What is a Sugar Rush?
As part of a sugar addiction, some people refer to a sugar rush or a sugar high as if it were a psychological reaction to a drug and one linked to exhibited feelings of euphoria and pleasure. The actual sensation is less like a chemical reaction, but more like a reaction to elevated levels of energy provided by the ingredient. The energy may be short-lived, however, and will lead to an opposite reaction and can also leave behind headaches and other significant side effects, which we ignore over time at our peril.
When people turn to sugar, they may well be anticipating that additional burst of energy and the ability to “get it together” and face the tasks ahead. What they do not understand is that the ingestion of sugar triggers a complex level of activity within us. The bloodstream becomes flooded with glucose from the sugars, which our body then realizes it must regulate. Insulin is released from your pancreas which in turn aims to convert this extra energy into fat reserves. This is in no doubt a fall back to the days when our bodies could not necessarily rely on regular forms of energy and fats would be reserved for those lean times.
You do not have to be a medical doctor to know that an illness such as diabetes must be avoided at all costs. Experts tell us that hypoglycemia is a precursor to diabetes and is caused in part due to constant flows of sugar intake and insulin release, causing your body to become resistant to insulin, which is essential for such balancing.
As part of a holistic health solution it is important for every one of us to regulate the amount of simple sugars that we absorb. We might think that we are eating a balanced diet, but we should be reading those labels to make sure that sugars are not masquerading within what might otherwise be seen as a “healthy” approach. It is recommended that you only absorb a maximum of 40g of simple sugar per day. This can be found within one can of soda!
Few seem to follow a holistic nutrition approach to their diets, constrained as we are by our hectic lifestyles, schedules and what appears to be an inability to prepare wholesome meals creatively. We are constantly opting for the easy solution and loading our bodies up with excess fats, too many calories and those ever so sweet sugars. We know that the sugar rush will be followed by a sugar crash, but we do it anyway.
Many of us are proud of the fact that we do not resort to alcohol, drug abuse or cigarettes to get us through life and consider that our diets are sensible and realistic. However, while we may not have any of the more traditional addictions or vices, we may well have a sugar addiction without really realizing it.
