to recovery.