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Sugar, Pep and Energy The US Department of Agriculture estimates the average US Citizen consumes 152 pounds of sugar per year -- almost three pounds of sugar each week! Sugar comes in many forms: soft drinks, candy, desserts, manufactured food and so on. Because sugar is inexpensive, tastes good and is habit-forming, food companies and fast-food restaurants add sugar without restraint. Sugar, like any addictive substance, makes you crave more sugar. For example, a piece of chocolate gives you a little extra energy for an hour or so. As soon as the effect wears off, you feel tired and maybe a little depressed. So to feel perky again, you want another piece of chocolate. Like cigarettes, alcohol or heroin, the substance is both the problem AND the solution. Every diet that lowers your weight or improves your health has one thing in common: YOU MUST STOP EATING SUGAR. Hundreds of scientific studies prove that sugar makes your body store fat. Excessive fat increases your chance of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and death. In 1972, L. Ron Hubbard wrote the following: "Sugar is a deceptive thing." "Sugar, that is supposed 'to produce energy' does so only at the expense of physical health for sugar does not build up a body, it only burns it up." "The result of a heavy intake of sugar and carbohydrates* is to feel tired all the time-no pep." "If one is going to run a car, he has to feed it the right fuel and oil. If one is going to run a body it has to be fed the right food and that has to include protein." "By eating your hamburger and vegetables and leaving alone the candy bars and cokes, you will begin to build up a head of steam." -- L. Ron Hubbard (*carbohydrates: a type of food that includes potatoes, rice, bread and sugar) Benefits of Not Eating Sugar When you stop eating your three pounds of sugar each week, you lose weight. Other foods smell and taste better. You feel more alive. Kicking the sugar habit helps you sleep better. The energy boost you get from sugar OR the depression that follows can keep you awake at night. With no sugar in your system, you can relax. Sugar alters your digestion fluids so the good food cannot digest properly. You can get heartburn, gas or stomach pain. Without sugar, your body needs less food because you digest it better. Without sugar, you get longer lasting energy. You no longer have brief peaks of energy that require a constant flow of sugar to maintain. Hyperactive children, who are candidates for Ritalin or Prozac, are calmer and saner when they no longer eat sugar. After you cut off their sugar supply, they will probably demand sweet snacks for a few days, but they eventually relax. They lose the mood swings, tantrums and craziness. Ten Tips for Breaking the Sugar Habit Like children, after you stop eating sugar, you might feel irritable and tired for 3-6 days. You may have headaches and feel foggy. You will most certainly crave foods that contain sugar. However, the cravings and symptoms pass. Kicking a sugar addiction is tough, but not as tough as handling an addiction to cigarettes, drugs or alcohol. So you can do it. These suggestions may help. 1. Recognize that sugar is addicting and therefore, controlling you to a degree. For example, if you cannot work or relax without eating sugar, you are addicted. And who likes to be addicted to a substance? Make the decision to break the habit. You have the power to control your craving for sugar. No temptation is stronger than your personal willpower and self-determinism. 2. Find and eat sugar-free substitutes to satisfy the urge to eat food with sugar. For example, fresh fruits and vegetables can stop the craving for sugar. 3. Prepare your own food instead of eating prepared foods that contain sugar. The following prepared food usually contain sugar: canned soup, bread, fast-food restaurant food, salad dressing, sauces, gravy, cough drops, sushi rice, protein bars, flavored yogurt and breakfast cereals. 4. Read the ingredients label on the foods you buy. Sugar is called many names including corn syrup, honey, maltrose, dextrose, fructose, lactose and glucose. 5. Try healthy foods you have never tried before to add variety and interest to your diet. For example, a new type of fish, exotic vegetables or tasty cheeses. 6. Exercise. Heat up your muscles, stretch out your skin and fill your lungs with fresh air every day. Strengthen your ability to control your body. 7. Use a gradual approach. If you make too many changes to your diet at once, the shock may force you to give up on your decision. You may get better long-term results if you make one change, get used to the change, make another change, get used to it and so on. 8. Get creative with your food. For example, buy a yogurt maker, ice cream maker or a juicer to prepare your own sugar-free snacks and drinks. Explore a health-food store. Try a natural foods restaurant. 9. Try different combinations of vitamins until they help stop sugar cravings and make you feel healthier. 10. Work out your own program and to control your sugar habit with the free TipsForSuccess interactive website: www.tipsforsuccesscoaching.org. Taking control of your food is satisfying by itself. You are no longer controlled by the need for sugar. You burn off the fat and drop to your ideal weight. Even if you just cut your weekly sugar intake from 2-3 pounds to 1-2 ounces, you will enjoy long-lasting energy, fewer mood swings and much better heath. Copyright © 2006 TipsForSuccess.org. All rights reserved. Grateful acknowledgment is made to L. Ron Hubbard Library for permission to reproduce selections from the copyrighted works of L. Ron Hubbard. 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