Confessions of a Sugar Addict in a Sugar-Laden World | Laura Marquis | TEDxLoyolaMarymountU

the past 20 years obesity rates have dramatically increased in the United States affecting one out of every three children and two out of every three adults more startling every seven seconds someone dies from complications related to diabetes and sadly over four point nine million people die annually due to food-related preventable diseases and the number one culprit to all this unnecessary sickness and death is sugar so why does this matter so much to me because I had a sickness that was triggered by sugar and if left to one rampid would have left me as one of these statistics i suffer from the disease of addiction and not just any kind of addiction sugar addiction and i don't say that in a cute way like i really like chocolate or ice cream i say i'm addicted to sugar like it controlled me like I could not stop eating sugary foods today I want to share my story about how I came to realize that I was addicted to sugar because it has brought me here I now want to devote my time and energy into helping others understand number one how addictive sugar really is and number two how simply we can make changes to live a healthier life without sugar the first time I can remember hearing the term addiction I was about 14 years old I can remember sitting in the living room talking with my dad we're talking about how everyone in this world has advice well I completely idolized my dad and still do so I couldn't believe that he could or would have one so I said dad what's your advice and I can remember what he said word for word Laura some people are addicted to drinking drugs and alcohol I'm addicted to food but unlike other forms of addiction you can't just cut food out of your life you can't just stop eating he seems slightly sad or embarrassed but he wanted me to know he didn't want to hide it unfortunately at this point I was where I was already showing many of the same signs as having it it started with small things like I couldn't help but pick up food in front of me even if I was already full I'd still eat more and then I started hiding wrappers of the food I'd eaten I honestly didn't even know why I just felt like it wasn't normal to eat so much looking back these were the first signs that I was suffering from addiction but it wasn't until several years later that I knew without a doubt I had it when I was 18 I started working in a bakery now for those of you who have never worked in a bakery a general thumb is that you get to eat any damaged desserts this is awesome for any team trying to save money but not great for me I was eating everything and I'm not talking one or two pieces of dessert here and there I would eat a dozen cookies at a time or nearly a whole pie at once and I couldn't stop myself I was desperate to try to come up with a solution because I was gaining weight and I wasn't feeling great about myself so I started taking just one bite of the dessert and then throwing the rest into the trash for sure this would help but I was wrong I knew it was still there and until recently I never thought that I'd shared this part of my addiction because it's pretty embarrassing and not the proudest moment of my life but my addiction get to the point where I would actually take the half-eaten dessert out of the trash and finish it I didn't know why I was doing this I was an educated young adult none of my friends were doing this none of my family was doing this why could I not stop myself from thinking about the stupid dessert in the trash and why on earth could I not stop myself from actually taking out of the trash to eat it and then it hit me I was addicted to food just like my dad but at 18 I refuse to believe that this is what my life was going to be now so I decide that I was going to research and I was going to figure out what cost food addiction so I could figure out what caused it and how I could solve it or at least make it not so hard to deal with what I found out is that food addicts aren't addicted to food in general no food addict is diving into a trash can for mushrooms neither there'd be so much like in alcoholic an alcoholic can drink as much water as they want without actually causing any type of addiction pattern they just have to avoid the alcohol for food addicts we have to avoid one or two things it's either fat or it's sugar for me without a doubt my addiction with sugar understanding that I was now a sugar addict I put all my attention into understanding why sugar was so completely powering over me what I found out is that for decades scientists have been trying to prove how addictive sugar was but it wasn't until 2008 that they actually found out without a doubt sure is chemically addictive and not just kind of addictive it's eight times more addictive than cocaine as a sugar addict I realized that I was now going to have to completely eliminate all processed sugars from my body if I was ever going to regain control but I was learning the hard way that sugar was hidden in everything what I started to do to regain control as I started only allowing healthy foods in my diet I put everything into serving size containers I put the calorie count on everything yet I was still feeling helpless all the time all I could think about was food when I'd wake up in the morning I was thinking about what is going to eat for breakfast at breakfast I was thing but what is gonna eat for lunch lunch was think about what is gonna eat for dinner so on and so on it was exhausting and that's when I realized that just because a food says it's healthy that doesn't mean it actually is I realized that you cannot lie to your body added sugar is added sugar even if your eyes are seeing you eat something healthy like a granola bar or yogurt these foods create the same sugar spike in your body as if you're eating a candy bar and it is these foods that continue to fuel my addiction and they continue to trick the everyday healthy American into believing that they're healthy and in return they get fatter and they get sicker I have seen so many people suffering from everything from the shame of being overweight to the pain of trying to walk with neuropathy and their feet caused by diabetes but the worst that I've seen by far have been the kids crying from losing their parents from preventable food-related diseases what I know is that we are not purposely making ourselves sick so it's time to make a change here are the three key things that I learned that have helped me get to this healthy place in my life I first slowly started to limit the amount of processed sugar that I was taking in I started by first limiting it down to 24 grams that is what the American Health Association's suggest for women and then from there I was able to slowly eliminate it altogether now to put into perspective what 24 grams is that's about the equivalent of one Greek yogurt or one vitamin water the next thing I had to learn was how to properly read a food label in the early days I was getting tricked by what's known as the health halo in the food world this is when a brand or packaging leads a consumer to believe that a food may be healthier than it actually is for example let's say there's two chocolate chip cookies both identical on the inside but one has packaging that says that it's vegan all-natural or gluten-free the consumer automatically assumes that it's a little bit healthier and chooses it they never read the back because in their mind it has to be healthy it has that label the first key is to first check you need to see how many grams of sugars actually in the food and then from there you need to make sure that added sugar is not one of the main ingredients I know this sounds really basic but only 48 percent of consumers know how to read a food label correctly and lastly I had to learn how to always keep healthy treats with me at all times these cravings will hit now two years ago that was a little easier said than done when I started my options were either gross or nearly non-existent so I started making my own naturally healthy desserts so that way I could take control I am now happy to say that I'm one of many people that are making healthy food food alternatives part of our everyday culture I hope that one day given increased knowledge and increased accessibility to these healthier options that we can begin to live healthier lives today we've only began to scratch the surface on the topic of sugar but as we continue to increase our own knowledge and our own personal health IQ we will begin to realize that real food is our medicine and fake food is our poison thank you

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 605,710

Rating: 4.8700433 out of 5

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, United States, Education, Food, Health

Id: OzAtedK_tpg

Length: 9min 29sec (569 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 20 2015

Reddit Comments

[u/StartrekTNG]

TEDx

[u/Fraggy_Muffin]

Sugar addiction is a thing I've got it and have had for a long time. I'm a healthy individual though, i've been weight training for 8 years and have a six pack. For the last year and a half i've really cut back particularly on the soft drinks but i do still crave them

[u/Emu_Train]

Brought to you by Coca-Cola

[u/fitwithmindy]

I am not too sure if sugar addiction is real tho. Based upon mindful eating books and brain over binge it is hard to be addicted to food the same way as drugs.