Sugar Monkey Fuel

How's your sugar monkey doing?  (Anybody who is confused at this question, see my post "My Monkey".)  Have you been trying to get him under control?  Or is he still jumping around on your back, yanking you to and fro?

It's not easy taming that darn monkey.  Just when I think I'm doing good, and keeping mine polite and respectful, he tends to bust loose again.  Then I'm craving sweets, and wondering how in the heck that little monkey turned into a big ape pushing me around.

I'm not drinking pop (soda for you easterners, coke for you south-westerners, cola for you who don't say pop, soda or coke in reference to your carbonated soft drinks).  I'm not eating candy.  I haven't baked cookies since Christmas time.  So why do I suddenly have the overwhelming urge to stuff my face with carbs and sweet stuff?

Aha!  The answer is in the pantry.  It snuck in with the latest grocery run.  The one I let one of my daughters talk me into buying some processed food that we don't normally eat.  There it is, right on the panel of the package, hiding in amongst the dozens of ingredients:  high fructose corn syrup.

My nemesis.  Usually it gives me a headache, tipping me off that whatever I just ate contained my chemical enemy.  But this time it must have been a low enough dose, far enough down on the ingredient list on the label, that I didn't get the (almost literal) clanging sirens in my head.  Instead, I just got a big case of the munchies.

For me, keeping the sugar monkey under control is all about watching what I put in my mouth.  Just because 'real sugar' isn't an ingredient in something doesn't mean I won't get the same effect (cravings, blood sugar undulations, mood swings) by eating a 'fake sugar' such as sucralose, or aspartame, and especially high fructose corn syrup.  In fact, those fake sugars seem to actually have a stronger effect on me.  A few bites, and suddenly I'm an addict who'll do just about anything in order to get my next fix and keep the high going.

So, beware, those who are trying to get rid of sugar monkeys.  Artificial sweetener is not a substitute, it is the same as regular sugar when it comes to affecting your appetite and mood.  There are some studies, and many personal testimonies, that show these fake sugars may actually create a bigger desire for sweets and carbs than good ol' fashioned beet and cane sugar.  For some of us (me!  jumping up and down, waving my arms in the air), artificial sweeteners don't just act like regular sugar in fueling our monkeys, they also give us other ailments like migraines.

What gets the sugar monkey under control is strict adherence to dietary habits--only natural sweets like fruits--and reading those labels for sweeteners where you don't expect to find them.  Like in a box of crackers.  Or a loaf of bread.  Or those croutons you're putting on the salad that is your attempt at eating healthier.  They're out there, and they can make your sugar monkey turn into Donkey Kong.