Addiction Is A Brain Disease
The National Institute on Drug Abuse defines addiction as a chronic, relapsing, brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences.
The chronic nature of addiction means that it is long-lasting and cannot be cured. Relapsing infers that even after improving or getting better, the individual may suffer a setback or get worse again. Addiction is a brain disease because structural and functional changes occur in the brain due to drug use.
Drugs affect brain chemistry through a complex system. The effects of dopamine lie at the center of this process. There are several receptors in the brain, known as dopamine receptors. Drugs have been shown to damage these dopamine receptors in the brain. As a result, they increase dopamine concentrations in various regions of the brain.
Dopamine helps with motivation as well as reinforcement of rewarding behaviors. The disruption in dopamine from using drugs can, therefore, corrupt the messages sent to different parts of the brain. Due to this, there can be an alteration in decision making, learning, behaviors, and the reward system.
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Why Do I Crave Sugar All The Time
Many sugar cravings stem from a blood sugar imbalance. When your body ingests sugar, your blood sugar spikes and your body releases insulin to lower it to a safer level. If the insulin brings your blood sugar level a bit too low, as often happens, your body craves foods that will raise it and increase your energy.
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What Can I Take To Stop Sugar Cravings
We can quickly minimize or remove sugar consumption by choosing a variety of sweet foods. But first, its necessary to understand the difference between a craving and hunger.
Things That Can Prevent Sugar Cravings
1. Take a bite of fruit.For some consumers, eating a slice of fruit can help them meet their sugar cravings. Bananas, apples, berries, and oranges are all excellent choices.2. Use of Chia SeedsChia seeds include a high amount of soluble fiber, making you feel fuller for longer and reducing sugar cravings.3.Take a Hot BathSome individuals who struggle with sugar cravings have discovered that taking a hot bath helps them feel better. Allow the water to stream over your shoulders and back to warm you. Spend at least 5â10 minutes there. The craving will most likely vanish after that.4. Eat sugar as a treat.When it refers to sugar, going cold turkey can be a painful experience. Whether its one cookie or a couple of chunks of high-quality chocolate, having a small amount of sugar is an intelligent balance. Just try to follow the sugar guidelines and use lower-calorie products whenever possible.
Other Ways To Stop Cravings For Drugs
The above 12 ways are by no means exhaustive. The triggers, cravings, and coping mechanisms differ from person to person. What works for you may not work for others and vice versa. It remains exceedingly essential for you to look inwards and find out what works for you and how you can utilize your coping mechanisms to deal with your addiction. Moreso, when done with professional help.
Some other helpful ways to cope with cravings include staying busy with healthy behaviors, eating healthy, and surrounding yourself with positive influences. Also, getting enough sleep, encouraging yourself, and being optimistic. Focusing on the positive aspects of your life, practicing kindness and patience with yourself and others, turning to your faith and setting future goals are also helpful.
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Supplements For Sugar Withdrawal:
Anyone can eliminate sugar cravings with the use of natural vitamins. The following six nutrients help our mind and body to reject sugar naturally. They also allow us to come to a stage where we dont crave it anymore. Ive compiled a list of the most effective options. Lets learn how it works in reducing sugar cravings.
How Do Sugar Craving Pills Work
First, lets talk about what these pills are made of. Several drugs and supplements, including neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor modulators have been linked to reduced sugar cravings. But well focus on pills made from the much hyped and slightly more researched Gymnema sylvestre.
The woody, climbing plant native to India, Africa, and Australia has been deemed a sugar destroyer and found to not only control cravings for the sweet stuff, but actually alter the way sugar-laden foods taste.
In fact, gymnemic acids found in the plants leaves eradicate sweet flavors so much that sugar is said to taste like sand, while fruit tastes like an acid bomb.
Many of these pills work so that they bond to specific receptors on the taste buds to block sugar activation, Dr. Stanford says. This decreases ones desires for sweet food.
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Other Things That May Work
I am pretty sure the three steps above would work for most people to shut down a sugar craving.
But of course, the best option by far is to prevent these cravings in the first place.
To do that, toss all out of your house. If you keep them within close reach, youre asking for trouble. Instead, keep healthy foods within easy reach.
Also, if you eat healthy and exercise several times per week, chances are you wont get cravings nearly as often.
Here are 11 more useful tips to stop sugar cravings:
Summary
Numerous other methods may help you overcome a craving for sugar. These include drinking a glass of water, getting good sleep and eating high-protein foods.
How Long Does It Take To Break A Sugar Addiction
The Mayo Clinic recommends taking a two-week break from sugar to reset your body. This doesn’t have to be an outright cleanse, but try to limit yourself to foods with little to no added sugars or sweeteners shoot for less than 5 grams of added sugars per serving. Start by cutting out sugary drinks.
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Stack Your Diet With Protein And Good Fats
Frequently, food cravings are caused by eating too many processed carbohydrates and not enough protein and fats. Carbs can be healthy in moderation and give you a quick boost of energy, but when you eat too many of them, the resulting blood sugar fluctuations can cause cravings.
Try incorporating more healthy fats and proteins, like meat, fish, eggs, avocados, and nuts, in your diet protein and fat help to reduce hunger and prevent unnecessary food intake.
Drugs To Treat Sugar Addiction
Sugar consumption in excess has been shown to directly lead to weight gain. It has also been proven to raise dopamine levels in the brain. Dopamine governs the reward and pleasure centers, in a similar fashion to many other substances of abuse such as cigarettes, cocaine, and morphine.
Long-term intake of sugar also causes the opposite effect, a decrease in dopamine levels. To achieve the same degree of reward, people consume more sugar.
Experts also discovered that, in addition to an increased risk of weight gain, those who continue to consume large amounts of sugar and binge eat into adulthood may experience neurological and mental repercussions that alter mood and motivation.
Experts also say that FDA-approved medications like varenicline, a prescription medication sold under the brand name Champix that treats nicotine addiction, can act in the same way when it comes to sugar cravings.
Varenicline operated as a neuronal nicotinic receptor modulator. Plus, other medications like mecamylamine and cytisine had similar effects.
Withdrawal from prolonged sugar exposure, like cocaine withdrawal or meth withdrawal, can result in a dopamine imbalance. It can also be as tough as quitting cold turkey.
Even if more research is needed, findings imply that FDA-approved nAChR medicines could be a fresh new therapeutic option for the obesity epidemic.
In a nutshell, drugs to treat sugar addiction include varenicline, mecamylamine, and cytisine.
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Treating Sugar Addiction Like Drug Abuse
- Date:
- Queensland University of Technology
- Summary:
- Millions of people globally are overweight or obese and sugar is considered a major factor. Now a world-first game-changing study suggests drugs used to treat tobacco addiction could work for sugar addiction too.
With obesity rates on the rise worldwide and excess sugar consumption considered a direct contributor, the search has been on for treatments to reverse the trend. Now a world-first study led by QUT may have the answer.
Neuroscientist Professor Selena Bartlett from QUT’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation said the study, which has just been published by international research journal PLOS ONE, shows drugs used to treat nicotine addiction could be used to treat sugar addiction in animals.
The publication coincides with another paper by the team — Prolonged Consumption of Sucrose in a Binge-Like Manner, Alters the Morphology of Medium Spiny Neurons in the Nucleus Accumbens Shell — being published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. It shows that long chronic sugar intake can cause eating disorders and impact on behaviour.
“The latest World Health Organisation figures tell us 1.9 billion people worldwide are overweight, with 600 million considered obese,” said Professor Bartlett who is based at the Translational Research Institute.
“After long-term consumption, this leads to the opposite, a reduction in dopamine levels. This leads to higher consumption of sugar to get the same level of reward.
If Youre Truly Hungry Eat A Healthy & Filling Meal
If you really are needing energy and calories, instead of snacking on a cookie, reach for a protein-packed snack like a hardboiled egg, celery and all-natural peanut butter, or an apple with some cheese.
Make sure youre not starving yourself of good nutrition throughout the day when youre eating a healthy balance of macronutrients, most cravings will naturally fall away.
Opting for protein and fat instead of added sugar will keep you satiated longer without the need to fill up on empty calories and sugar, and its much better for your blood sugars!
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Can You Make Your Life Sweeter
If sugar feels like a reward to you, try replacing it with a different treat that makes you happy. A walk with someone you love, a trip to the movies, an excellent new book, or a bouquet of flowers for your bedside can lift your spirits and make you smile.
And dont rule out the bump in serotonin and beta-endorphins you get from exercise, a well-balanced meal, work that makes a difference, even a sunny day. When you experience joy and fun, they spell happiness to your body so you dont need to fill yourself up with sugar.
Letting go of sugar is stressful but the benefits you feel will keep you moving forward. Go for progress not perfection!
https://health.usnews.com/wellness/food/articles/2017-05-12/everything-you-need-to-know-about-sugar-cravings
http://www.cookinglight.com/news/sugar-craving-gene-keeps-body-fat-low
1 Rouch, C., et al. 2003. Extracellular hypothalamic serotonin and plasma amino acids in response to sequential carbohydrate and protein meals. Nutr. Neurosci., 6 , 117-124. URL : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12722987 .
Wurtman, R., & Wurtman, J. 1995. Brain serotonin, carbohydrate-craving, obesity and depression. Obes. Res., 3 , 477S-480S. URL : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8697046 .
2 DesMaisons, K. 2008.Potatoes Not Prozac: Solutions for Sugar Sensitivity NY: Simon & Schuster.
3 DesMaisons, K. 2008. p. 145.
4 DesMaisons, K. 2008. p. 75.
5 DesMaisons, K. 2008. p. 145.
6 DesMaisons, K. 2008. p. 185.
7 DesMaisons, K. 2008. p 84.
How To Control Sugar Cravings With Prescribed Medications
Many people enjoy desserts and claim to have a “sweet tooth,” but for some people, sugar cravings can be truly problematic. If you’ve ever dipped into a package of cookies or bag of jelly beans vowing to eat just one or two, only to find yourself polishing off the entire stash, you know what that means. And surely many people are familiar with those moments when the desire for something sweet to eat is so strong that nothing else will do. But if eating sugar causes weight problems or disordered eating, it needs to be addressed. For some people, particular prescription medications might be helpful.
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Chromium For Sugar Cravings
Chromium is a mineral that controls our insulin levels and enhances our blood sugar levels. It is a vital trace element that aids in the regulation of blood sugar levels. Therefore, a shortage of this mineral might lead to cravings. Adding a mineral supplement to our diet can make a massive impact.
In the form of chromium picolinate, trivalent chromium is among the finest supplements for reducing sugar cravings. Supplements providing 200-1,000 mcg chromium picolinate per day have been considered to enhance blood glucose regulation. They also lower sugar cravings when chromium levels decline with age. Within three days, Chromium picolinate will usually balance blood sugar and eliminate sugar cravings.
Why Do You Have Sugar Cravings
If you crave your afternoon soda, struggle to stop at just one piece of chocolate, or even get a headache or feel irritable if you dont eat something sweet in the morning, youre not alone. Not only are sugar cravings common, but this compulsion to eat sugar is indeed real and physiologically motivated. So why do I crave sugar? you might be asking yourself. Turns out that the answer is kind of complicated.
Studies show that sugar is an addictive substance, eliciting even more of a potent response in the reward centers of the brain thandrugs like cocaine. Although these reward systems serve a biological survival role, they also can contribute to the addictiveness of a behavior, motivating you to seek out sweet food.
Every type of food activates the reward centers of the brain to some degree otherwise, the species would not be motivated to seek more food, and our survival would be at risk. According to research studies, sweet foods are especially triggering because they elicit a more dramatic increase in dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure, and endogenous opioids, which are natural pain relievers that also add to feelings of a natural high or pleasure. These chemicals cause an emotional rush that can trigger future sugar cravings in order to replicate the feeling.
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How To Quit Sugar Addiction
There is no easy answer for quitting sugar addiction. However, some resources that may be helpful include: books, online articles, and counseling.
Also, eating healthy can assist with food addiction and quitting cold turkey: Whole fruits, vegetables, yogurt, whole grains, nuts, seeds, lean protein, leafy vegetables.
Additionally, leading a healthy lifestyle can help: Drink plenty of water, get enough rest, and exercise.
How To Stop Craving Sugar: 8 Tips To Cut The Cravings
Let’s face it: We’re all eating too much sugar and not just on Halloween. It’s basically in everything even foods you wouldn’t think of as being particularly sweet, like bread or salad dressing.
According to the American Heart Association, women should have no more than six teaspoons of added sugar a day and men no more than nine teaspoons of added sugar a day . As a general rule, I advise my clients to aim for no added sugar at all.
However, most Americans consume about two or three times this amount. And with many of us gearing up for trick-or-treating, it’s even harder to resist packaged snacks and pieces of candy when a craving comes calling.
This doesnt mean there is no room for a conscious indulgence here and there , but our day-to-day habits, like adding sugar to coffee or having ketchup with your burger, can really add up. If your sugar habit has picked up steam this week, here’s what to do:
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