The S-Word We’re All A Little Bit Scared Of

There’s an S-word it seems we’re all a little bit scared of. No matter how old we are, where we come from, our educational background, occupation, whatever…I’ve found that most people are afraid of this S-word.

What is it?

👉🏻Sugar.

This website got its name from my eating-disorder-treatment-friend and me not wanting to even SAY that particular S-word. (S-word #2 & #3, sex and suicide, came later…)

When you think of sugar, where does your mind go? What do you think of?

Are you the logical type who thinks, “Sugar is okay, it gives me immediate energy, it helps my body store energy for later, it releases dopamine, and it tastes effing good! It can’t be all that bad!” or are you more like me, who thinks more along the lines of, “SUGAR? Scary! Bad! No! Off limits! Dammit, I screwed up and ate some. NOW it’s off limits…must do better this time!”

Maybe you’ve heard the same studies that scared the shit out of me for years…ya know, the ones that say sugar activates the same pleasure centers in your brain as substances like cocaine and heroin, affecting the limbic system, which is the part of the brain that’s associated with emotional control. When you put it that way, uh YEAH, that is scary!!!

It makes sense that we’re all a little bit (or a lot) scared of sugar. I mean, we’ve literally been told that it’s killing us. We’ve been told that it’s going to make us gain weight. We’ve been told it’s turning our kids into monsters. We’ve been told it’s literally a drug, and it’ll give us cancer or diabetes or acne or depression. I would link to these studies stories, but I don’t want to spread more misinformation.

Here’s the thing…does sugar activate the same pleasure center in our brains as cocaine? Yes! Except this only occurred when rats underwent forced restriction. Similar to, say, a human on a diet. Deprivation increases the reward response from food, but doesn’t make the brain dependent on it. Also, those same reward centers respond when you listen to music, pet your cat or hear a baby giggle. And, you’re not a rat, so we need human studies to be able to fully apply any findings. (Emily Fonnesbeck, RD)

Believe it or not, though, I didn’t come here to talk to you about science. I’ll leave that to the dietitians. (Check out these awesome resources below!)

• Food Addiction Resource Round-Up
• You Aren’t Addicted To Sugar
• Can You Be Addicted To Food?
• Sugar Addiction: A Summary Of The Science
• Is Sugar Actually Addicting And Inflammatory?

Here’s what I really need to bring it back to today…

In your mind, when you hear the word sugar, if you automatically think, “OH SHIT!” there’s a pretty good chance you may have a problem with S-word #1. If you suddenly feel sweaty, nauseous and fidgety at the mention of the word, you may have an issue with sugar.

If the rat studies scare you like they’ve always scared me…if you’ve ever been afraid of being “addicted” to sugar…if you’re worried about losing control around food…this is for you. (And for me…I’m calling myself out here, as much as anyone else.)

This is where we give ourselves unconditional permission to eat. This is scary terrifying, because we live in a society that gets off on telling us what we can and can’t eat. Unconditional permission is unheard of. It’s terrifying because what if we start eating chocolate ice cream and never stop? It’s terrifying because unconditional means unconditional.

Giving ourselves unconditional permission to eat, according to the book Intuitive Eating, means…

• No food is good or bad. Food is food. It’s neutral. (Yes, including sugar.)
• Eating what you really want. (I know, that’s scary. But hey, we’ll get there…together…one bite at a time. 😉)
• Eating without compensation or penance. (“I can have the ice cream now, but my diet starts tomorrow.”)

That. Sounds. TERRIFYING.

I know.

Trust me, I know. You’re talking to a girl who frequently argues with her dietitian about how I don’t see the purpose for certain snacks and sugary foods in my meal plan. 🙃

I KNOW this whole “unconditional permission to eat” thing is terrifying. I also know there is something known as the habituation response. Basically, the more exposure we have to a certain food, the less pleasure we derive from it. Let’s say I bake chocolate chip cookies on Friday, and I eat them for night snack for the next week. They taste really good the first couple of nights, and with each passing day, the pleasure around that food gradually decreases. That’s habituation.

I don’t know about you, but that makes this a teeny tiny bit less terrifying, and a little bit more hopeful.

I think the bottom line is this: Do you really want to spend the rest of your life restricting the kind of food you allow yourself to eat? If you’re like me – and most of the population, if we’re being honest – you’ve already spent most of your life doing that. Isn’t it time for some freedom? Isn’t it time for some peace?

Do you really want to live the rest of your life being afraid of a chocolate chip cookie? Avoiding birthday cake? Not eating your own wedding cake? Skipping the Halloween candy with your kids? Saying no to your favorite foods?

Friend, I hate to break it to you, but you only get one shot at this life. There are no do-overs. Food is meant to nourish our bodies…but it’s also meant to taste good, to create memories, to bring us together.

Drop a 💛 below if this hit home for you today. Know that you are so NOT alone! There is so much more to life than worrying about what we eat. I’m learning to embrace that, and I invite you to join me!