9 WEIGHT LOSS

A few days ago I evoked sugary, gooey, frosting-topped childhood memories in a post about sugar. Today we’ll explore the connection between sugar and emotion.

FIRST ONE’S FREE

Sugar is a drug.

That’s right. I said it.

You might be laughing. It’s sold everywhere, it’s associated with celebrations and feel-good times, it’s a fun indulgence, it comes in pretty colors like pink and blue. Well…so does alcohol. Another very sugary substance, in fact.

A drug is defined as “any absorbed substance that changes or enhances any physical or psychological function in the body”. As a culture, we’ve tended to sort drugs into categories of “good” (prescription drugs, for instance) and “bad”. Sugar’s got this – well – sugary sweet reputation, but after reading my last post on its harmful effects on the body, you may begin to question whether it actually falls under the category of “good” after all.

And there’s no question as to whether sugar alters mood. We’ve all witnessed or experienced first-hand how cake can temporarily satiate loneliness, how Gummy bears can trigger a hyperactive frenzy, or how a dish of ice cream can produce a blood sugar crash that causes grouchiness and depression.

Just as with any other addictive substance, some of us are more susceptible than others. I know plenty of people who enjoy trying a special mousse or pie occasionally, but don’t have an intense commitment to it. I also know people, myself included, who “cannot have just one”. They do not see the point in eating sugar unless they are eating large quantities of it. Each day they plan when they are going to have it. They crave it and feel panicked or cranky if access is somehow denied or thwarted. It’s a special part of their day, and they become excited in anticipation. They’ve had periods where they’ve tried to stop, and they may have even experienced withdrawal symptoms – headache, nausea, irritability. Perhaps they hide their consumption because they’re embarrassed. This is addiction.

COMFORT FOOD?

There are many perspectives on the etiology of addiction. Some say it’s all genetics, some say it’s environment, some argue poor nutrition. In my experience it’s usually a combination of the three. But regardless of how it begins, sugar, like any addiction, ultimately works as an emotion suppressant. You do it to avoid feeling what you don’t want to feel. Ironically, it only becomes a vicious cycle, since after an initial high, the sugar intake tends to compound the feelings that you’re running from in the first place.

“I’m lonely”. Ah, that classic image of the lonely woman on the couch in front of the television, drowning her sorrows in a pint of Ben and Jerry’s (and for some reason it does always seems to be Ben and Jerry’s…those merry pranksters from VT seem to have a monopoly on this one). In this case, the image is pervasive because it’s true. Many of us can relate to soothing ourselves with sugar. It’s our friend. It won’t leave us. The problem is that it does. When you look into the abyss (of the empty container), the abyss looks back at you. Your spoon scrapes up the last melted bits, and you’re alone. And you have used the ice cream as a wedge between yourself and your feelings, yourself and the world. You’re even more convinced now that you will remain lonely and alone because you are slowly turning into a monstrous ice cream whale. And this thought prompts you to get up and look in the cabinet for those peanut butter cookies. The cycle continues.

Some other reasons people use sugar…

“I’m angry”. In our culture, unless you are getting paid millions per year to beat people up professionally, it is unacceptable to show anger. Some of us use sugar to knock ourselves out so we won’t knock someone else out. But it shuts us up. What happens when you keep telling someone to shut up? They get angrier…and angrier….and they need more and more sugar to shut themselves down. What would happen if you started admitting some things, like “I can’t stand my career”? “I hate my partner”? “I’m overwhelmed, I have too much too do and no one is helping me”? You might actually have to take a look at your situation and make some changes. And that’s scary. Which brings me to…

“I’m scared”. In our culture, we prize stress. Worked 70 hours this week and fit in a 10k run every day? Great, you get to brag about it. Got world-famous clients screaming at you on the phone? How tough you must be. Actually, how terrified you must be. Stress is a form of anxiety, which is, essentially, fear, and it is not a natural state for us. Our cortisol shoots up, then our blood sugar follows. When it plummets, we want to eat – and fast – and sugar, preferably. Keeps us running, keeps us going (caffeine does the same, incidentally). The sugar spikes our blood sugar, and creates another crash, and we take more sugar, can’t stop, can’t slow down…What happens when we crash?

“I’m ashamed”. Once again, in our culture, many of us wear the cloak of shame. There are multiple ways we are told every day that we’re not good enough. There are two approaches to dealing with this. One is to cave in to these voices, to take on the belief that our body is wrong, our voice is wrong, our personality is wrong, our life is wrong. We are flawed. Since we aren’t addressing the shame directly, we medicate…and sugar can step in here to shut those voices down and make us feel loveable again, if only temporarily. But another approach to dealing with this is to fight back against those voices. It’s harder and it takes more strength.

Recognize yourself in any of these scenarios? Reducing or eliminating sugar from your life may be something you might want to explore. Stay tuned for my post on natural sweeteners, which can help to transition away from “the other white powder”.