Confessions of A Sugar Addict In A Sugar-Laden World: Laura Marquis (Transcript)

Here is the full transcript of author Laura Marquis’ talk titled “Confessions of A Sugar Addict In A Sugar-Laden World” at TEDxLoyolaMarymountU 2015 conference.

Listen to the audio version here:

TRANSCRIPT:

The Rising Tide of Obesity and Sugar Addiction

The past 20 years, obesity rates have dramatically increased in the United States, affecting one out of every three children and two out of every three adults. More startling, every seven seconds, someone dies from complications related to diabetes. Sadly, over 4.9 million people die annually due to food-related preventable diseases. And the number one culprit to all this unnecessary sickness and death is sugar.

So why does this matter so much to me? Because I had a sickness that was triggered by sugar, and if left to run rampant, it would have left me as one of these statistics. I suffer from the disease of addiction, and not just any kind of addiction, sugar addiction. I don’t say that in a cute way, like, “I really like chocolate or ice cream.”

Recognizing Sugar Addiction

I say I’m addicted to sugar like it controlled me, like I could not stop eating sugary foods. Today, I want to share my story about how I came to realize that I was addicted to sugar because it has brought me here. I now want to devote my time and energy to helping others understand, number one, how addictive sugar really is, and number two, how simply we can make changes to live a healthier life without sugar.

The first time I can remember hearing the term addiction, I was about 14 years old. I can remember sitting in the living room talking with my dad. We were talking about how everyone in this world has a vice. I completely idolized my dad and still do, so I couldn’t believe that he could or would have one. So I said, “Dad, what’s your vice?”

The Start of Awareness

I can remember what he said word for word. “Laura, some people are addicted to drinking, drugs, and alcohol. I’m addicted to food. But unlike other forms of addiction, you can’t just cut food out of your life. You can’t just stop eating.” He seemed slightly sad or embarrassed, but he wanted me to know. He didn’t want to hide it. Unfortunately, at this point, I was unaware I was already showing many of the same signs of having it.

It started with small things like I couldn’t help but pick up food in front of me. Even if I was already full, I’d still eat more. Then I started hiding wrappers of the food I’d eaten. I honestly didn’t even know why.

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The Escalation of Addiction

I just felt like it wasn’t normal to eat so much. Looking back, these were the first signs that I was suffering from addiction. But it wasn’t until several years later that I knew without a doubt I had it. When I was 18, I started working in a bakery.

Now for those of you who have never worked in a bakery, a general rule of thumb is that you get to eat any damaged desserts. Which is awesome for any teen trying to save money, but not great for me. I was eating everything, and I’m not talking one or two pieces of dessert here and there. I would eat a dozen cookies at a time, or nearly a whole pie at once.

Hitting Rock Bottom

And I couldn’t stop myself. I was desperate to try to come up with a solution because I was gaining weight and I wasn’t feeling great about myself. So I started taking just one bite of the dessert and then throwing the rest into the trash. For sure, this would help.

But I was wrong. I knew it was still there. Until recently, I never thought that I’d share this part of my addiction, because it’s pretty embarrassing and not the proudest moment of my life. But my addiction got to the point where I would actually take the half-eaten dessert out of the trash and finish it.

Realizing the Depth of Addiction

I didn’t know why I was doing this. I was an educated young adult. None of my friends were doing this, none of my family was doing this. Why could I not stop myself from thinking about the stupid dessert in the trash?

And why on earth could I not stop myself from actually taking it out of the trash to eat it? And then it hit me. I was addicted to food just like my dad. But at 18, I refused to believe that this is what my life was going to be now.

Researching Food Addiction

So I decided that I was going to research and figure out what caused food addiction so I could figure out what caused it and how I could solve it or at least make it not so hard to deal with. What I found out is that food addicts aren’t addicted to food in general. No food addict is diving into a trash can for mushrooms. That’d be so much like an alcoholic.

An alcoholic can drink as much water as they want without actually causing any type of addiction pattern. They just have to avoid the alcohol. For food addicts, we have to avoid one or two things. It’s either fat or it’s sugar.

Understanding Sugar’s Power

For me, without a doubt, my addiction was sugar. Understanding that I was now a sugar addict, I put all my attention into understanding why sugar was so completely powering over me. What I found out is that for decades, scientists have been trying to prove how addictive sugar was. But it wasn’t until 2008 that they actually found out, without a doubt, sugar is chemically addictive.

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And not just kind of addictive, it’s eight times more addictive than cocaine. As a sugar addict, I realized that I was now going to have to completely eliminate all processed sugars from my body if I was ever going to regain control.

But I was learning the hard way that sugar was hidden in everything. What I started to do to regain control is I started only allowing healthy foods in my diet.

Battling the Ubiquity of Sugar

I put everything into serving-size containers. I put the calorie count on everything, yet I was still feeling helpless. All the time, all I could think about was food. When I’d wake up in the morning, I was thinking about what I was going to eat for breakfast.

At breakfast, I was thinking about what I was going to eat for lunch. At lunch, I was thinking about what I was going to eat for dinner, and so on and so on. It was exhausting. And that’s when I realized that just because a food says it’s healthy, that doesn’t mean it actually is.

The Deception of “Healthy” Foods

I realized that you cannot lie to your body. Added sugar is added sugar. Even if your eyes are seeing you eat something healthy, like a granola bar or yogurt, these foods create the same sugar spike in your body as if you’re eating a candy bar. And it is these foods that continue to fuel my addiction. They continue to trick the everyday healthy American into believing that they’re healthy, and in return, they get fatter and sicker.

I have seen so many people suffering from everything, from the shame of being overweight to the pain of trying to walk with neuropathy in their feet caused by diabetes. But the worst that I’ve seen by far have been the kids crying from losing their parents from preventable food-related diseases. What I know is that we are not purposely making ourselves sick, so it’s time to make a change.

Three Key Lessons

Here are the three key things that I learned that have helped me get to this healthy place in my life. I first slowly started to limit the amount of processed sugar that I was taking in. I started by first limiting it down to 24 grams. That is what the American Health Association suggests for women.

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And then from there, I was able to slowly eliminate it altogether. Now to put into perspective what 24 grams is, that’s about the equivalent of one Greek yogurt or one vitamin water. The next thing I had to learn was how to properly read a food label. In the early days, I was getting tricked by what’s known as the health halo.

The Importance of Reading Labels

In the food world, this is when a brand or packaging leads a consumer to believe that a food may be healthier than it actually is. For example, let’s say there’s two chocolate chip cookies, both identical on the inside, but one has packaging that says that it’s vegan, all-natural, or gluten-free. The consumer automatically assumes that it’s a little bit healthier and chooses it. They never read the back, because in their mind, it has to be healthy, it has that label.

The first key is to first check, you need to see how many grams of sugar are actually in the food. And then from there, you need to make sure that added sugar is not one of the main ingredients. I know this sounds really basic, but only 48% of consumers know how to read a food label correctly. Lastly, I had to learn how to always keep healthy treats with me at all times.

Creating Healthy Alternatives

These cravings will hit. Now two years ago, that was a little easier said than done. When I started, my options were either gross or nearly non-existent. So I started making my own naturally healthy desserts, so that way I could take control.

I’m now happy to say that I’m one of many people that are making healthy food alternatives part of our everyday culture. I hope that one day, given increased knowledge and increased accessibility to these healthier options, we can begin to live healthier lives. Today, we’ve only begun to scratch the surface on the topic of sugar. But as we continue to increase our own knowledge and our own personal health IQ, we will begin to realize that real food is our medicine, and fake food is our poison. Thank you.