Did you know that there is a direct link between sugar, joint pain and inflammation. Did you know the addictive nature of sugar rivals that of cocaine, morphine, and cigarettes? Did you know that when you eat sugar, your body is flooded with insulin and stress hormones which tells your body to store fat and can trigger an inflammatory response or intensity one that is already brewing? Did you know that eating sugar foods lowers your pain threshold making you more sensitive to pain?
It’s no accident recovering alcoholics often turn to sugar as they cut out alcohol—it’s an easily available drug. According to a 2008 study out of Princeton University, “rats eating large amounts of sugar when hungry, a phenomenon known as sugar-bingeing, undergo neurochemical changes in the brain that appear to mimic those produced by substances of abuse.”
In addition to the detrimental effects of sugar shown in these studies, sugar has been linked to weakened immunity, even feeding certain cancers! Found in most processed foods, fruit juice, and sports drinks (in the form of high fructose corn syrup), and many of the desserts we grew up with and enjoy at holidays and birthdays, it’s hard to resist sugar’s seductive spell. Fortunately, there arehealthful ways to beat back even the most powerful sugar cravings.
Cravings are a method by which your body communicates with you, and they should not be ignored. However, what you think is a call for sugar is likely something else: