*Photo Credit: Anne Karakash
My 10 lb pillow case full of candy hit the living room floor with the audible rustle of candy wrappers and I dropped down onto my knees in front of it. I hadn’t even peeled off my werewolf fur and it was already time to count the loot.
Halloween was like Black Christmas to me. All that naughty candy was like little chunks of heaven. (Aside from the occasional weirdo who handed out a small box of raisins or a plastic spider ring of course.)
My ears and nose were a little cold from the New Jersey Halloween night and I sniffled as I started the sorting process. For a 9 year old, this is very serious and urgent business.
Snickers, Mounds, Milky Ways, M&Ms to the left. Smarties, Skittles, Pixie Stix, and Starbursts to the right. Tootsie Rolls, Tootsie Pops, Blow Pops, to the middle. Bazooka Joe’s get their own section because…awesome! Loose change was to be re-invested in penny candy at the Little League concession stand. Raisins, plastic spider rings, and Necco Wafers, off to The Land Of Lost Candy. (And what lunatic gave me Tic-Tacs?!)
The best part was that there was after school candy for weeks. And weeks. And weeks.
Unfortunately, that meant a lot of sugar consumption. And a gnawing nagging sense of emptiness after school when the candy was all gone. Hence, the early development of a full blown sugar addiction later in life.
As an adult, Halloween doesn’t necessarily mean trick or treating…at least not directly. But what about what the kids bring home, or what winds up in the candy bowls at work?
If you’ve got a sweet tooth like I do, how do you walk through the minefield of sugary chocolatey booby traps?
Well, I can tell you that I’ve eaten my fair share of sugar. Tons. But here’s how I broke the habit.
1. Gymnema
The first step was to take a lot of Gymnema. It’s an herb from India that has been used for ages to treat diabetes and sugar addiction.
There are two ways that it works.
First, it contains a constituent called gymnemic acid. This molecule is about the same size and shape as a sugar molecule. If you soak your tongue in the liquid, the gymnemic acid fills in the sugar receptors and you will be unable to taste sugar.
You will taste every other flavor, and feel every other texture, but you will not be able to taste sugar.
A great thing to do is to keep a bottle of Gymnema with you at all times. If you feel tempted to eat candy, swish a squirt of Gymnema in your mouth, and then go ahead and take a bite of that Reese’s. It’s going to taste so weird you may never want another Reese’s again. The effect will last from 20 to 90 minutes.
The second part of the equation, I don’t know how to explain, but I’ve read it, experienced it, and countless customers have reported the same thing: after using Gymnema tincture 3 times a day for about 5 days, my cravings for sugar were just gone. I forgot all about it.
The effect of diminished or absent sugar cravings lasts for several months. Once in a while, I do start down the dark path of sugar consumption again. But after a couple days of using Gymnema again, I get right back on track and I have no desire to touch the stuff.
There have been studies done on mice that showed that Gymnema helps part of the pancreas to regenerate, specifically the cells that produce insulin. Correlation does not necessarily mean causation, but it’s certainly intriguing that Gymnema blocks the taste of sugar and appears to affect the pancreas in mice.
If you want to try Gymnema, let me know. I’m very passionate about it’s effects and what it can do for people so I’m happy to coach you through using it.
2. Try A Ketogenic Diet
A ketogenic diet is basically a diet that is high in vegetables, protein, and fat while eliminating sugar and greatly restricting carbs.
To be clear, I’m not talking about bacon grease. It’s important to eat a lot of plant foods and eat healthy fats like avocados, nuts, fish, grass-fed organic beef and dairy.
When you do this correctly, your body starts to utilize fat instead of sugar for fuel. So you end up burning a LOT of body fat really fast. You also lose your craving for sugar pretty quickly because your body has all the fuel it needs from fat.
I’ve done this with great success over a period of months and felt fantastic. I lost a lot of weight and felt great.
There are people who rave about the ketogenic diet and swear that it is healthy. There are others who are concerned by the high fat content. There are logical and empirical cases both for and against it. I’ll leave it up to you to decide what’s right for you.
3. Don’t Give Up
Slip ups, especially early in the process, are common and not the end of the world. If you go a few days without candy and then pound a Snickers, you can still win the war against sugar.
Take more Gymnema directly after and look at your diet. Keeping a food journal can be very helpful. Make sure you are eating healthy meals regularly to keep your body happy and fed.
And if you trip, get up, dust yourself off, and try again.