It started when I first started dating Gaelyn. We'd go out for a night, get a pint of ice cream on the way back, and then watch a movie.
The first time we did this she was a little surprised, but mostly concerned. "Are you going to finish that whole pint in one sitting?"
"Of course. You don't finish the whole pint? What's wrong with you?", I said.
"No way, that's a ridiculous amount of ice cream. Look at the nutrition label.", she pointed out through a chuckle of laughter and shock. I was knocking out 1,000 calories and 100g of sugar in one glorious, gluttonous, feast.
This was my first awareness of my ice cream addiction.
The next step was embarrassing. Total addict behavior.
After Gaelyn would go to bed, I'd stay up and knock out a pint of Ben & Jerry's. But that's not the worst part. The worst part is that I'd walk the evidence out to the garbage chute and throw away the empty container. That way she would never know...
Sugar Addiction
Sugar addiction is a real thing. If you don't believe me try to quit sugar cold turkey.
And if you want the evidence based research, here it is:
"In animal studies, sugar has been found to produce more symptoms than is required to be considered an addictive substance. Animal data has shown significant overlap between the consumption of added sugars and drug-like effects, including bingeing, craving, tolerance, withdrawal, cross-sensitisation, cross-tolerance, cross-dependence, reward and opioid effects. Sugar addiction seems to be dependence to the natural endogenous opioids that get released upon sugar intake. In both animals and humans, the evidence in the literature shows substantial parallels and overlap between drugs of abuse and sugar, from the standpoint of brain neurochemistry as well as behaviour.
Bottom Line
I still enjoy ice cream. I'm not going to sacrifice my soul for my physical health or for vanity.
But now I do it responsibly. It's an occasional treat and I usually go out to the Hop to get my fix. That way there's no temptation left in the freezer.
Sugar is a drug. First step is realizing this and considering we may have some food addictions.
I know...it's not like we're shoot up heroin or breaking into people's homes for opioids. But it's still an addiction that is not good for our health.
If you don't want to do it for yourself, consider eating better for your kids, pets, parents, or significant other.