I know the value of ridding the body of excess sugar. For more than forty years, I have incorporated sugar detox into treatments for countless patients suffering from chronic health problems. I have also seen thousands of people whose chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia were aggravated by their sugar addiction.
Quick Question- Do You Know What’s Causing YOUR Sugar Addiction?
I also understand the problem firsthand. A former sugar addict myself, I came down with chronic fatigue syndrome in 1975. Eliminating my sugar addiction was an important part of my recovery.
Sugar addiction is the canary in the coal mine. It usually points to a larger problem that is also dragging you down. We don’t have anything against sugar. We simply don’t want you feeling poorly and getting sick because of it. In fact, we want you to feel great! And most of you will when you treat the problems accompanying your sugar addiction. Ready to get off the “sugar roller coaster?” We’re happy to guide the way.
The basics of sugar detox are, of course, diet related (stop eating sugar), and diet alteration is the standard method used to overcome sugar addiction. But an even deeper level of treatment is necessary to produce wellness. If you have tried the “cold turkey” approach to sugar addiction without nutritional strategies, treatment guidelines, and support, you probably found success elusive. That’s because getting rid of the sugar is but one step in an overall comprehensive approach that must address the mind, body, and spirit.
The most successful way to treat sugar addition includes a process called medical triage. This means addressing the relative severity of each problem and then organizing treatment in order of priority. The problem with many medical self-help books is that they pick off a little corner of the problem and miss the big picture, so often you get frustrated and stop your program without getting well. My goal in writing The Complete Guide to Beating Sugar Addiction Now! is to give you an organized and easy approach, so you can effectively kick sugar addiction––along with the hidden problems driving your addiction.
The Complete Guide to Beating Sugar Addiction Now! gives you a step-by-step approach for each type of sugar addiction that encourages you to change from a sugar-laden to a low-sugar diet without sacrificing the pleasures of food and eating. Although I will offer suggestions, I believe in personalized medicine; therefore, this book takes a flexible, real-life approach to becoming sugar healthy. Although we will offer guidelines for healthy eating, sugar substitution, and treatments to aid withdrawal and heal the body, we encourage you most of all to trust your intuition and listen to your body as you recover and see what makes you feel the best. To this end, we’ll present up-to-date information and valuable resources in an easy-to-understand and -use format, so you can boost your health and improve how you feel quickly.
The Four Types of Sugar Addiction
To beat sugar addiction, first you’ll need to figure out which type of sugar addict you are. Think of it like a road trip. The initial step is to decide the best way to get to where you want to be: free of sugar addiction and feeling great. Consider this book as your road map to wellness. We include directions for your inner journey, a journey that will heal not only your body but also your mind and spirit. A journey that will change your life!
Different kinds of sugar addiction have different underlying causes and require different treatments. Here are the four key types of sugar addiction:
Type 1: The Energy Loan Shark
Chronically exhausted and hooked on quick hits of caffeine and sugar
When daily fatigue causes sugar (and caffeine) cravings, sometimes all you need is to improve nutrition, sleep, and exercise. When your energy increases, you won’t need sugar and as much caffeine for an energy boost. New research shows that coffee can be beneficial when used in moderation, and we’ll show you how. You’ll find out how to turbocharge your energy in an easy and healthy way starting in chapter 1.
Type 2: Feed Me Now or I’ll Kill You
When life’s stress has exhausted your adrenal glands
For those of you who get irritable when you’re hungry and crash under stress, it is important to treat your adrenal exhaustion. You’ll learn how to nourish your adrenals and beat this type of sugar addiction, for good, beginning in chapter 2.
Type 3: The Happy Ho-Ho Hunter
Sugar cravings caused by yeast/candida overgrowth
For those of you with chronic nasal congestion, sinusitis, spastic colon, or irritable bowel syndrome, treating yeast overgrowth is critical. Learn all about probiotics, healing sugar addiction, and begin to take steps to wellness in chapter 3.
Type 4: Depressed and Craving Carbs
Sugar cravings caused by your period, menopause, or andropause
For women who feel worse around their menstrual cycle, or whose problems increased when they entered perimenopause in their forties, and during menopause, estrogen and progesterone deficiency may be driving your sugar craving. In a woman’s earlier years, this is likely to reflect as premenstrual syndrome (PMS, with associated progesterone deficiency), with severe irritability around your periods. In your mid-forties, as estrogen deficiency begins, estrogen or progesterone deficiency often produces increased sugar cravings, fatigue, moodiness, and insomnia around your periods, as well as decreased vaginal lubrication.
For men, testosterone deficiency associated with andropause can also cause sugar craving, along with other severe problems. Depression, decreased libido, decreased erectile function, high blood pressure, weight gain, diabetes, or high cholesterol can suggest testosterone deficiency. Interestingly, supplementing with bio-identical natural testosterone (by prescription) has been shown to help all of these problems.
Standard blood testing for hormonal deficiencies will not reveal the problems until they are very severe, sometimes leaving people deficient for decades. Find out why eliminating sugar addiction and other problems caused by low estrogen, progesterone, or testosterone is essential, starting in chapter 4.
Four quick quizzes will tell you which type of sugar addiction you have. From there, easy fixes will not only make your sugar addiction go away, but will also leave you feeling dramatically better!