The Sugar Blues: It's Real, People, And I'll Prove It
Sugar Blues Heart of Happy
You guys, I need to make a confession. Over the past few weeks, I've probably eaten more sugar than I have this entire year. Thanks to birthdays, weddings, and plenty of other excuse-inducing life events, I have said "yes" to cake (and eaten it, too) more times than I'd like to admit—and certainly more often than I usually allow. I know it's normal—certain times of the year tend to lean heavier on sweet consumption than others—and I know it's not worth beating myself up about. But it is a problem, and not for the reason you might assume. I'm not worried about getting "fat." Sure, sugar has waist-expanding qualities, but that's not why I despise my addiction to it. It's dangerous, for me, on an entirely different level. It brings me down. It makes me sad. It pushes me into dark, unhealthy spaces. Sugar makes me depressed. Like, a lot. And after a couple weeks of rampant sugar dosing, I'm starting to feel the effects. I'm talking debilitating feelings of intense self-doubt and lethargy. Feelings of spiraling self-worth and overall meaning in this world. Though I've got plenty of uncertainty clouding my life right now to trigger these feelings, I know myself well enough to differentiate between circumstance-induced stress and sugar-induced depression. I'm writing this today not only because the first step to solving any problem is self-awareness, but because I think sugar—particularly the processed variety—hurts more of us than we know. And I want to talk about that. I've had a sugar addiction my whole life—most of us do. It's highly addictive. More than cocaine, apparently. And it's in everything, so it's almost impossible to avoid. But for the past three years I've been extremely conscientious about when I consume sugar and why. I've turned away from candy entirely and only eat dessert on very special occasions—and even then, I make sure to share. Fruit-based and other more natural sugars are the exception—though I'm careful there, too. I know it sounds like I'm a sugar-nazi, but honestly, it hasn't been that hard until very recently. After cutting it cold-turkey for 60 days three years ago, my cravings nearly disappeared.
And you want to know what else disappeared? Lethargy, brain fog, irritability, and depressed thoughts.
And, guess what? Processed sugar is linked to all of those symptoms. It was pegged in the mid-80s as inducing "The Sugar Blues" and, based on my personal experience, that adds up. I know we talk a lot about mental exercises on this site, and I DO believe they're incredibly powerful. But I also believe diet plays a role. When your diet is out of whack, your brain suffers just as your body can. I certainly don't think that everyone needs to follow the very same diet plan. If you are a regular sugar eater and you're feeling good, great. But if you drink daily lattes with flavored syrup, can't say no to those office cookies whenever they appear, or refuse to go to bed without dessert ... AND you can't quite pinpoint why your cloudy thoughts keep dragging you down, it might be time to listen up. If your ears are perked, I've got good news. Because I feel I've recently fallen off the sweet, sugary wagon of self-control:
I'm going to conduct an experiment for you—use me as your living dummy. Your giant-sized guinea pig shaped like a female human. That's me.
In an effort to throw myself back on course, to feed my mind and body what it needs most, I am going to be cutting processed sugar from my diet completely for 30 days. It all starts Thursday, September 29. I'll be checking in with short updates and videos describing my experience in real time. And yes, I'll be doing this even though I am attending various events where sugar will be plentiful and oh-so-tempting. Follow me over the next month to watch my cranky, sugar withdrawal in action. Judge for yourself whether or not my hypothesis is correct: could banning sugar from my diet better my mood? Stay tuned!