Sugar Addiction and Prelude to a Review of The 21 Day Sugar Detox

With apologies in advance for some tangent going ons ...

As a popular paleo (for marketing purposes anyway) author released a paperback version of her 21 Day Sugar Detox this week -- yes, I'm talking about a $400-will-buy-you-a-certificate-that-says-so "holistic nutritionist" aka Certified Nutritional Consultant courtesy of 501c3 Bauman "college" -- I thought this journal article might be of enough interest to the inmates here to warrant a post.

The plausibility of sugar addiction and its role in obesity and eating disorders

Background & aims
To consider the hypothesis that addiction to food, or more specifically sucrose, plays a role in obesity and eating disorders.

Methods
By considering the relevant literature a series of predictions were examined, derived from the hypothesis that addiction to sucrose consumption can develop. Fasting should increase food cravings, predominantly for sweet items; cravings should occur after an overnight fast; the obese should find sweetness particularly attractive; a high-sugar consumption should predispose to obesity. More specifically predictions based on the hypothesis that addiction to sugar is central to bingeing disorders were developed. Dieting should predate the development of bingeing; dietary style rather than psychological, social and economic factors should be predispose to eating disorders; sweet items should be preferentially consumed while bingeing; opioid antagonists should cause withdrawal symptoms; bingeing should develop at a younger age when there is a greater preference for sweetness.

Results
The above predications have in common that on no occasion was the behaviour predicted by an animal model of sucrose addiction supported by human studies.

Conclusion
There is no support from the human literature for the hypothesis that sucrose may be physically addictive or that addiction to sugar plays a role in eating disorders.

Now one of these days, since Diane has rocketed to a degree of prominence such that she boasts hers is the first book most curretly land on at Amazon, I'm going to have to do a "know the experts" segment here for her.  Suffice it to say that a certificate from anything other than a accredited institution of higher learning as ones only qualifications should cause anyone pause when deciding on their credibility on certain matters.  To the best of my knowledge, Diane has probably taken one "science for non-majors class with lab" to complete her undergraduate degree which is in retail marketing or somesuch.  None of the coursework she took for her nutrition certification would be transferable to an institution of higher learning, and most of the faculty at her "college" are not even degreed in their fields!  Which isn't to say one can't be self-educated, but Diane has not demonstrated a knack for that.

Her book begins with the following quote, followed by her own story of life as candy girl:

“I like to eat and the only thing I’ve ever been addicted to in my life is sugar.” —Crispin Glover

Diane grew up spending her chore money on candy at the local convenience store.  As a young adult she relished the freedom of eating cake or pie for breakfast or dinner.  Sounds normal (seriously!).  But for her "sugar" meant bread, bagels and pasta too!!  (Red flag ... )  She was a high school athlete who stopped or cut back on that in college and gained weight.  Is anyone surprised by this?  Oh yeah, exercise is not helpful for weight loss or management.  I keep forgetting ....   And so after packing on 35 lbs in college, Diane took up dieting as a hobby and became obsessive about point counting (so am I being presumptuous to assume Weight Watchers here?).    Low fat granola bars and soy cheese!  Now I calorie counted like the best of them, and I did dabble in low fat cheeses, but soy?  Sorry.  No.  So I'm going to presume she also went on some sort of vegetarian kick as well.

"Fast-forward several years, and the weight had come off because I was undereating and over-exercising."

Now ... I'm not going to justify stupidity in weight loss strategies here, been there done that myself as well, but note that she was able to lose weight through ELMM.  But she got into the paleo thing and found that chicken thighs and kale (reasonable portions!) were satisfying and she no longer got "hangry" (complete with cartoon drawing in case you need the visual).

"Once I cut out the sugar and refined foods, eliminated gluten, and followed that up by cutting other grains and legumes, my blood sugar stabilized. It was like a miracle. I could go out with plans of being gone for over an hour and not have to jam a snack into my purse—food freedom!"

And then she had a candy binge and a sugar crash.  Oh the evils of candy.   You see she didn't eat a piece of candy, she ate a whole bag.  (Red flag ...).  Raw milk to the rescue!!   The light shone down and Diane knew she needed to stay away from the sugar forever and ever, Amen.  And so began her trip down the dead end Sugarphobia Lane just past the intersection of Main and Orthorexia Blvd.   I say this because despite the glowing reviews and copious thanks she humblebrags on Facebook over all the time, Diane Sanfilippo has "confessed" to suffering from chronic fatigue for the past two plus years now, and had to resort to dipping back into the caffeine well for energy to endure the arduous task of book writing.  Cognitive dissonance can be draining I hear.

Some years ago, she wrote an ebook (before Practical Paleo) and it's now in physical print.  Revamped with pretty pictures ... and rest assured, Diane is ...

"here to guide you through this journey with an effective, clear-cut program that will liberate you from the chains of your cravings."

The Detox part implies toxicity and/or addiction.  And so you are to detox.   And yet can you imagine detoxing from a real addiction in a manner that allows small doses of the toxin, or worse yet, normal "doses" disguised so that you don't register that you're taking them?  This is Diane's rationale for green apples.  You are allowed one a day as these have less sugar.   Though I think someone informed Diane that they don't really (that would be unripened apples that are intended to be red) and she's tweaked her message to one of retraining the palate to avoid sweet.

Yes, those evil green orbs of death and toxicity are Diane's favorite fruit to pose with and prominently featured in her pictures everywhere.  You can have one per day.  Only one.  Not two.

The primary goal of The 21DSD is to change your palate and your habits, so I’m taking you out of your comfort zone by allowing only fairly bitter, sour, and bland fruits, such as green apples, underripe bananas, and grapefruit. While the natural sugar content of some of the included fruits is in fact higher than that of, say, berries, the included fruits don’t tend to taste very sweet or trigger further cravings for sugar.

But you've got an addiction from which you must detox.  And yet, why not just cut out all sugar cold turkey?  Aside from not needing her book, she writes in response to her own question to this effect:

Yes and no. It may seem obvious that simply removing sugar is an “easy” way to detox. But the not-so-simple part is that just removing sugar doesn’t always get rid of the get rid of the cravings. Having a more complete picture of which foods contain sugar, act like sugar in the body, and trigger cravings is a critical element of success on this program.

What about nuts?

Cashews and peanuts are out for The 21DSD, while other nuts are Yes foods. As I mentioned in the response to the limited fruits question above, one goal of the program is to change your palate and habits. Cashews tend to trigger sweet-taste habits and become hard to limit, so they are out. Peanuts are known to carry high levels of aflatoxin, a type of mold that can develop in foods like grains and legumes. Because this is a detox program, it excludes peanuts for this known toxin-load issue.

Won't fruit trigger cravings?

Thousands of participants who’ve included these limited fruits feel that they provide a small relief from the stress of being overly restricted, but they don’t result in the urge to overindulge as very sweet fruits like mango and pineapple can.

OK ... enough quotes I think to get what I'm getting at here.  Is sugar physically addictive?  I maintain that a resounding no is the answer to that question, as the cited article in this post confirms.   If it were -- especially to the degree for which it shoulders so much blame -- the scientific evidence would be abundant and clear cut.  It is not.  The addiction is psychological, and therefore Diane Sanfilippo, and countless others like her, must fashion intricate programs to reprogram you.  This begins with first convincing you that you are, indeed, addicted.  And if you don't think you are, you just don't realize it.  Because sugar is more than sweets, it's also any carbohydrate.  But it's not the amount, as we're told point blank in the book, because green apples contain as much or more sugar than other apple varieties, yet these allow you to retrain your palate?!  Imagine fighting an alcohol addiction by advising consumption of ethanol gel capsules equivalent to one ounce or somesuch.  That this would be somehow better to break you of your alcohol addiction than teetotaling.

Cashews?    How are these sweet-taste habit inducing?  According to nutritiondata.com, an ounce of cashews contains 8.4 grams non-fiber carbs of which 1.4 grams are classified as sugars.   Meanwhile, an ounce of almonds contains the same  1.4 grams sugars but only 2.1 grams non-fiber carbs.  So ... is it the additional 6.3 grams of non-sweet carb per ounce that's causing some sort of "sweet-taste habit" to ensue?  Or is it the yumminess?  Or sweeter taste?  No ... macadamias, coconut and sesame are allowed.  Nah ... it's an evil legume but she can't come out and say that and mention paleo (and she allows some legumes, albeit limited, surprisingly).  The rationales become tangled quickly as aflatoxins in peanuts have exactly zero to do with sugar cravings.  Still:

Because this is a detox program, it excludes peanuts for this known toxin-load issue.

Remember that the next time you, or someone you love needs to go into drug/alcohol rehab.  Make sure their facility is free from all known potential toxins for the duration of their stay because otherwise they will not be able to escape the clutches of their addictive nemesis.

You see, the thing is,  and I've been saying this for a long time now, foods are not physically addictive in the way that drugs are.  They just aren't.  Perhaps in extreme cases there can be a physical component, but, I have used this example many times to make the point -- alcoholics will resort to desperate means to get their fix:  medicines and even hand sanitizer!  Former First Lady of Massachusetts Kitty Dukakis famously drank some rubbing alcohol in a moment of such desperation.   You just don't see sugar addicted people buying a bag of sugar and eating it uncontrollably.  Seth Roberts' Shangri-La diet suggests unflavored sugar water as an approach to appetite control and weight loss!  Same goes for starches.  And no, eating laundry starch is not evidence of addiction, it is form of a rare disorder known as pica.  So ditto all carb or sugar addiction claims.

Cravings?  Yes.  I can relate to this ... to the inability to eat one cookie or whatever the food may be.  In my late teens and early 20's I binged in horrible fashion.  But it was my own doing.  After a binge I would clamp down to undo the damage, and in doing so I became obsessed with food because I was restricting myself in grand fashion again.  I see this repeated and played out over and over and over on Diane's facebook pages and the like.   She is not alone.  The paleosphere is rife with eating disordered behaviors passed off as healthy choices.

Seriously, if someone were to abstain from alcohol for three weeks and then end up needing to repeat this several times with different levels of abstention, etc., you would consider such an approach a failure.  This is the same thing.  Restrictive plans comprising other people's arbitrary rules are no cure for your "addictions" that are created by making your own arbitrary rules.  I'm sure that will offend some people reading this.  It's not personal except that I can say that science can be your friend in FREEING you from this for once and for all.

Regular readers might remember that Whole9 couple and their It Starts With Food 30 day hijinx!

Here I thought avoiding sugar on the #whole30 was supposed to rid you of cravings and change your relationship with food!!  I can't help but laugh a little and cry a little for Olivia here.  She's stuck in the cycle of restriction as a cure for cravings when it is the most likely cause.

And, I can't help but laugh quite a bit more at the Hartwigs likely taking a dig at the Green Apple Lady of Paleo with the above Facebook post.   

I'll sign out with some Def Lepard!  Because big hair bands make me smile.  And it is Friday.