Sugar, Grains And Cocaine

What do you think sugar, grains and cocaine all have in common? Could it be that they are all mood-altering? Could it be that they cause your energy levels to fluctuate? Could it be that they all provide a short-lived high? Could it be that they all change your brain’s biochemistry? Could it be that they are all addictive? Could it be that they all trigger cravings when removed from your lifestyle? If you answered yes to all these of those questions, then you’re spot on. Well done! The end.

Not really. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock (I love that expression, who ever does that?) you’ll probably be realising that sugar is slowly being exposed as a drug and is one of the leading causes of obesity and heart disease, and thus, death, in our modern world. Sugar kills more people that anything else on our planet, yet it’s become a staple food in our diets. Sugar causes testosterone levels to plummet. Sugar causes you to gain body fat. It causes type-2 diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), metabolic syndrome and inflammation – and that leads to just about every other chronic disease.

Check this out: It has been scientifically proven that sugar stimulates the same receptors in the brain as class A drugs like heroine and cocaine. It triggers dopamine – the happy chemicals in your brain’s pleasure centre. It’s also been proven to have the same addictive properties as class A drugs, if not worse. Do you love your desserts? You’re a sugar addict, sorry! Love your cigarettes? I think you follow. Same thing. None of us like being addicted to things – unless they’re healthy things like working out and eating awesome, wholesome, clean food of course.

Before you think I’m going off on a rant, I ought to be clear that I do indulge occasionally and I do have a very sweet tooth. So I make desserts a treat, about once a week. The trouble about sugar, is that it’s hidden in so many things – like soft drinks, flavoured water and processed foods. You don’t have to eat sweets, chocolates and desserts to be consuming sugar. It has also become such a staple ingredient. Sugar is in practically all desserts and they have become an accepted way of finishing off a meal –  it’s the cultural norm to have something rich in sugar after your meal – your meal which has already fuelled your body.

We used to get our sugar ‘fix’ from fruits – that’s how our ancestors would satisfy their sweet cravings. We’re now consuming sugar in a manufactured form and it’s in virtually everything sweet, and most processed foods. High Fructose Corn Syrup (found in most sodas) is highly toxic. Did you know it’s actually possible to eat desserts which are sweet and have no sugar in them? I found a ton of them in Bali when I was lucky enough to live for 6 weeks over the summer. I actually started to eat desserts again in Bali – to satisfy that sweet tooth of mine! I justified it by telling myself there was no added sugar. The sweetness would come from dried fruit, often dates. Or cocoa powder.

I’ll always remember an interview I heard with Mark Sisson, the author of The Primal Blueprint – he said one of his biggest bugbears is the dessert menu that’s given to you after a meal in a restaurant. (By the way, Mark Sisson is in his mid sixties and ripped like a 20 year-old and lives the active life of a similarly aged man. Want to follow what works? He is a great example.) He can’t understand quite how we’ve been conditioned to have a second meal (having already got the fuel from the meal – the 1st course) loaded with sugar, to push us over the edge. This sends our blood sugar levels through the roof, puts our pancreas on overdrive as it extracts the extra glucose from our blood (to save it from becoming toxic!!) and deposits it into your fat cells (typically, unless consumed after an intensive workout when it’ll fuel muscle or liver cells ).

That glucose / sugar injection makes you feel nice and high for a very short while, then what happens within about 15-20 minutes? Your energy levels plummet and you go into a food coma. You’re left wanting more – one more hit.. Imagine what happens to our brains when we do this consistently. Over and over again. Ever feel stressed? Sugar is a major contributor to that. Check out just how toxic sugar is in your body, what it does in your brain (live MRI scan shown) and how it triggers insulin to feed cancer cells:

What do grains have to do with sugar and heroine? Well, truth be told, they trigger a similar reaction in your brain, as does sugar and heroine. Gliadin protein chains in gluten called peptides react with opiate receptors in the brain. This triggers same effect as if you were taking opiate-like drugs, such as heroin and morphine. The part of the brain involved with speech and auditory integration is affected and this part of the brain can cause addiction to foods, leave you feeling spaced out or having ‘foggy’ brain, headaches / migraines, tiredness, chronic fatigue, aggressive behaviour, moodiness, anxiety, depression, and high tolerance to pain.

Have a read of Grain Brain – it might just save your life, or the lives of people you love.