Are you of a sweet predisposition? I don’t mean if you are a lovely person, empathic and agreeable, I am talking about sugar-sweet here. Tiramisu is one of my favourite desserts but having lived in England for a long time, I’d say a good apple crumble, or, even better, apple and wild blackberry “bramble” really does it for me.
The deliciousness of the classic mix of wheat flour, butter and sugar, the base of a lot of European desserts, is a feast for the senses, pure pleasure few can resist. The effect on the nervous system is immediate, the second a spoonful starts melting in your mouth, automatic rewards include a considerable mood lift through the release of both dopamine and serotonin.
It seems the brain on sugar responds similarly to the brain on coke, not the addictive famous drink we give to children, the actual Pablo Escobar’s stuff.
My mother has been a housewife and a cooking one as such, since I was born. That meant homemade lunches and dinners and, being Italians, a regular sweet treat in mid afternoon. Breakfast was a sweet matter for me too and still to these days I have the healthy version of it, porridge with fruit, seeds and cinnamon.
How lovely is it to dunk a hard, dry and sweet biscuit in milk and coffee? Festivities in particular used to bring a variety of culturally relevant food. I would indulge in a leftover slice of dove cake on Easter Monday, a piece of warmed up panettone for Christmas and “chiacchiere”, crunchy and delicate fried pastries sprinkled with finely powdered sugar served during carnival time.
At the opposite end we have the bitterness of turmeric, gourd, rocket, radish greens. An acquired taste, the bitter flavour is a struggle for most people, a discovery of later life for me. And a great discovery as such. As I learnt more about my body and mind, I quickly realised the emotional boost of pleasure associated with a sweet snack would not last long and end up creating unhappiness and cravings instead.
I gradually managed to enjoy the deliciousness of sweets less and less and to even more acquire the taste for simple whole food, vegetables, protein sources and complex grains.
Grains could have a chapter on their own as the processed type come closer to sugar than you think. Soft, white baguette almost melts in your mouth. It does because digestion starts with saliva and, almost like table sugar, it is very easy to convert this high Glycemic Index bread into glucose.
Now think of German or Scandinavian style wholegrain rye bread. Dark, dense and much more complex, which means higher in fibre and protein. It takes a bit to chew it down and it takes digestion much longer to separate the starch from the rest. That’s a complex, much healthier carb.
Because of the effect of insulin, you’ll go from a sugar high to a sugar low very rapidly, from high energy to low energy, from high mood to low mood as many hormones follow insulin.
Mind and body are naturally very much connected. Sustained strong stimuli of different nature, chronic stress and trauma can result in a disconnect, a numbing of this mind-body connection and a sugar addiction is often a sign of this.
Overconsumption leads to changes in neurobiological brain function which alter emotional states and subsequent behaviours.
The physical addiction can be very powerful, hormone ghrelin regulating meal times and snack times and if you regularly crave a dessert after a good, earthy dinner, changing behaviour means working against the hormones creating the crave in the first place.
The best way to look at all this is to go to the source, the anxiety, stress, the psychological trigger. If you were introduced to processed sugar as a child, colas, oreos, packaged confectionery and had lots of it growing up, you are a victim of sorts as children should be protected by parents and society, not advertised to. The longer you were under the spell, the longer it might take to revert this.
In a truly health aware society, saving lives tomorrow would include treating junk food as a health hazard for children today. Vending machines, colas, confectionery and even categories like children breakfast cereals would be banned from advertising and much more regulated.
It doesn’t seem to be the health authorities’ priority, I am sorry to say Dr. Fauci. Actually, industry is making everything sweeter, even apples and grapes. Failing that, parents’ awareness and a real food culture is the only hope, a fundamentally important piece of education for everyone.
A vicious cycle means one problem reinforces the other and you need a break, both at physical level, refraining from sugar and refined carbs, and at a psychological level, to make sense of why you get anxious or what needs are unfulfilled in your life.
Sugar overconsumption leads to changes in neurobiological brain function which alter emotional states and subsequent behaviours, leading to more problems and pain, including obesity, Type 2 diabetes and chronic inflammation.
My mum fed me homemade healthier sweets and I was never overweight, never had the symptoms of a sugar addiction, despite indulging in baked goods daily so quality and moderation really matter.
I have the strong suspicion processed and industrial is the real problem here. I eat a ton of fruit and I am the better for it! The smart scientists running R&D labs at food manufacturers might be in the darkness, no real scientific proof maybe? Mmm… who knows, they are probably unaware a concoction of industrial and refined ingredients, trans and low quality fat, plus one or two of the many types of processed sugar might be bad for their customers. Or maybe they don’t care.
I love my almost daily dose of bitter green juice with celery, kale, parsley, fresh turmeric and ginger. It tastes horrible and it’s good for me, for my liver, to alkalise and detoxify, it’s great for the mind as it cools me down and awesome for the soul as it is a form of self love, a preventative medicine, a ritual with associated placebo.
To compensate for a hard life of many hours in a soul crushing job, increased loneliness, separation from nature and modern, metaverse related anxiety, the new paradigm of sweet, easy, instant and comfortable is a con and needs to be fought and defeated.
Add bitter gourd, a ton of green leafy vegetables and herbs as part of your daily life, as a practice. It wasn’t easy to get hooked on them but I did. Give it a go, include some rocket to your salads, go as far as learning to enjoy watercress and thinly sliced radish, cabbage and onions. Your body loves them, don’t you love your body?
When you have a sugar treat, you need to go top quality, homemade, or patisserie made, nothing industrial or corporate please. Close your eyes and savour its full flavour, enjoy it in presence, as healthy, sweet moments are precious in life indeed.