The average American eats 22 teaspoons of sugars every day. I’ve read many articles over the years saying this amount is way too high. Have you ever considered sugar a “substance?” It actually stimulates the brain in the same way cocaine does, which is why we are driven to crave more and more of it.

Obviously substances are all on a spectrum and we must all make decisions around how much enjoyment versus harm they are doing to our lives. But my point is that there are many different substances out there — everything we ingest and even the activities we do send messages to our brains. These messages can affect our future thoughts, cravings and behavior.

Every human has a relationship with substances (and a a variety of harmful and helpful relationships at that). I’ve often heard friends and family ask me about working with people who struggle with diagnosable chemical dependency, posing questions like, “why do they like [the drug],” “can’t they realize what it’s doing to their bodies and lives?”, and “isn’t it depressing when they just continue to go back to it and relapse?”

My response is always the same. I return their questions with a question: “Have you ever tried to change a behavior in your life? Maybe your diet, or how much you exercise?” Typically the answer is yes. I then have an opening to discuss with the person how difficult it was, how many days you experienced progress and how many days you “relapsed” or fell back into old patterns. The bottom line is change, like recovery, is a lifelong process. That process begins with personal insight. One of my favorite quotes from the Dalai Lama states, “critical thinking followed by action’ is the most important thing we can do now.” I love that idea, since it’s why talk therapy can be helpful to so many people. In most cases, we need to have an understanding of what’s going on, to think critically about it, before we can strategize about the action to take. I think all those articles about 22 teaspoons of sugar are trying to tell us all something (and prompt people to cut back!).