Our relationship with sugar...
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Hi there,
I am really enjoying all the great information on your site and have started digging a little deeper into the relationship between sugar and mood. What are your thoughts on the personality traits of people who feel they are addicted to sugar and just can’t give it up?
Looking forward to your thoughts!
Kathryn
6 Responses
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I can’t wait to hear more.
Ellen -
I have a kind of disturbing story to share on the “sugar high”. A few years back we were at a birthday party for our friends’ daughter. At the end of the meal the kids were getting pretty antsy and our son and his friend were encouraging another boy to hurry up and eat his ice cream so they could go play and here is the dialogue roughly:
" Casey, hurry up and eat your ice cream so we can go play"
" Yeah, Casey hurry up and eat the ice cream so you can get super hyper and then we can go run around."
: But I don’t want to eat it fast so I get super hyper all at once, I want to eat it slowly so I can preserve my hyperness the whole night."So, these kids were about seven I think and were already treating sugar as a drug!
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It is interesting to consider if there are any links between personalities, constitutions, or biology and predisposition to sugar addiction. My first thoughts on it are that we are all addicted to some form of inertia, some people tend to go for sugar others for sex, others compulsively buy classical cds, the list is endless, but I think the long and short of it is that addictions of any kind dampen our potential and hinder us from fully moving forward. From one perspective it is completely fascinating to inquire into the different personality traits and I think can be helpful in some cases- especially for individuals in the healthcare field, being able to communicate and really get the source of the imbalance is essential. But from another perspective, the relationship between personality and addiction is obsolete because it doesn’t really matter. What matters is dropping the addiction, but in order to do that we need to know what to work with… which then loops us back to the original question- is it personality, constitution or biology- what is it that we’re dealing with in order to make “the drop” happen? Easy to see how confusing a topic this could become, turning into a cyclical inquiry rather than path of progress.
I wonder if we take even one more step back from the topic what will we find? I think it is clear that there are biological forces at play- factors that do in some way need to be addressed- but I don’t think just addressing the biology, or the personality, or the constitutional imbalance is enough to sustain a lasting change- not when it’s an outside force coming in (like acupuncture or psychotherapy). Lasting change seems to hold only when it comes from inside, when the individuals consciousness has been stirred and we begin to see the role of conscious choices and intentions in relationship to our addictive behavior.
From a bird’s eye view we can see how subtle the territory we’re navigating through is here. I think the golden key is to keep focusing on our intention and keep objectifying… stepping back and flying higher!
Love, Amber
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I have a pretty strong feeling that at least for some of us it really is important to understand the biochemistry of addiction to get out of the cycle of helplessness with the substance. It’s very hard for intention to get traction when the body/brain is out of whack.
I am always a bit concerned when there is discussion about “personality” and addiction, because of my own experience with that with alcohol (years ago now). Thinking that my addiction was a personal character flaw was a terrible impediment to dropping the addiction. For me in that case, as for many alcoholics, there was a pretty long distance between the stirring of consciousness, the intention to get clear and right, and the manifestation of the intention, because my understanding of the relationship between the substance and my body and my spirit was so muddy. It took me a year of trying between the time I knew I wanted (desperately) to stop drinking and when I actually did; every single day for that year I woke up and meditated and resolved and intended and prayed, and somehow always ended the day with the glass of wine in my hand. It was hell and I was in complete despair. What made the difference for me was reading a book that explained the biochemistry of alcohol addiction. For the first time, I recognized that the addiction-proneness and the lapses of consciousness weren’t due to something fundamentally Wrong about me, a personality or character defect, it was simply a biological fact of this particular brain that if I put this substance into my mouth, the brain would not work right. That the substance was a poison that would always and ever cloud the mind and foil my best intentions.Period. For that first step — where the intention turned to action — it was really important for me to be able to see through and thus disengage from the identification with the alcoholic “me” that I had created in my mind. The defective “me” that had “addictive personality”, was just not up to rising above itself. As soon as I truly understood the biochemical basis of the problem, and was operating from the perspective of an informed and aware whole person with a biochemical process happening in the body, no longer identifying as a defective person who was out of control, I was able to “just say no”. It wasn’t about me. The addicted brain was not who I was. That was essential to understand.
So I think we need right intention and right understanding and right effort. If we don’t know what we’re dealing with, we won’t be skillful in dealing with it, no matter how sincerely we are trying.
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Linda this entire post is so rich. Thank you for taking the time to articulate.
Linda: As soon as I truly understood the biochemical basis of the problem, and was operating from the perspective of an informed and aware whole person with a biochemical process happening in the body, no longer identifying as a defective person who was out of control, I was able to “just say no”.
Tif: To me this says that you chose to identify with the part of your self that was not victimized. I have been thinking a lot about how liberating this perspective is for us. In a sense, it is the only perspective.. the impersonal or philosophical perspective… that can liberate. Other wise we are too shrouded in self concern that is stemming from a place that has a “fundamentally flawed” operating system (negative aspects of ego). That separate sense of self that is inherently focused on the “problem.” In my experience it has only been from that open, inherently positive, impersonal perspective that conscious, lasting change happens. Its like, from the perspective of ego, I can only see more ego… there is no way out. But from this bigger, liberated perspective, freedom is possible, and my choices/actions become clear.
Linda: So I think we need right intention and right understanding and right effort. If we don’t know what we’re dealing with, we won’t be skillful in dealing with it, no matter how sincerely we are trying.
Tif: So true. This is what I am really seeing as we endeavor to create “Your Sweeter Life.” There are many facets to look at, and they each have their place. Learning about and dealing with biochemistry is foundational. Infusing our “intentionality” with an ever increasing awareness and perspective is essential. And creating community to support “right effort” and action, I am finding to be another paramount piece. This is why I am so thrilled that we are inquiring into this together. As I stretch myself to articulate the edge of what is coming up… what is evolving, I get the sense that a form of creation is happening in real time.
Love,
Tif
Hi Kathryn,
that is such a good question. I have been contemplating since you posted it yesterday. I interviewed Dr Kathleen DesMaisons, author of Potatoes Not Prozac a few days ago (we will be posting the audio this week!). She specializes in “addictive nutrition,” and she was saying that “sugar sensitive” people have certain personality characteristics. What stood out to me, and what I could relate to from direct experience are the emotional highs and lows. Sugar sensitive people tend to oscillate between being open, confidant, creative, and sensitive to feeling dried up creatively, closed, irritable and low self-esteem.
The other thing I’d add is that many of these “sugar sensitives” don’t necessarily know or believe they are addicted to sugar; they could be nightly wine drinkers, or have their daily chocolate fix. These are all very socially acceptable behaviors. But where the non-addict can easily do without or not think about these things for a few days, the addict will crave… and they actually feel best, feel “normal” when “using.” It is only when one attempts to give up the addiction that you can get a glimpse into the nature of it.
Dr. DesMaisons says that sugar sensitives and impulsive (and compulsive) and they like to jump right into things. I can relate!
The interesting question to ponder is what might the traits of a sugar sensitive be if they were is a state of “recovery?” I know from my own experience that I’m much more sane and balanced when not on daily sugar dosing :).
Starting this week we are going to bringing you (on the EFE site) helpful tools as part of Your Sweeter Life. These are designed to help people get clear on what sugar actually does to the body/mind. I think the key is to increase our awareness, and then take right action. At the same time, at least for “sugar sensitives,” we need to begin to balance the brain chemistry in order to maintain a wholesome relationship with sugar. Dr DesMaisons talks about this in the interview, we will also be posting more about this on the site.
Love,
Tif