YorkTest > Allergy or Intolerance? > Sugar Intolerance

Are you driven by cravings and need sugary foods to keep you from feeling helpless or hopeless? You probably tell yourself things aren’t so bad and you can stop anytime. But you can’t and things keep getting worse? Problems stemming from sugar cravings and sugar sensitivity include depression, overeating, headaches, tiredness, anger, mental fogginess, irritability and much more. Some people are addicted to sugar, so if they are sugar sensitive trying not to eat sugar is like telling a drug addict to simply stop taking their drug. Why? Because sugar addiction, like food intolerance, affects the same biochemical systems in your body as highly addictive drugs. Without sugar or simple carbohydrates, you can experience withdrawals just like a drug addict.

 

 

By slowly changing when and what we eat, we can change how we feel - dramatically!  Low glycemic load (GL) diets such as the “Holford Low GL Diet” are the most effective as they are based on one principle: If you lose blood sugar control, you gain weight, and feel hungry and tired; If you gain blood sugar control, you lose weight, feel happy and full of energy. However, it is really important to carry out a food intolerance test first before embarking on any dietary changes. The reason? Once an immune response is triggered in the body (as evidenced by the raised food-specific IgG levels) the body feels that it is ‘under siege’ thus hoarding supplies, storing fluid and increasing weight. Provocation of the immune system also leads to inflammation and swelling and causes the release of endorphins ultimately producing the well-known cycle of allergy (intolerance) and addiction; over 50% of those with food intolerance actually crave the foods that they are intolerant to! In addition, serotonin levels drop adding to the cycle of cravings which are in turn satisfied by foods which destabilise insulin and blood sugar and ultimately cause additional weight gain; in other words a vicious circle and it takes an overall approach to ‘undo’ the damage done. The low GL Diet can help reduce sugar intolerance, but the identification and elimination of any food intolerances is also needed in order for the approach to be fully effective.