Avocado Fudgesicles and Tips for Beating a Sugar Addiction (or whatever you want to call it)

“I just need a hit of it.”

“I wake up at night and can’t fall back asleep until I get a little in me.”

“Life without it? I might as well be dead!”

Are these drug addicts? Alcoholics? Nope. These are just statements I hear on a daily basis from people battling a compulsive desire to eat sugar. 

The concept of sugar addiction is controversial in the medical community.  Forget the science for a minute, it just feels wrong to compare someone who chugs coke all day with someone who, well, snorts it. 

Humans are hard wired to crave sugar.  Evolutionarily speaking, a taste for sugar was advantageous, allowing early humans to distinguish sources of calories and nutrition from bitter tasting, and possibly poisonous plants. Other than an occasional treat of honey, fruit was the sweetest food in our ancestors diet, and it was much less sweet than our modern varieties, cultivated for a more concentrated sweetness. I'm not sure how accurate this is, but I once read early man ate an average of 29 teaspoons of sugar a year.  Compare that to the current average of 22 teaspoons a day and a horrifying 31 teaspoons for children!

Brain imaging science clearly shows sugar has addictive properties. Anyone who has ever enjoyed a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie or a gooey slice of cake can vouch for the fact that sugar activates a reward pathway in our brain.  Using MRIs, neuroresearchers have shown sugar consumption releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps control reward and motivation. Excessive sugar intake over time results in dopamine resistance, changes to dopamine receptors that cause a decrease in pleasure derived from eating sweets.  This change can lead to increasing intake of sweets in an attempt to achieve the original "high."  The same brain changes cause drug addicts to develop a higher tolerance. 

With that said, just because a substance has addictive properties, does not necessarily mean it is addictive.  There is a blurry distinction between the two.  Many things activate the reward system.  In fact, I remember reading a study that found the same dopamine release when people were shown pictures of their ex.  I can say without any doubt in my mind, I am in no way addicted to any ex of mine!

The conventional thought is that we overeat sugar out of habit, rather than addiction.  In most cases, I agree. However I feel there are people, many people actually, who are absolutely addicted to sugar. At the same time, I think the term is often overused and misapplied.  Comparisons between sugar and hard drugs are inappropriate and offensive to those who have battled drug addiction. Furthermore, labeling someone as an addict can make them feel powerless, as if they need inpatient rehab and a 12 step program to stop eating jelly beans.  Added sugar is arguably the most unhealthy substance in our diet, likely responsible for more deaths than drugs and alcohol, but it's important not vilify it to the point where savoring a slice of birthday cake is equivalent to shooting heroin.

It is estimated 8-11% of people meet the criteria for food addiction.  Almost everyone can claim a sweet tooth. 

Sweet tooth or sugar addiction, you can take control of your cravings.  Here's how:   

1. Eat healthy and delicious foods.  The more you eat nutritious, real food, the more you will crave nutritious, real food.  If you find pleasure eating healthy foods, you're less likely to look to sweets. 

2. Eat regular meals and snacks.  Try not to go longer than 5 hours without eating.  When hungry, your body will crave a quick source of energy, and there's no quicker source of energy than sugar.  I find most people who crave sweets at night skip meals during the day.  Simply eating regular meals can be enough to eliminate sweet cravings.

3. Eliminate sugar – at least for a period of time.  Generally, I don't encourage short term changes, but challenging yourself to go without added sugar for a period of time is like hitting the reset button.  Eating too much sugar trains your tastebuds towards an unnatural level of sweetness.  Go without for a bit, maybe 1-4 weeks, and you'll retrain your buds to taste the natural sweetness of foods.

4. Stop feeling guilty for enjoying sweets!  It simply turns them into an even more tempting forbidden fruit.  It's natural to like sweets.  If you can look at this picture of cake and not drool, then you're probably not human.  Or you have a severe chocolate allergy. 

5. Identify your triggers.  Sweet cravings usually stem from more than an intense desire for sugar - depression, boredom or visual cues from junk food commercials are all powerful drivers to eat sweets.  Dealing with the trigger itself is much easier than dealing with a craving.

6. Find healthy, real food ways to feed your sweet tooth.  Check out my favorite healthy sweets.  Then make these rich, creamy and delicious fudgesicles, starring a personal favorite, avocados!

Vegan Avocado Fudgesicles

Makes 6 small fudgesicles

Adapted from Vegetarian Ventures

2 large ripe avocados or 3 small

2/3 cup dark cocoa powder

1/3 cup honey

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup water

Pinch of sea salt

1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Blend all ingredients together in a food processor until smooth.  Scoop into popsicle molds, cover and freeze for at least 5 hours until solid.  Before serving, run popsicle mold under hot water to loosen.  Remove from mold and dust with coconut.  Enjoy.