Healthy Shamrock Shake

We are all programed to like sugar but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to overcome your sugar addiction!  New research shows some of us are genetically much more prone to crave sugar than others.  The science demonstrating that people can be biologically addicted to sugar in the same way we can be addicted to heroin, cocaine or nicotine. Bingeing and addictive behaviors are eerily similar in alcoholics and sugar addicts. It seems that we all vary a bit in our capacity for pleasure. Some us need a lot more stimulation to feel pleasure driving us to a range of addictive pleasures that stimulate our reward center in the brain – drug and alcohol addictions, compulsive gambling, sex addiction and, of course, sugar, food addiction and compulsive eating. We often see these as moral failures or results of character defects. In fact, it may be that addicts are simply born with unfortunate genetic variations in our reward and pleasure mechanisms.Even if you are stuck with the sugar addiction gene (yes, there really is such a thing!) you may be able to modify its activity by modulating your brain chemistry with the use of specific nutrients that either improve gene expression, or modify the activity of these genes.  Regulation of hormones and neurotransmitters that affect appetite and cravings is complex and involves many factors including how quickly food spikes our blood sugar, stress levels, getting enough sleep, nutritional deficiencies, chemicals such as artificial sweeteners, and food sensitivities which drive inflammation.