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Aug07 Why Am ICraving Sugar? onAugust 7, 2012 at11:07pm Why Am ICraving Sugar?

Half of all Americans drink at least one soda every day. One soda equals 55pounds of sugar ingested every year. Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee are the top three states for obesity. All three states are in the top in soda consumption with 7180gallons of soda consumed p/year. Am Igetting enough daily sugar? Most people get over the recommended daily allowance of sugar before breakfast isover. Got sugar on the brain? Sugar stimulates the brains release of dopamine and serotonin, producing aeuphoric effect similar to illicit drugs. Is there anything better than sitting down after along day and enjoying your favorite dessert?Those moments of sugary goodness are pure ecstasy attimes. But what about those moments where we opt to say no but then cant stop the cravings? Whats going on inside that makes it seemingly impossible to turn away?What is this addiction and why does it seem worse at times than othertimes? Sugar addiction is real.Like any addiction, it grabs hold and wont let go until you feed it full as an over-sized tick on your favorite pooch. Lets take alook at some surprising statistics on the consumption of sugar in the United States (the worst sugar addicts) and then well look at how sugar addiction happens. Sugar in America FAQs How much sugar do we eat p/year? We average over 165pounds of dietary sugar per person, every year. Thats nearly 15 tablespoons of sugar consumed by every person, every day! Compare that to the 1800s, when the average daily intake was 18pounds ayear. How much soda do Americans drink? Does yogurt have too much sugar? Check the label on your favorite yogurt. Fat free fruit yogurt has over 180% more sugar than plain Greek yogurt. How Sugar Addiction Happens Lets delve into how you get addicted tosugar. Despite the many different explanations offered up on why sugar addiction happens, there is acommon denominator that most theorists agree on;Sugar affects brain chemistry and the chemicals involved create addictive behavior. Sugar is adrug and it has addictive properties.Princeton Scientist,Professor Bart Hoebel, released information in a2008 study confirming that sugarfulfills the criterion for substances that we define as addictive.His sugar rats confirmed changes in brain function when consuming sugar. The sweet taste of sugar activates our brains receptor sites.These are the exact same sites that are triggered by heroine and morphine. What are Dopamine & Serotonin? We have already established that sugar stimulates dopamine and serotonin.The former is aneurotransmitterthat activates the brains reward and pleasure centers.The latter is ahormone known to influence happiness, contentment and depression. A major theory suggests that ingesting sugar increases tryptophan (an amino acid) absorption and this causes your body

to make more serotonin, making you happy again, if only for the moment. All this time, weve been blaming sugar for everything. It turns out were just addicted to dopamine and serotonin! A PubMed Study confirmed that sugar binges release Dopamine and that sugar can have effects similar to adrug ofabuse. How to Beat Sugar Addiction This one wont be easy.A habit thats been continually developed for years and years is going to be tough to break.And sugar, in moderation, has been proven to have apositive effect on the body, especially in athletes or those who sweat it out on adaily basis.Trying to decide how much sugar is too much is adecision youll have to make for yourself. Lean Gains Guide was created for 2reasons: 1) To create unique and useful diet tools while chronicling my fat loss from 25% body fat to 6%. Istarted my journey on January 1, 2012 and am currently at 10%. 2) To inspire. Iwant to encourage alean and muscular Hollywood Look, while keeping the content engaging and entertaining for the readers. Did you like this? Shareit:

As aself-professed recovering sugarholic, my most successful method of sugar abstinence is to feed myself every few hours throughout the day, once my hunger starts.For me, thats skipping breakfast altogether, enjoying ablack coffee and then starting the feeding cycle everyday around noon. I dont do low calorie.I do low-carb, high-protein and Ieat foods that are both good for me and plain ol good.This keeps the sweet cravings at bay better than anything else Ive tried. If youre one that needs to slow down on sugar or quit altogether, youll need to change your relationship with food.Its amental game but choose to eat for health instead of eating for pleasure and the long-term rewards are yours. Realize that cutting out all that sugar not only rewards your health but keeps those glycogen levels down and lets you burnfat! Simply choosing to lower sugar consumption and focusing on moderation will likely be enough for most to achieve the benefits of ahealthier body and happier life. References: American Heart Association American Diabetes Association International Dairy Foods Association Lick the Sugar Habit, 2nd Edition Depression and Anxiety Volume 16, Issue 3, pages 118120, 2002