The reward system is a term used to describe the release of the neurotransmitter Dopamine from the brain in response to certain stimuli or experience. Activating the reward system results in feelings of pleasure that can ultimately lead to addiction.
The food industry (and a lot of other industries) intentionally manipulate our food to ensure we constantly seek reward at the expense of our own health and true joy.
Sugar… is the cheapest reward and it is totally exploited to ensure we come back for more!
But how cheap is it really…. chronic disease from poor lifestyle choices is crippling our health systems. For example in Australia 53% of the diabetes health burden was due to overweight and obesity in 2014-15. This would be higher today! For more information and startling statistics visit Australian institute of health and welfare – chronic disease.
We do NOT have to be a slave to this manipulation of our senses, the over-riding of our body’s natural signals and communications about the quality and quantity of food we put, into our bodies. We can empower ourselves and take back our responsibility for our own health and well-being.
Simply cutting out all added sugars in your diet is a really good starting point – to reclaim your natural taste buds and feel the true response to sugar. You may be surprised how ubiquitous sugar is in the modern diet, what we consider as ‘health’ food is too often full of sugar.
Cutting out the addictive substance is literally like detoxifying from a drug or medication, whilst the body has been on the substance it is in reactive and inflammatory damage control mode working very hard to keep you stable. All this extra work and inflammation leading to the enviable (yet totally avoidable) chronic disease.
I highly recommend watching “That Sugar Film” for a first-hand hilarious yet totally serious experiment to document the effects of a high sugar diet (a normal Standard Australian Diet = SAD) on a healthy body.
So you are more than your reward system, you have the power to live without the shackles and manipulation that over-ride the natural wisdom and healing power of your body.
Be bold and step outside of the box and don’t become a statistic.