They offer a simple explanation for why many of us fail in our efforts to reform: We’re addicted to refined sugars and carbs, and we don’t have a good enough plan to fight them. They then lay out an eight-step plan for freeing ourselves from the vise and surviving the perilous withdrawal period.
Ashley Gearhardt, a psychologist at the University of Michigan who runs the Food and Addiction Science and Treatment lab, is a bit more cautious about comparing sugar to drugs like nicotine and alcohol. She says the addiction jury is still out on sugar. We still need to better understand whether people addicted to sugar experience tolerance and withdrawal in the same way they would with drugs, she says.
But, she says, the conventional advice of moderation will definitely not work for everyone.
“The majority of people will be able to moderate sugar,” says Gearhardt. “But many people repeatedly fail when they try moderation.”
Those people, according to Avena and Talbott, are good candidates for their plan, which boasts the prospect of a permanent break-up with sugar.
Eliminating sugar from the diet forever may sound draconian to some, given just how prevalent desserts and sweet treats are in our environment and our culture. But Gearhardt agrees with Avena that for some, it’s better to make a consistent lifestyle change than to flip-flop.
“What we see from the animal models is that the most potent way to train the brain for addiction is when things become intermittent,” says Gearhardt. For those with strong sugar cravings, she says, the allure can be like gambling — the fact that you don’t do it every day makes you more likely to double-down when you do get the opportunity. “You’re flipping between extremes.”