No sense of reality?

‘Research’ on sugar cravings

Genevieve Tham gives in to her sugar cravings for a day – and found herself craving for even more sugar. In the end, an umeboshi plum – salty and sour – put and end to it. She shares the findings of her personal “sugar research”.
This article was first published in a 1995 issue of The Good Life, with most ofthe issue devoted to the macrobiotic teachings of Herman Aihara, who visited Singapore in March that year.
In a note to this article, Herman Aihara explains why taking sugar leads to greater sugar cravings – and what's the solution.

Even before I began to eat macrobiotically, I’ve always had a passion for the Nonya kuehs – ondeh ondeh, kueh lapis, sago and coconut... and little sweet things like pineapple tarts and moon cakes. I would gladly skip a meal for them. Or go to a specific hawker centre just for that stall that sells the specific kueh i wanted. (Nyona kuehs are sweet snacks and desserts typically made from glutinuous rice flour, sugar and coconut. They are popular in Southeast Asia.) 

After I turned macrobiotic, I didn’t have a single slice of kueh. and that was about three years ago! Impossible, you might think. Well, of course I had the macrobiotic dessert to satisfy my sugar cravings with naturally sugars. But never the kueh or anything with (refined) sugar in it. That is, until one day recently...
I decided it would be a day of “research”, experimentation and, well, enjoyment. I would satisfy my sugar cravings taste all the kueh and eat all desserts I wanted.

Free day
It was a free day. Or so it seemed.
I began with kueh lopez without the gula melaka (coconut sugar). It was a little oily, but delicious, even without the sugar. The coconut shavings gave it a rich flavour. i felt quite satisfied. Later during the day, I wanted a small lunch; i found a small Japanese restaurant and ordered shiso rice and a vegetable side dish. My lunch came with lots of MSG. I had to constantly wash the food down with tea. It was quite unpleasant. After lunch, I wanted something sweet. Naturally.

I had been eyeing the lovely mame-mochi and the other lovely Japanese desserts at the supermarket. they look so beautiful. So I found my self with two different types of mochi – a green one and a plain one, both filled with sweet aduki bean paste. 

And I mean really sweet! Not only was the aduki bean paste so sweet that I could not taste the beans, but the mochi itself was also incredibly sweet. Sitting on a bench at the supermarket and munching on the mochi, I felt a surge of strange chaotic energy. My head became light. It was as if something else had taken over my mind and body. My heart began to beat faster. 

I could not sit on that bench for long. I wanted to get up and go somewhere. Anywhere. I found myself walking and walking just because I could not stay still. Eventually, after all the walking I found myself getting more adventurous. I was gobbling down all the nonya kuehs and desserts that I felt drawn to; sweet potato cakes, tapioca cakes with coconut, jaw-achingly sweet mooncake… I even had white bread for dinner. 

It is difficult to fully express this strange experience, i felt beside my self when I gave in to my sugar cravings – almost in an anxious frenzy after eating the sweets, and later on, incredibly tired. My stomach felt acidic and i felt like I was going to have diarrhea. I felt sick. On my way home, I had a sugar low and fell asleep in the taxi. 

Every time the sugar high dissipated, I felt a little weak and had the compulsion to feed myself with more sugary sweet things. Then my head would feel light and little dizzy, almost as if i had lost control of my mind.

No sense of reality
I can’t imagine the effects of soft drinks and sugary beverages. They must get into the blood even more quickly. It was almost like the time i had coffee on Boston, except that with the coffee, my head was a little light but my heart was not palpitating and my body did not feel like it was taken over by another force. There was also no coffee-low and tiredness after I drank coffee. 

With the sugar and perhaps the coconut, I lost the sense of the ground I was standing on and a sense of myself and my will. The reality of the moment and the surroundings became like a blur. Perhaps I felt good for a split second after tasting that sweet, delicious dessert. But when the sugar travelled to my consciousness and my body, I lost my sense of reality and self. 

And now I can understand why everyone likes sweet sugary desserts. Its helps lift them out of depressions or lows. It makes them feel good and it helps diminish the presence of the environment or surrounding. But only for a while. For me, not even sake, beer, wine or any other alcoholic beverage had such an impact. Sugar is really potent – almost as addictive as drugs. 

My nose is running now, discharging the coconut, the oil, the flour, the sugar… I feel flatulence in my intestines and acidity in my stomach. After two umeboshi plums, I decided to write this. You are reading my discharge! 

Please stay away from sugar as far as possible. Don't give in to sugar cravings.
We should make our own kuehs and sweets. If macrobiotic families can get together, we can all have delicious fresh desserts, as well as tofu, mochi, ateamed sourdough bread and seitan. Each family can produce one item and exchange it for other items that other families produce. In this way, we can help each other to become happy and healthy. 

For me now, I know how sugar affects my consciousness. I have the pimple on my slightly expanded tip of my nose to remind me of it. My upper and lower lips have become a little more swollen. I have learnt my lesson about sugar and sugar cravings. If we want to evolve as spiritual beings, then sugar is definitely not the food to have.

Note: It may seem puzzling why taking sugar does not satisfy sugar cravings, but increases one’s craving for more sugar instead. According to macrobiotic theory, sugar is yin. Logically, when you get enough of yin, you wouldn’t want more yin. Sugar seems to go against this logic. 

We asked Herman Aihara to comment on this. He attributes sugar cravings to bacteria, yeast and other microorganism in the body. These feed on sugar. And they multiply quickly when sugar is consumed. So when you eat sugar, you increase the population of bacteria and other microorganism in your body. Since they feed on sugar, they demand more sugar and so your sugar craving intensifies. 

This was the experience of Linda McGrath, whose story was featured in Victim of strange, “healthy” diets, The Good Life, No 5, 1994. Linda suffered from bulimia, an eating disorder which made her crave – and eat – enormous amounts of sweets, cakes, pastries and ice cream. Her problem was eventually traced to bulimia and candida infection, a yeast infection that is today common among women in modern society. 

To curb sugar cravings, Herman suggest taking something very salty like umeboshi plums to stop the growth of bacteria in the body. This was exactly what Genevieve did instinctively. She took two umeboshi plums. And her sugar craving stopped immediately.

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Click on the following links to read, in greater detail, about specific food groups and what place they have in a macrobiotic diet:

• whole grains
• bread
• miso soup
• vegetables
• beans and bean products / soy beans
• sea vegetables
• cooking oils
• fruits
• nuts and seeds
• seasonings and condiments
• herbs and spices
• sugar
• pickles / umeboshi
• beverages
• fish and seafood
• milk and dairy products
• meat, eggs and other animal prod