Sugar Addicts’ Diet. Nicki Waterman

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СКАЧАТЬ by sugar!) and make me more capable of dealing with the inevitable emotions of trying to kick the sugar habit. To be honest, at first I was a little sceptical that it would make a difference to my life. However, I can honestly say – hand on heart – that the 21-day plan really did work for me.

      The weight has fallen off me and so has the body fat. I have achieved this without the need for over-exercising, which is just as bad for your body as doing no exercise at all. It’s hard for me to believe that I don’t have a weight problem for the first time in my life.

      A HEALTH-BOOSTING DIET PLAN

      The Sugar Addicts’ Diet has had countless benefits besides reducing my weight and body fat. I used to wake up with big dark rings under my eyes, and my skin had an unhealthy pallor. I put it down to ageing but, since kicking the sugar habit, I realize my diet was to blame. In my experience, the old saying ‘You are what you eat’ is so true. The bags under my eyes have now gone, my eyes look bright, my skin glows with health and my hair is thicker. The sugar highs and lows are a thing of the past, which means I have so much more energy than ever before.

      I’m not saying I don’t ever have cravings, but I seem to be able to control them a lot better. I control them – they don’t control me, as they did in the past. A big part of it has been developing strategies to help me avoid situations in which I might be tempted to slip off the straight and narrow.

      A WIDESPREAD ADDICTION

      Since I made the decision to tackle my sugar addiction, I’ve discovered how many ‘secret’ addicts there are out there. ‘And I thought I was the only one like that!’ is something I now hear a lot.Sugar is everywhere and it’s hard to avoid it. That’s why it can be such a battle to kick your addiction. But I’ve come a long way, and I want other people to know they can do it too. Like me, you will find you lose excess weight, feel fantastic – and lay the foundations for a longer and healthier life.

      I’ve been shocked by people’s lack of knowledge about the hidden sugars in their diet. There are confusing messages about sugar all around us, whether it’s on food labels or in fast-food joints. I have written this book to help sugar addicts like me understand why they crave sugar, and how they can get it out of their system and beat the craving once and for all.

      IT’S NOT ALL BAD

      A lot of people think that all sugars are bad, but my focus here is on refined sugars. Due to illnesses in my family, I’ve had the (mis)fortune of spending time with some of the world’s leading oncologists. They all say that refined sugars – those found in processed foods, sweets, cereals, bread, etc. – are a real danger. Obesity is just the start of it.

      Some people have said that naturally occurring sugars are equally bad; I vehemently disagree. Natural sugars in fruit, for example, are unbleached, unrefined and delicious. Mankind has been eating fruit since the dawn of time. Like everything, it’s sensible to eat it in moderation and as part of a balanced diet. While fruit may contain varying quantities of natural sugar, called fructose, most varieties are still reasonably low in calories and come with a whole raft of nutrients that keep us feeling and looking good – including vitamins, minerals and fibre, which can help protect against stroke, heart disease and high blood pressure, and may lower the risk of certain cancers.

      A HEALTHY EATING PROGRAMME FOR LIFE

      My co-author, Martha Roberts, is an experienced, award-winning health writer with an avid interest in nutrition. She’s also one of the few people I know who isn’t addicted to sugar.

      People often say if you want something done, ask a busy person. Well, it could also be said that if you want to understand how to enjoy non-sugary food, ask a person who’s not hooked on it! Together, as a writing team, we represent two opposite sides of the sugar-eating spectrum. We hope to present an unbiased, balanced view of how sugar affects all of our lives.

       The Sugar Addicts’ Diet is a healthy eating programme for life. It will teach you about sugar so that you understand what it does for you (both good and bad), where it is in your food and how you can have more control over it so that it no longer controls you.

      It’s really about lifestyle – learning skills for life and changing your ways without too much effort or heartache. And whether you’re reading this book because you want to lose weight or you’re fed up with being controlled by sugar, we hope it gives you the guidance and support you need to finally kick your sugar habit for good.

Part 1:

       1

       Are You a Sugar Addict?

      For many of us, being told how something can affect our health in the future is a big yawn. We’re told smoking can kill us and the sun can age us. Now we’re being told that sugar is one of our biggest enemies. It seems everyone’s out to get us. But many of us have the philosophy, ‘Why deprive yourself now on the off-chance that you will get ill in years to come?’

      While eating sugar might not send you to the grave, it can lead to problems such as obesity and related illnesses that can make your life a misery. Symptoms or conditions linked to eating too much sugar may not be life-threatening but they can certainly threaten your quality of life. Even the government is now worried about the amount of sugar in our diets and has pledged to put it on its health ‘hit list’ after salt. And even before you start to suffer from the types of medical condition outlined in Chapter 4, chances are you’re already suffering from sugar overload. This can lead to troublesome symptoms that spoil your sense of health and wellbeing.

      OUR NATURAL LOVE OF SUGAR

      Most of us love sugar. We are biologically driven to enjoy sweetness because it helps us identify foods that are safe to eat rather than poisonous (as bitter foods might suggest). Experiments on 10-day-old babies show that when an adult gives them a dummy dipped in sugar solution, they gurgle and look pleased when they see that adult again. Our desire for sweetness is something we can learn from a very young age – and never forget.

      But an extreme love of sugar isn’t an inevitability – that’s something we can prompt by our actions when selecting foods for our children. Professor Aubrey Sheiham, Professor of Dental Public Health at University College London, has written extensively on sugars and health. He says there’s a crucial ‘window’ for overdeveloping this natural preference for sweetness in children and it becomes apparent when a child is weaning. At this point, they become ‘picky’ as they learn which foods are likely to be ‘safe’ and which are likely to be ‘harmful’. If this preference is indulged with lots of highly sweet foods, they will generally prefer sweet foods from that point onwards. Professor Sheiham says, ‘If you give them lots of sweet food in that window between the ages of two and four, their threshold and their liking for sugar will increase and they’ll want more. Equally, if you give them mildly sweet things, like fruit, their threshold will be lower.’

      So what can you do if you’re an adult with a sweet tooth? It is possible to retrain your sweet tooth so that you lower your sweetness threshold. One former sugar СКАЧАТЬ