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

Over the past 20 years, obesity rates have increased dramatically in the United States, affecting one in three children and two in three adults. The most surprising thing is that every seven seconds someone dies from complications related to diabetes and, unfortunately, more than four point nine million people die annually due to preventable food-related diseases and the number one culprit of all these diseases and deaths unnecessary is

sugar

, so why does this matter so much to me? If I had a disease caused by

sugar

and if it had been left in the hands of a rampant person, it would have left me as one of these statistics I suffer from the disease of

addict

ion and not any type of

addict

ion addiction to sugar and I don't mean that a cute way like if I really like chocolate or ice cream I say I'm addicted to sugar like it's controlled I feel like today I can't stop eating sugary foods.

I want to share my story about how I realized I was addicted to sugar because it has brought me here. Now I want to dedicate my time and energy to helping others understand how to do it. Sugar really is addictive and number two, how easily we can make changes to live a healthier life without sugar. The first time I remember hearing the term addiction, I was about 14 years old. I remember sitting in the living room talking to my dad. We're talking about how everyone in this

world

has advice. Well, I completely idolized my dad and I still do.

I couldn't believe he could or would want 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 drug and alcohol use. I am addicted to food, but unlike other forms of addiction, you cannot simply eliminate food from your life. You can't just stop eating. He seems a little sad or embarrassed, but he wanted me to do it. I know I didn't want to hide it, unfortunately at this point I was already showing a lot of the same signs as 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 still ate more and then I started hiding wrappers about the food I had eaten I honestly didn't even know why I just felt it wasn't normal to eat so much looking back these were the first signs I was suffering from addiction but it wasn't until several years later that I knew without a doubt that I had it when I was 18 years.

I started working in a bakery now, for those of you who have never worked in a bakery, a general thumbs up is that you can eat any spoiled dessert, this is awesome for any team trying to save money, but not great for me. I was eating everything and I'm not talking about one or two desserts here and there. I would eat a dozen cookies at a time. time or almost an entire cake at a time and I couldn't stop. I was desperate for a solution because I was gaining weight and didn't feel good about myself, so I started taking just one bite of the dessert. and then throw the rest in the trash, I'm sure this would help, but I was wrong.

I knew it was still there and until recently I never thought I had shared this part of my addiction because it is quite embarrassing and not the proudest moment of my life. life, but my addiction got to the point where I would take the half-eaten dessert out of the trash and finish it. I didn't know why I was doing this. He was an educated young adult. None of my friends were doing this. my family was doing this, why couldn't I help but think about the stupid dessert that was in the trash and why the hell couldn't I help but take it out of the trash to eat it and then I realized I was addicted to the food? like my dad, but at 18 I refused to believe that this was what my life was going to be now, so I decided I was going to do research and find out how much food addiction cost so I could find out what caused it and how might fix it or at least make it not so hard to deal with.

What I discovered is that food addicts are not food addicts in general, no food addict is diving into a trash can for mushrooms and there wouldn't be that many of them either. As in the case of an alcoholic, an alcoholic can drink as much water as they want without causing any type of addiction pattern, they just have to avoid alcohol. For food addicts, we have to avoid one or two things, for me it's fat or sugar, hands down. my sugar addiction I realized that I was now a sugar addict I put all my attention into understanding why sugar took over me so completely what I discovered is that for decades scientists have been trying to prove how addictive sugar was, but it wasn't until 2008, when they discovered that it is without a doubt chemically addictive and not just a little addictive, it is 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. which I started doing to regain control when I started allowing only healthy foods in my diet. I put everything in serving size containers. I put in the calorie count. In everything, I still felt helpless all the time, the only thing I could think about was food, when I woke up in the morning, I was thinking about what I was going to have for breakfast, I was thinking about what I was going to eat in the morning. lunch.

Lunch was thinking about what we're going to have for dinner, etc. It was exhausting and that's when I realized that just because a food says it's healthy doesn't mean it actually is. I realized that you can't lie to your body with added sugar. there is added sugar, even if your eyes see you eating something healthy like a granola bar or yogurt, these foods create the same sugar spike in your body as if you were eating a chocolate bar and it is these foods that continue to feed my addiction and they continue to deceive everyday healthy Americans into believing they are healthy and, in turn, make them fatter and sicker.

I've seen many people suffer 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 thing I've seen so far has been children crying over losing their loved ones. their parents from preventable food-related illnesses. What I know is that we are not intentionally making ourselves sick, so it's time to make a change here. are the three key things I learned that have helped me get to this healthy place in my life. First I slowly started limiting the amount of processed sugar I consumed.

First, I limited the amount to 24 grams, which is what the American Women's Health Association suggestion for and then from there I was able to slowly eliminate it completely now to put into perspective what 24 grams is, roughly the equivalent of a Greek yogurt or a vitamin water, the next thing I had to learn was how to do it correctly. At first I read a food label. I was being fooled by what is known as the health halo in the

world

of food. This occurs when a brand or packaging leads the consumer to believe that a food may be healthier than it really is.

For example, let's say there are two chocolate chip cookies, both identical on the inside, but one has packaging that says it's vegan, all-natural or gluten-free, the consumer automatically assumes it's a little 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 check first, you need to see how many grams of sugar are 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 great. basic, but only 48 percent of consumers know how to properly read a food label, and lastly, I had to learn to always carry healthy treats with me at all times.

These cravings came to me two years ago. That was a little easier said than done when At first my options were disgusting or almost non-existent, so I started making my own naturally healthy desserts so I could take control. Now I am happy to say that I am one of the many people who are making healthy food alternatives a part of our everyday culture. I hope that one day, with greater knowledge and greater accessibility to these healthier options, we can begin to live a healthier life. Today, we have only begun 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.