So you have a sugar addiction.  Or do you?  Have you been able to successfully stop all sugar from entering your body for two weeks?  No?  Just something to think about.  Given the fact that sugar is public enemy number one when it comes to inflammation, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, autoimmune disease, brain fog, lack of energy, poor sleep, fat storage, weight gain…just about everything…hopefully you’ve at least tried to go without it for an extended period of time.  If you can’t do it, let’s figure out why.

There are three factors that contribute to the addiction, besides the science that tells us that sugar in itself is 10 times more addictive than cocaine. 

Sugar is often combined with excitotoxins.  Excitotoxins are specifically put in foods to create an addictive response and cravings in your brain.  So putting sugar and excitotoxins together in food is the silver bullet to keep you buying and eating that which is better left on the shelf at your grocery store. 

Microbiome disruption.  Cravings also come from the gut.  In fact, it’s your gut that tells your brain to eat 10 Oreos instead of one.

The taste bud factor is what we’re concentrating on today.  Sugar tastes good.  I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that.  It tastes even better when your taste buds are trained to trigger the dopamine in your brain that makes you feel good when you eat it.  So how do we re-train our taste buds?

Studies tell us that approximately every 14 days, our taste buds turn over.  If we can keep sugar out of our mouths for only a couple weeks, we can alter the taste that triggers the dopamine.  But it’s so hard, isn’t it?  Many times, I work with clients who say that they have cut sugar out of their diet, but they still crave it.  Or, that it’s impossible for them…as in “Cynthia, I could never stop eating sugar, I don’t have the willpower that you do!”  I’d like you to give yourself more credit than that, and this is where hidden sugars come in that are sabotaging your efforts.

Are you tired of hearing me say this?  READ INGREDIENT LABELS!  You may think you’ve cut out sugar because you don’t drink pop or eat sweets, but it may be in that can of peas, jar of tomato sauce, or yes…even your protein powder.  When your taste buds taste sweet…whether it’s sugar, artificial sugar, (I know none of you would ever let this pass your lips, but I had to say it) or even something that seems healthy like stevia, your taste buds do a happy dance. 

We have to get our taste buds off of the dance floor, and let them rest!

And here is where supplements come in.  I’ve already mentioned protein powder as a culprit, but what about things like gummy vitamins?  Liquid vitamins?  Sublingual hormones?  Chew-able vitamin C?  Fizzy tablets that “fight off colds” while actually decreasing your immune system long-term?  All of these products are going to sabotage your efforts.  Need to know where to buy quality supplements?  Take a look at Fullscript.  The discount they are letting me extend to the Holistic Christian Life community is saving many people a lot of money!

So once again, I am here to tell you that you are stronger than you think.  You just have to take the time to do your due diligence and set the stage for success.  This means checking every little thing that goes into your body for any added sugar, or sugar-like substance whether it’s supposedly “healthy” or not.

Give it a try and let me know how you did!  Truly, I’ve found that this is one key to kicking the addiction and to start reversing the damaging effects of the sweet world we live in.