Low Carb USA 2016 , part 2 Karen Thompson and Emily McGuire talk Sugar Addiction

Low Carb USA, part 2- Karen Thompson and Emily McGuire talk Sugar Addiction

Yep! Sugar Addiction is real, and YES many of us are sick (literally and figuratively) of the advice to moderate all the foods, including highly additive foods like processed sugar. 

Here are my take aways from the lectures

1. Karen Thompson ( founder of The Sugar Free Revolution) who gave a talk on The Journey of a Sugar  Addict.  

Here are my take aways from Karen's talk, I could really relate to her. 

a. Sugar is my pimp, the gas station was my dealer. Karen Thompson was a sugar addict from the age of 4, I was from the age of 6.  And yes, riding my bike to the convenience store to buy candy was BETTER than Christmas for me. Sugar addiction is real for many of us.

b. Karen Thompson's recovery was 8 years ago, mine was 5+ years ago. Tim Noakes mentioned sugar addiction. Karen's Thompson's recovery was in abstinence, LCHF, Exercise, and 12 step. Mine is similar, without a formal 12 step, but 12 step principles applied ( I don't attend meetings, but do practice many of the  OA steps). 

c. Karen Thompson made a mention of the samples in the hallway at the seminar and that she has to be very careful about what she eats -

 Karen' P's take away I don't eat all fake desserts or cookies or bread recipes- even if they are LCHF/Keto . I have to be very careful about what I eat. Ditto for me, I can't do Keto Kookies and be okay with that. No freaking way. I'd be binge eating or food seeking with in 10 minutes. At least I know myself!

It was great to hear Karen's Thompson's history and to know she had the first in-house treatment center for food addiction in 2012 in South Africa. 

and

2. Emily McGuire - (Low Carb Genesis)- who gave a talk on Sugar Addiction- Fact or Fiction

a. Who else is sick of the advise "Everything in moderation"? Many in the audience raised their hands, including me.  Karen P's take away- moderation kept me sick and in pain and binge eating for decades. 

b. Yale Food Addiction Scale, try it for 30 days, lead by example, let others decide for themselves. 

Karen P's take aways- I had the highest scores on the Yale Food Addiction Scale, if I answered when I moderated sugars  and the lowest scores with my current No Sugars, No grains, No emulsifiers food template. 

Karen P's take away additional thoughts: I used to BS myself and tell myself I was only "mini binge eating" so I didn't have to face going through sugar withdrawals. Even after a shrink told me "you are allergic to flour and sugar" stop eating them!!"  It was when I finally accepted myself as sugar addict that I could get well again.

c. Teaching life long adherence to those who are on and off LCHF : This was in response to a MD to who had a question about being LCHF, then going back to Low Fat, high carb.

 Karen P's take away, yes, I really did teach myself life long adherence. I love it, I do. I would not go back onto my old yo-yo, binge eating, low fat diet. No way.  

Panel discussion :Finally, I asked a question to the panel at the end of the talks , HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE? I went up to the microphone and asked this question 5-10 years I asked? How long will it take for the estimated 40% of obese food addicts, 10% normal weight, and 10% underweight people to routinely be simply offered abstaining as a tool for weight management, binge eating?

Then the fire alarm rang, and we had a pause.  Both Karen and Emily said they hoped that it would be less than 5-10 years, maybe 2-3years?  

I hope so. Those effected by sugar/food addiction deserve a supportive community that is out in the open, supportive, and that does not function via moderating all foods. 

I'm worth it, you all are worth it. It's hard to wait. A big shout out to both Karen Thompson for traveling from South Africa and Emily McGuire who traveled from Scotland to attend the conference.

I'll be adding both blogs to my sidebar. Be sure to check out their websites for more info.

Michael Eades, MD, Karen Thompson, Adreas Eenfelt, Emily McGuire