by Dr. David Minkoff January 16, 2023 4 min read
Any time we go on a diet, cutting out sugar or cutting down on food, we go through one phase before anything else.
Cravings. And they can be terrible.
These can be for sugar or junk food or processed food, or just food in general beyond what our body actually needs.
But our body wants it. And it makes us feel that want.
But there is an aspect we haven’t covered before regarding this: the fact that this is an actual addiction, not nearly as severe as harder drugs of course, but still a real addiction.
When you come off sugar, especially following this protocol, the first day or two are not that bad.
The heavy cravings generally set in around day 2 or 3 and run through day 5. They can carry on beyond this, but days 2-5 are generally the worst, at least on this protocol.
This is your biggest hurdle, and if you can make it through this, you can make it all the way.
But you should understand what’s happening here as it may make it a bit easier.
This is the sugar withdrawal phase.
Yes, withdrawals, as in the kind you go through when coming off hard drugs.
Not quite as intense as heroin, but up there. Truly.
You see, sugar is not just addictive, it’s an addictive substance.
It produces the same chemical reactions in our brain as heroin, and follows the same chemical channels in cells.
There are specific pleasure receptors on cells that heroin hits.
These receptors help form and carry on addiction.
Well, sugar hits these same receptors. Actually, all carbohydrates do to one degree or another, though natural ones don’t cause us much trouble.
This is because all carbohydrates are sugars: breads, potatoes, chips, corn, fruit, etc.
They may not taste sweet to you, but to your body they’re all one thing: sugar.
You can actually take a piece of sourdough bread and if you chew it for a while, after a bit it will start to taste sweet.
That's the sugars breaking down. The only reason you taste them faster with processed sugar is they’re already broken down.
So whether you taste it or not, your body is receiving it as sugar and when you have a lot of this over time it can create an amazingly strong addiction, far more than most people realize.
But processed sugars are the worst by far. And they exist in far more foods than you would expect these days, and under many different names.
Natural carbs in moderate quantity are just fine. But processed sugars are akin to heroin.
They truly are a drug, complete with a withdrawal period, emotional rollercoaster, headaches, body pains, sleeplessness, and more.
This is one of the main things that makes it so hard to get off sugar and grains. It is an actual addiction.
Remember this when go through thus phase. It isn’t just “lack of willpower” on your part. It is a real addiction and you go through real withdrawals. But it will end.
Push through. You can do it.
And when you get to the other side... you will feel so much better.
Now, this knowledge alone doesn't necessarily make it any easier to come off from a physical stand point. But knowing what's happening, and that it's not just in your head or it's not just that you're weak-willed, can help.
You probably don’t realize just how much sugar you’ve been on. Almost all of our processed foods these days are carbohydrate-based, not protein- or fat-based as they were 50 years ago.
So if you eat a lot of food that comes in plastic bags or boxes or cans, it’s likely they’re main ingredients mostly break down into sugar once inside the body, even though they may taste sweet or sour or spicy or bland in your mouth.
In fact, most people are generally consuming at least 3-4 times as much sugar in a day as they think they are — even people who “don’t eat sugar.”
It’s just that pervasive in our foods and under a hundred different names on nutrition labels.
But don’t worry, this protocol is designed to help you through this phase much faster than a normal diet
The key is keeping up the high levels of whole food protein and fats, and a high amount of PerfectAmino, especially during week one.
What needs to occur more than anything else here is a restructuring of your cells, and that’s done by protein.
And nothing gets your cells the protein they need nearly as fast or in the volume needed as PerfectAmino.
This is one reason many people report decreased cravings or “hunger” when taking PerfectAmino. Their body is finally getting the protein it actually needs, but also, the cells are, using that protein, are able to start restructuring, and much faster than they normally would.
So keep up the PerfectAmino. And if the cravings become worse — take some more.It will only help.
I hope this helps.
We’re going to cover some key data for week one, so you understand exactly what we’re doing and why, and then we’ll jump right into the protocol so you have time to prepare.
And if you have any questions, make sure to join our VIP Group where you can ask any question you have and get only the best answers.
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by Dr. David Minkoff
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