Make Peace with Sugar

It seems that everywhere I turn there are messages about avoiding all sugar or “detoxing” from sugar or doing a 10 day challenge or something involving sugar and restriction. Why does sugar hold so much power?

Sugar by itself does not cause heart disease, diabetes, weight gain or anything else. Nothing works in isolation. And here’s the thing - when we restrict something we only give it more power. For most people, restricting sugar will inevitably lead to over doing it down the line. And most people will blame themselves for not sticking to it or having “no willpower.” But it’s not your fault. It’s just biology. When external restrictions are created, the drive for what’s being restricted becomes heightened. This makes people feel like they are “addicted” to sugar, but it’s not addiction. It’s just the restriction creating that feeling. 
When we retrain our minds and bodies to eat intuitively, we learn to make peace with all foods.

Intuitive eating does not mean sitting around eating sugar all day. There might be extra drive for foods that were previously restricted at first, but eventually bodies will habituate. Habituation is essentially what happens when food no longer holds power. When brownies are always allowed, an intuitive eater can decide if and when she wants a brownie (and yes, that means it might not always be desired if it’s never going to be off limits). If you have rules around foods, such as foods with sugar, I challenge you to take the power away from that food and see what happens. I’d love to hear your experiences!
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