Overcoming sugar addiction is the same as overcoming any addiction.  And yes, you can pretty much be addicted to anything.  Being addicted to sugar isn’t the same as wanting it every now and then.  When you HAVE to have it and have it NOW and this thought bounces around your skull 24/7, you just may have a sugar addiction.  The sure-fire way to find out if you are a sugar addict is not to have any sugar for twenty four hours (including any processed or canned foods that may contain sugar).  If you feel incredibly ill, you are experiencing withdrawal pains.

No Need To Go It Alone

There is plenty of help available in overcoming sugar addiction.  Unlike addicts of most other substances, you don’t need to cut it out completely, but cut back substantially.  This will de painful and difficult enough.  It can help you to hear the stories of how others have or are in the process of overcoming their sugar addiction.  You can go to places such as Overeaters Anonymous and sit in on a meeting.  You can ask your doctor for help.  You can go online and find sugar addict support groups.  If you can make the computer room a no-food room, this will enhance your actions overcoming sugar addiction.

Unlike other kinds of addiction like for drugs or drink, you usually don’t need to be hospitalized during the drying our period.  Your body will protest, but after a couple of weeks, the protests will die off as your body becomes adjusted to your new diet.  You need to keep yourself busy and occupied in order to make you tired enough to sleep and to keep from eating.

Other Tips

You can use visualization to help in overcoming sugar addiction.  When you see a sugary snack, imagine it is laughing at you.  It still laughs as someone eats it.  It continues to laugh while being stored as fat.  If you have an imagination like Stephen King, eventually you will need a gun put to your head in order to swallow a spoonful of ice cream.  One Tales Of The Darkside episode had a woman put on special glasses that made all food become alive, and hearing aids to hear their tortured screams as they were being eaten.  Unfortunately, she couldn’t get them off.  Don’t go that far.

Tell your family that you are overcoming sugar addiction so they will hide sugary foods from you, or at least not eat them in front of you.  Just seeing the food can trigger a craving.  If you eat while watching TV, stop watching TV for a while as your body readjusts.

The reason why people suffer from chocolate cravings is that it has been found that there are a number of additives contained in chocolates which is something that has been confirmed through scientific testing, and it is claimed that chocolates also contain the very same alkaloid compounds that are present in alcohol which may be the reason why alcoholics turn to eating chocolates in order to get over their alcohol cravings. So, are aware that the cocoa contained in chocolates has alkaloid groups that have already been linked with alcoholism which explains why people cannot help but also become affected by chocolate cravings if they are not careful about their chocolate eating habits.

Dieting May Cause You To Crave For Chocolates

Another finding that will be sure to raise an eyebrow or two is the fact that even dieting may lead to chocolate cravings, and dieting is not all about the tightness of your waist, but involves feelings of guilt that are best overcome by eating more chocolates. There are certain emotions that are of a negative type which require comforting from, and the easiest means to do so would be to eat a chocolate bar that helps, albeit temporarily to improve the mood.

It is also a known fact that the best way to keep from having chocolate cravings is to make sure that you have the correct body image and also makes the right decision as well as chooses healthy foods while also foregoing the fad diets and other foods that do not lend them to long term maintenance, and which only lead to more chocolate cravings.

If one is serious about avoiding chocolate cravings, then it will require that one has the resolution to say no to an extra piece of chocolate, and if one must eat chocolate, then a good idea would be to buy a really expensive chocolate so that you are able to eat a little just to satisfy your chocolate cravings without consuming too many calories in the bargain. Another alternative worth considering would be to opt for those foods that have chocolate flavors and consume them in small amounts so that you can overcome your chocolate cravings in a simple and effective way without actually needing to eat chocolates.

There is no doubting the fact that taming the chocolate cravings beast is something that will require a lot of time and also considerable determination. So, when the cravings begin to gnaw at your guts, you must make a choice and consider how chocolate helps to cure your needs and then act in a manner that means having as little chocolate as one can possibly tolerate. Such determination and motivation can certainly lead you in the right direction which is to move away from chocolate cravings and back to normal everyday living.

Chocolate craving is perhaps more prevalent in us than any other kind of craving for foods and it is generally believed that women are the worst culprits even though eating chocolates may not always do wonders for their mood. Such chocolate craving can lead to side effects that includes feeling guilty and gaining weight as also having imbalances with regard to blood sugar, and what’s worse is that the feeling of satisfaction is usually very short lived, which only leads to further chocolate craving.

Deficiency Of Magnesium

There are many people that cannot do without chocolates and their chocolate craving is something quite beyond their control, and if not satisfied, will lead to feeling irritable and also constipated. According to research conducted on chocolate craving it has been found that such cravings are indicative of deficiencies in nutrition; especially, a lack of magnesium. And, because of the presence of caffeine in chocolates, it can lead to addiction and along with alkaloids are the same compounds that cause addiction to cocaine and alcohol as well.

Many persons with chocolate craving usually find that eating chocolates gives them pleasure that is quite like experiencing an orgasm and because chocolates have substances that help elevate the mood, this is not hard to figure out, and when such chemicals wend their way into the body, there is a lot of pleasure experienced, which in the case of some people will prove it better than having sex.

Chocolate craving can also be adduced to people having anxiety and who think of a self induced remedy in eating chocolate to find relief and they can be forgiven for doing this because chocolates contain tryptophan which is an amino acid that produces the hormone serotonin that helps becalm a person.

Another factor that plays an important part in chocolate craving is the psychological reversal in which even knowing that too much is not good for the health, people are unable to resist the next bite and one more chocolate bar which can be attributed to a network of neural pathways that make it seem almost imperative that the person eat chocolate rather than resist it.

So, when faced with the problem of eating in spite of knowing better, you need to consider a few essential steps in order to combat chocolate craving that include checking your emotional state and also thoughts, seeing naturopaths and kinesilogist or even consulting specialist doctors.

Thus, even when the problem with chocolate craving may seem insurmountable to the addict, there are thankfully means to follow in order to return to normal eating habits which should be followed without any delay.

Chocolate was only meant to be eaten or drunk as a special treat on sacred occasions, much like tobacco or alcohol.  These were considered luxuries by the ancients partially because of the intense time to make them but mostly because of the havoc a lot could wreak upon the body.  Everything is meant to be in balance, including what we eat.  If you only drink one glass of wine on Saturday nights, you are not an alcoholic.  If you knock ‘em back the moment you wake up to when you fall unconscious, then you defiantly have a problem.  If all you eat is chocolate, you may have a chocolate addiction.

But It’s Legal

True, chocolate addiction does not support any underworld culture.  Very few robberies of candy factory warehouses happen.  Very few defendants use “I have a chocolate addiction I have to support” excuse in front of a judge.  But even if you ate only Iceberg lettuce, you’d still have an addiction.  The body cannot survive on Iceberg lettuce alone, just as it cannot support itself on chocolate alone…even if the chocolate is covering fruit and nuts.

If you are eating chocolate constantly despite a doctor’s warning – say, if you have diabetes – then you definitely have a chocolate addiction.  If you stop eating chocolate for twenty four hours and get very sick (including but not limited to trembling, teeth chattering, panic attacks, migraines) then you definitely have a chocolate addiction.  The reason you got sick is due to withdrawal symptoms.

Retraining Taste Buds

So, you are used to chocolate, but know you have to drastically cut back or cut out altogether.  For the first couple of weeks, other foods will taste really bland or strange.  This is normal.  Think about when you were a kid.  Perhaps you ate weird foods like peanut butter and mustard sandwiches.  You don’t eat them now.  Why?  Because your taste buds have changed.  They can even be trained to find foods you turn your nose up now to be delicacies.

The best way to knock off a chocolate addiction is to become homeless and eat only hand-outs and what you find in the trash.  A couple of years of this, and your body will crave ANY food.  But, of course, that option is a little extreme.  But do keep trying new foods, new hobbies and drink plenty of water or herbal tea.  And cut down your portions of chocolate when you do have it.  The longer you keep at it, the easier it will be to stick to a new healthy diet.

Chocolate addiction at one time was only associated with negative things including cavities in the teeth and elevated blood sugar levels though recent studies have shown some positive aspects to eating chocolates, though these will not mitigate the problem and are no more than a silver lining on an otherwise dark cloud. So, if one goes by recent clinical studies on the effects that dark chocolate, and cocoa in particular, have on our health, there is reason for some joy and a good bit of optimism.

Cocoa Has Some Positive Effects

Eating the cocoa contained in chocolates gives the body polyphenols that help in reducing inflammations and which also give the immune system a boost while also gobbling up free radicals all of which is for the good of one’s health. Still, it is no excuse for chocolate addiction, which in the old ages was more or less confined only to the very rich, nobility and of course royalty who were the only people that could afford this dark brown stuff, and when their chocolate addiction was not satisfied for whatever reasons, the results were certainly very testing on those who had to work at providing the chocolates to the addicted gentry.

With the spread of chocolate eating to countries such as Italy, Switzerland, England as well as Holland there was a noticeable shift in terms of chocolate addiction which had become known outside of France and had begun to be known in other European countries as well, and which also took on a more civilized garb. And, in the next fifteen hundred years, chocolate making was mastered and countries such as Switzerland had become world famous for their chocolates.

Also, given the fact that Casanova consumed chocolate to further his love making conquests and also that chocolate is greatly instrumental in elevating a person’s mood and can often be more satisfying than sex, its allure to the consumer is so great that the risk of chocolate addiction will prove even more real than for any other food.

The all pervading power of chocolate over our senses is best seen when chocolate addiction takes over our being and whatever good intentions we may have had about kicking the habit gets thrown out the window the next time the urge hits us and we are unable to resist one more chocolate bar. Thus, it is clear for all to see that chocolate addiction cannot be overcome with just will power, because chocolate addiction is a result of unconscious decisions made in the mind over which the heart and will power have no control.

To overcome chocolate addiction may in fact require some kind of re-education of the mind and not simply willing one to refrain from eating more of the sweetly addictive brown stuff.

Having an addiction to chocolate is quite common and from an early age people start eating candy and chocolates which if not checked, can lead to a heavy dependence on it that can in turn lead to serious health problems. No doubt, there would hardly be a person that does not relish eating of chocolates and with many varieties available, the problem is further compounded and not eased. In fact, such is the pervading presence of chocolates that they are also used to flavor medicines, especially those that are given to young children.

Passion, Love And Attraction Is What We All Want

Thus, given that chocolates are associated with passion and love, which are two things that most of us cannot resist, there is plenty of attraction to them that can often lead to addiction to chocolate. What’s more, eating chocolates will elevate the mood thanks to the serotonin that when it enters the blood will make a person feel more romantic, satiated as well as happy and, who would not want to feel all these things?

However, it is only when this love of chocolate turns into addiction to chocolate that there is serious cause for worry and in fact, chocolates are usually blamed for everything is it acne or even cavities in the mouth. The burning need to eat chocolates in spite of these possible ill effects does not seem to dampen which is why there are millions of pounds of chocolates being consumed each year.

Thus, even though Saddam Hussein may have boasted of his own weapons of mass destruction to destroy Americans, there is still something equally powerful that is already working to do the same and that is addiction to chocolate. So, if you are one of the many Americans who cannot forego eating at least about twelve bars of chocolate each week and craved for chocolates almost daily, you can safely consider you as having an addiction to chocolate.

Addiction to chocolate can definitely be shown as being present in a person when the amount of chocolate that he or she consumes was directly proportional to the cravings for chocolate and a consequent lack of control in the eating of chocolates that is centered on not being able to resist the taste, texture as well as smell of chocolate. What may have started out as a casual pattern of eating of chocolates may have degenerated into compulsive patterns leading to addiction to chocolate and such transition also has drug-induced changes in the brain of the addict and some psychological changes as well.

So, if you do not want to destroy yourself by your own hand, then makes sure that you keep your desires for chocolate under control and that it does not lead you to addiction to chocolate and further complications such as diabetes that can even take your life and even make living a virtual hell on earth.