Monday, October 28, 2013

Understanding The Link Between Alcoholism And Sugar

By Stein Relou


I finally quit smoking 19 years ago. While it took years and years of false starts, I did it, eventually, and now I hardly ever think of cigarettes anymore.And when it came time to quit sugar, I looked back to what i had learned from my quest to become a non-smoker.Sugar is just as addictive as nicotine. And nicotine is more addictive than heroin, I've been told. So if it's hard to give up either substance, there's a good reason for that.[
[Sugar Addiction Treatment]
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If you see a little of yourself in this message, you're not alone. Many describe themselves as sugar addicts. They believe if it were only for that one thing, then they could reach their weight loss goals. If you believe only one thing stands in your way of losing weight, consider this: What if that one thing (an addiction to sugar for instance) were gone? Do you really believe, "If I could get past this, there is no doubt that I will reach my goal," or is it an easy excuse to stay stuck?If I told you I could show you a way to stop craving sugar, would you want me to show you how? Think about that for a moment. Close your eyes and really think it through. You've said if only you didn't crave sugar, then you could lose weight, but is that really true for you? Ask yourself these questions:

Sugar tends to affect the same part of the brain that heroine, cocaine, and other hard drugs do when a person uses them. The two main neurotransmitters involved with sugar addiction are serotonin and beta endorphins. We think of serotonin as the depression hormone, but it's also responsible for concentration, attention, and impulse control. When your serotonin levels are lower, you may become less able to say "no." Beta endorphins are that feel good chemical that is released after exercise, but this neurotransmitter is also associated with self esteem. Those with lower levels of beta endorphins who have excellent insight and are well accomplished might still have great difficulty with self esteem.

Here's what I did instead. I experimented with "sugar-free" goodies. In moderate doses.It helped, believe me. Temptation was greatly reduced because sugar-free candy is harder to find than the regular kind, and the selection isn't quite as yummy either.Once I made the commitment to forego all sugar, it was easy. Eating sugar was not an option, yet I knew if I wanted a treat, I could get it later (or sometimes even bring it along). It's easy to say "no" when the answer is clear. It's much harder to negotiate portions, at least for me.

In NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) a good starting point is the exercise called Establishing a Well Formed Outcome. "Well formed" means it meets all criteria of a well thought-out end result.How to Create a Well Formed Outcome & Get What You Want.Here are the steps to creating a well formed outcome:State what you want (not what you do not want). "I want to weigh 135 pounds."Determine whether you can achieve it (do you believe it is possible?).What resources do you have and what do you need (time, money, gear, clothes, equipment, coaching, whatever).Check whether anyone else is involved and any potential obstacles that may come up regarding others. Think of everyone involved in your day-to-day life.Picture yourself "as if" you've obtained what you say you want and see if that picture fits. Do you like what you see? Put together a plan of action for the achievement of your outcome.

Here's the way I have weaned myself off sugar.First of all, for many of us, sugar is addictive. Period. Just accept it. You eat it, you want more. That's what it used to be like for me. Still is. Except I don't eat sugar anymore, and so I no longer have a problem.So, hard as it may seem, the easiest way to get off that roller coaster is to quit cold turkey. But you knew that and you didn't want to read THAT here, so I'm not going to stop there.

There's no reason you should have to put up with being so stressed that you feel the urge to self-medicate with sugar or cigarettes. Get the information you need to effectively get rid of excess stress right now. Just click on the link for Elisabeth Kuhn's FREE stress-busting strategies report and reclaim your inner calm, like countless others have done before you.It's a known fact that sugar contributes to obesity. High blood sugar, the result of eating large amounts of sugar, leads to the need for the body to store that extra sugar, and that storage occurs as fat, which most often leads to an increased risk for heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and some cancers.

I have always loved sugar in any form, from fudgicles to birthday cake to spoonfuls of brown sugar right from the box. My early love affair with it never seemed a problem until my 20s when I developed constant headaches. They were present upon rising and going to bed, often erupting during the day into migraines. As a result, I ate analgesics (which contain 65 mg. of caffeine per tablet) by the handful, upwards of twelve a day, every day. In addition, my periods were getting worse with simulated labor pains and water-weight gain up to 10 pounds. Anxiety insinuated itself into my every thought.I worried about the occurrence of the improbable and impossible. Depression slowly settled a dark, suffocating blanket over me. By the time I was in my 30s, I had run the gamut of neurological tests, but nothing revealed itself or helped. (No one asked about my diet.) I was tired all the time, weak, and cried at a moment's notice. To comfort myself I ate some Brach's Bridge Mix, 'Nilla Wafers, or Breyer's Fudge Swirl Ice Milk, only now in larger portions and more frequently to round off the sharp corners.As I turned 40, I developed night sweats, a 120-beats-per-minute heart rate, and insomnia. A prescription for the generic beta-blocker propranolol slowed my racing heart in between binges. By this time I was eating all the sugar-laden food I could lay my hands on. If I did not have candy around, I would go to the store at any time in any weather to get it, bake a coffee cake, or eat raw sugar. Heartburn and gas were a constant problem.

This is different for different sugar substitutes though, so you may want to experiment. Stevia is the healthiest of the bunch, so whenever possible, choose that one. Also, try to reduce the sweetness of what you eat gradually when you have control, for example with coffee or tea. Learn to like it with less -- and eventually even without.depending on which sweetener you picked, you may find that you don't WANT to eat more than a small portion because eating too much of certain kinds, particularly sugar alcohols (maltitol, sorbitol, etc.) leads to major gastro-intestinal distress. So you eat just a little... That's what's called "self-limiting" in medicine, and it works great for sugar addiction as well.

Having had my first heart attack at 48, in 1985, and eventually having more attacks and trips to the hospital to have a total of 6 stents* inserted in my heart, I began a pilgrimage to improve my health.A stent is a small metal mesh tube that acts as a scaffold to provide support inside your coronary artery. A balloon catheter, placed over a guide wire, is used to insert the stent into the narrowed coronary artery.Presently I am 74, thankful for the stents to give me better heart health and for the extensive research I've done to learn about the power of food to heal. I've come to believe that good nutrition can increase all areas of your life such as energy, awareness, inhibit and/or delay Alzheimer's, and make living longer a joy filled experience.It isn't just about looking good, it's about living longer and healthier. It's about having healthier children and especially about not having your children live less years than you. Think about it.




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