Sweetness addictive: Causes and Symptoms

What is a sweet temptation? Granted a whim from time to time is good, but beware if we turn it into a habit because there are foods such as sweets, which can cause dependence. An almost uncontrollable need for consuming food or drinks that contain a large number of sugars and should not be underestimated, especially if we consider that addiction to sweets is a disorder that can lead to withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, anxiety, excessive sweating, dizziness or nausea. Why does it happen? What symptoms alert us? What can we do?

Symptom

Do not confuse the dependence of sweets with emotional hunger or resorting to food to placate negative emotions. The addiction to sweets has its own symptoms, and the signs to consider include:

• Inability to control the urge to eat sweets: A need that does not understand because it can appear at any time of the day and even at night hours, or having a full stomach.
• Avoiding being seen to eat sweets is a very common behavior, especially because the dependent person feels guilty and even ashamed of not being able to control the urge to eat sugar.
• Feeling guilt: Often sweets dependent persons guilty of taking too much sugar, looking for excuses to help them alleviate these feelings and loss of control.
• Inability to control in case of health problems: Those who are addicted to sweets may also have other health problems such as obesity and other diseases that affect metabolism, such as diabetes. The inability to control causes these types of disorders to be underestimated.

Causes

We can talk about various causes about sugar addiction.

• Carrying an unbalanced diet: Eating poorly (skipping meals, for example) or not to carry a healthy diet makes us more likely to fall into the temptation of eating certain foods in uncontrolled way.

  Usually, in these cases you tend to eat more caloric and less healthy foods, avoiding other foods like fresh fruits and vegetables.

• Soothing effect of sugary foods: In this case it is a psychological cause to believe that the sweet exerts a soothing effect or helps to relieve stress and discomfort. However, what happens is that, as a result of the continuous consumption of sweets, we fall into a vicious circle in the search for a sense of satisfaction of passing effect.

How to treat

To treat addiction to sweets is essential to learn to keep a healthy lifestyle, starting with reviewing the diet. It is important to include foods rich in fiber and gradually reduce the consumption of sugars from unhealthy foods (it is advisable not to do so radically to avoid withdrawal symptoms).

Of equal way it is necessary to take care of the hydration, increasing the water ingestion to maintain the body hydrated and the feeling of satiety during long time.

Another important aspect is to exercise, the best ally to reduce stress and anxiety. Physical exercise, among other benefits, improves mood by promoting the release endorphins. In certain cases, when the situation of dependence is severe, it is advisable to consult with a psychotherapist, especially when sweets become an obsession that prevents even focusing on the daily activities, such as work and studies. The techniques of psychotherapy or cognitive-behavioral therapy can be very helpful tools.