Does Your Relationship With Sugar Need A Reset?
Many of us villianize sugar, often at the expense of our own mental and physical health.
By Mark Travers, Ph.D. | January 21, 2024
We have an evolutionary reason to be sweet-toothed. Our taste buds, which evolved to appreciate sweetness for its energy content, suggest that sugar, in moderation, has a place in our diets and cultural practices.
Today, however, sugary treats are not only easily accessible, but also emotionally appealing. Advertisements play a significant role—think of slick, tantalizing shots of soft drinks being poured over ice or the irresistible allure of a chocolate bar unwrapping in slow motion, highlighting its creamy texture. Energy drinks and breakfast cereals are often loaded with sugar, too, even when they are marketed as “healthy.” Fast food restaurants strategically bundle meals with sugary drinks, and convenience stores line their checkout aisles with tempting candy bars.
This makes choosing sugary options almost reflexive, and moderating sugar intake can become a significant challenge for the average person. And, with sugar-free alternatives being marketed as “guilt-free,” the story has become increasingly one-sided, with many people developing an unhealthy fear of sugar. Here are two ways to rethink your relationship to sugary foods that can help you regain control over your eating habits.
1. Understand That Emotional Eating Is More About Environmental Cues Than Our Moods
Our brains are hardwired to repeat behaviors that produce enjoyable rewards, and this is primarily tied to the release of dopamine. This is a neurochemical that signals to our brain that a behavior is pleasurable and must be repeated. A 2019 review published in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews found that overindulging in sugar leads to long-term changes in how the brain responds to dopamine. Repeated enough times, indulging in sugar can become a difficult habit to break.
Comfort eating, especially with sugary foods, is often more about such ingrained habits and the immediate rewards our brain has learned to expect. Although not as pronounced as how a stimulant drug interacts with our brains, the underlying feedback loop is similar, which is why people say sugar is addictive.
Caffeine is considerably more addictive than sugar, yet the habitual consumption of coffee highlights a similar pattern, according to a 2022 study co-authored by psychologist Asaf Mazar.
“People underestimated the influence of habit over their coffee drinking, and overestimated the influence of fatigue,” Mazar says. “This suggests that we might fail to recognize how habits shape our behavior.”
If you are a caffeine enthusiast, think about the last time you were in a flow state. Chances are, everything else (including coffee) became less important than you thought it would be. The lesson, here, is that our environment and daily routines often have a more significant impact on our behaviors than we realize, including our food choices. This insight is crucial when considering our relationship with sugar and other foods we might label as “comfort foods.”
By becoming more aware of our patterns, we can start to change them. Instead of automatically turning to sugar in response to certain cues or moods, we can pause and consider whether we’re really craving sugar or just following a routine. We can then choose to engage in a different activity that breaks the habitual cycle, such as going for a walk, calling a friend or engaging in a hobby.
2. Learn To Indulge Without Feeling Guilty
Once you’ve mastered the art of choosing when to indulge, the “sin” that is often associated with desserts starts to diminish. This can have a positive cumulative effect on your relationship with sugar.
Understanding that emotional responses to food, particularly guilt and sadness, can influence our food choices is key. Research in the field of cognitive appraisal theory and biological psychology shows that these emotions can affect cortisol release, which in turn impacts our sugar preferences, adding to the feedback loop. In other words, feeling guilty or sad about eating sugary foods can make us crave more sugary foods.
The trick lies in recognizing these emotional cues and responding to them in a way that doesn’t reinforce negative eating patterns. Instead of viewing sugar as an enemy or a source of guilt, we can learn to appreciate it as one of the many enjoyable aspects of a balanced diet. This means enjoying a piece of cake at a birthday party or savoring a dessert after a special meal without the accompanying feelings of guilt.
Conclusion
Sugar is a part of our celebrations, traditions and moments of joy. By indulging mindfully—savoring the flavors, enjoying the experience and then moving on—we can enjoy these moments without letting them define our overall eating habits. This approach promotes a healthier, more sustainable relationship with food and with ourselves.
A similar version of this article can also be found on Forbes.com, here.