SUGAR ADDICTION

[bjmettler]

I am a very small person with a huge craving for sugary foods. If I eat them first thing in the morning, I feel very ill for a while- yet I go back for more. Addiction??!!

[MBAnderson]

I'd say so. If you can wean yourself off it for a few weeks, then you won't miss it. Eating sugar is among the worst thing you can do for PD.

[talan001]

I have struggled a lot with this. The problem is sugar initially helps make dopamine in your brain. And the second thing I found its the Parkinsons needs help make dopamine but that causes serotonin levels to decrease which causes craving for sugar. A viscous cycle

[talan001 in reply to talan001]

Try your best to wean off sugar. If your cravings are too strong then try to get something a low sugar s you can. I have tried abs tried try I stop eating sugar but since day 1 of the Parkinsons meds I have not v been able to really do this for any measurable amount of time. I know your frustration as I am going thru it to.

[park_bear]

Personally I am intolerant of sweets on an empty stomach – gives me a headache. On the other hand, I can tolerate something sweet for dessert after a meal. My interpretation is the sugar is diluted by the meal already being digested. There are times when my body seems to want a little bit of sugar – a teaspoon of honey or a tablespoon of sweetened dried cranberries added to something else on the menu. How much sugar does it take to satisfy you?

If you must have sweets, do not take them on an empty stomach!

[LAJ12345]

I think it can be that your gut bacteria crave the sugar. I stopped sugar about a year ago which was hard to start with but now I find I don’t get hungry much any more and fruit and vegetables taste very sweet to me. I eat a few dates, prunes, or figs etc if I crave sweetness. At least they have fibre and other goodies. If I do eat something sugary I don’t enjoy it now. I’ve changed to 90% cocoa chocolate and that now tastes sweet too. Any more sugar and it tastes horrible! Persevere, it’s worth it.

[ddmagee1]

I have that problem, too, especially during times of high stress! If I substitute pretzels, and eating more cooked vegetables, it seems to help. Also, if I start a binge, of eating too much sugary food, I stop it, abruptly, by having no tempting goodies around the house, and use more substitutes! When one is trying to lose weight, it is tempting to want sweets, but the worst thing for me, is to have a candy, because then I get an addictive taste for more! So, it’s not the easiest thing, for me, to stay clear of sugary goodies!

[aspergerian]

Miscellany:

Exposure to especially palatable foods, such as cake and ice cream, activates the several brain regions including the anterior insula and right orbitofrontal cortex (Wang et al., 2004a), which may underlie the motivation to procure food (Rolls, 2006).

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

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Evidence for sugar addiction: Behavioral and neurochemical effects of intermittent, excessive sugar intake.

2008.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

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1316 cite Avena 2008: Evidence for sugar addiction: behavioral and neurochemical effects of intermittent, excessive sugar intake.

scholar.google.com/scholar?...

[mleec]

I have had issues with binge eating for a chunk of my life but had it under control since my late 30s. Just shortly before I was diagnosed with PD I was craving salt and the binge effect came on with a vengeance. I put on 20 pounds in 2 years. I finally joined WW and lost 13 but the past couple of weeks I am in that mode of eating. Once I start it is physically difficult to stop. I am the only person I know that can abuse fruit. I think being in an organized but a slightly flexible Mediterranean diet is the best way to go. If you want ice cream go out and have some but just don’t bring any home. I am only on c/l but I definitely think PD is causing my compulsion to eat.

[Hidden]

LoL. I am in the same boat, but I am larger and I don’t feel sick. I am never able to stop. I don’t know if that is addiction or not. Bottom line is that it is too late to stop and all I can do is to try to limit the temptations by staying away. Parkinson’s is a bad place to be with sweet cravings because they feed off of each other. It is a vicious circle.

Eat savory stuff first and then sweets and prolong the experience by alternating with each other. If you ever have a chance to eat Samosas and Jelebis at an Indian restaurant for breakfast, I promise you that you would have visited heaven on earth.