Sugar is said to be one of the most addictive substances in the world - worse than heroin and cocaine. With it being so readily available in every second food we see, it's no wonder.
^ I've heard this too, it's horrible. I've been there before, addicted to sugar. It's all fun and games until you have too much, then it just sucks.
I've been sugar free -- that is, refined/raw sugars -- for a year now, due to health reasons. (explained below) Trust me, it was a HUGE struggle at first, but now I've adjusted and it isn't so bad. I love fruit and raw honey, so that gives me my sweet fix when I'm craving something. I also like using stevia sometimes too when I bake things, but I usually just stick to raw honey. Some days though I'd kill to have a candy bar or a donut or a huge slice of cake. :sad: (If I didn't feel like it'd kill me, I totally would.) It's good to avoid sugar, but it's not bad to indulge yourself every so often, in my opinion. It's all about finding balance, and I hope you can find that, Psyche.
And more importantly, the dreaded
candida and
leaky gut syndrome.
^ I have dealt with both for a long time and it is absolutely horrible. In fact, almost one year ago exactly I was finally diagnosed with leaky gut after spending nearly 5 years sick off and on, my food choices becoming ever so gradually scarce because my body would eventually react to it. I saw 3 different special.ists (why was that censored???) all during that time period and not a one could figure out what was wrong with me and why I was developing so many food sensitivities out of the blue. I did have candida issues on top of that, but I got to the point where even the candida diet didn't even work for me. My doctor finally transferred me to a nutritionist who figured out my main issue. I've been with her since, following a strict diet tweaked to my needs and proper supplementation, and I can tell you this is the best I've felt since I was a kid.
This book helped me A TON, she recommended it to me once I started following the program she put me on. Even if you don't have leaky gut, it is an incredibly fascinating read about the link between digestive issues and depression, anxiety, ocd, epilepsy, etc. It may not be the case for everyone, but in my case the anxiety and depression was mostly linked to my health issues. I cannot even believe how much my social anxiety and depression has improved in the past year. Granted, I still have my days where I feel horrible and/or panicky, but it's no where near as bad as it used to be. :thumbup:
