Diwali has just gone by and there are festivities in the air. Lots of people have gotten into the habit of having sweet tit bits at odd times and then blaming it on their sweet tooth. Is there something called as sugar addiction or is it plain bad habits? Experts advise that It is probably both and one needs to just stop the intake of extra table sugar in any form.
A three week sugar free diet is said to cure the body of the sugar cravings and detox the body from sugar. But the fact is a small period of absence and then binging may create an addict-like effect. The reason is high blood sugar causes the secretion of feel-good hormones from the brain. These hormones are the same as those released by the brain after consuming street drugs like cocaine. Thus sugar can mess up the body and brain much like a very small dose of heroin.
People who are habituated to sugar either because of addiction or plain bad eating habits may get into a rhythm when they started feeling shaky, low and nervous when they miss their daily sugar fix. These symptoms occur because of low blood sugar and become more prominent as the metabolism tilts towards diabetes.
Medical research has found that people who find themselves hooked on sugar, trigger a brain reaction similar to those produced by drug addicts. The sugar gets quickly broken into glucose which is the food for the brain and triggers these reactions.
Though even vegetables, dairy and fruits also have these sugars but because of high amount of fibre in these foods, the release of glucose in the body is slow and constant whereas the glucose released by artificial stuff like candy etc is sudden and sharp. This sharp peak creates a sugar-“ high” and seems to be the cause of trouble for our brain. Once the sugar levels drop we start craving for a sugar high again.
The high followed by a low sugar cycle needs to be broken to have a sustained energy level and it is important to avoid foods which can push us into this trap. Foods like fruits, vegetables, yogurt, corn etc should be consumed more and quick sugar foods like pastries, cakes, table sugar, jellies, donuts etc need to be consumed less in order to avoid sugar addiction.