How to Recognize a Sugar Addiction

Everyone knows about drug or alcohol addictions, but not many know you can become addicted to sugar. Withdrawals from sugar addictions can even resemble withdrawals from alcohol. If you think you might have a sugar addiction, here some ways to know for certain.

Things You'll Need

• A diary or journal

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Instructions

• 1

  Ask yourself these questions: Do you ever have cravings for sugar, coffee, chocolate, peanut butter or alcohol? If so, when? What time of day? If you are a woman, do these cravings increase during your pre-menstrual period, then decrease after? Or are these cravings constant?

• 2

  Do an inventory of your kitchen or pantry. How many packaged sweets do you have stored? Compare the amount of sweets in your cabinets with the amount of fruits and vegetables. Do the sweets outnumber the fruits and vegetables?

• 3

  Check to see how much refined sugar you eat per day (this includes meals you eat out). Keep a diary and make notations of whether you've eaten refined sugar and by how much at each snack or meal. By the end of the week, you'll have a clearer picture of how much sugar makes up a part of your diet.

• 4

  Test yourself to see if you can stop eating after one piece of candy or bite of pastry. Again, record this in your diary. Note your reactions and whether or not your cravings for these sweets increases.

• 5

  See if you can go for more than a day without eating sugar. Test yourself. Refrain from eating any refined sugar for two or three days.

• 6

  Record any physical symptoms you experience after three or more hours of being sugar-free. Do you experience tremors, fatigue, perspiration, irritability, depression, or anxiety? Put them down in your diary. If you experience any of these symptoms, odds are you are a sugar addict.