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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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Breaking Up With Sugar summary
Molly Carmel
A Plan to Divorce the Diets, Drop the Pounds and Live Your Best Life
21 mins
Brief summary
Breaking Up With Sugar by Molly Carmel is a guide to overcoming sugar addiction and creating a healthy relationship with food. It provides practical advice, personal stories, and helpful tools for breaking free from the harmful effects of sugar.
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Breaking Up With Sugar
Summary of 6 key ideas
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Key idea 1 of 6
You might be a sugar addict and not even know it.
The author began her problematic relationship with sugar when she lost her father at a young age. Comfort wasn’t always immediately available, but sugar was always there for her. But as she began to rely on sugar for emotional support more and more, her weight began increasing. At age 11, she was the youngest person at Weight Watchers. By the time she started graduate school, her weight reached 325 pounds and her health had begun to be severely impacted.
For a long time, she thought that fat, or genetics, or leptin, or whatever the latest pseudoscience said, was her problem. Anything but sugar. She even thought she was the problem.
The key message here is: You might be a sugar addict and not even know it.
Like the author, your relationship with sugar might be influenced by emotional factors. What’s more, this dependence might be years in the making. In the author’s case, when the medical community first started talking about sugar addiction, she instantly recognized it as exactly the thing she’d struggled with her whole life. She decided to finally end her problematic relationship with sugar and, for the most part, she hasn’t touched it since.
It’s not just the author, though – or you for that matter. Our relationship with sugar has been complicated since childhood. We celebrate life’s big moments with sugar – birthdays, for example, and weddings – and little ones too, like ice cream on a hot summer day. It’s not going to be an easy relationship to get out of.
But the truth is, sugar isn’t only making you miserable – it’s killing you. Sugar impacts your brain in the same way alcohol, cocaine, and opiates do. On sugar, your brain gets flooded with the feel-good chemical dopamine, which then leaves you wanting more. When rats go through sugar withdrawal, they experience symptoms like teeth chattering, tremors, and depression. Even worse, when dropped into a body of water, rats which are going through sugar withdrawal are less likely to try and climb out. They’ve lost their will to survive.
To make matters worse, it’s not just sugar that does this. It’s also grain flour, which your body reacts to in the same way as it does to sugar. This is probably hard to hear. But if you’re like the author, you’re an addict. Facing hard truths is the first step to recovery.
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What is Breaking Up With Sugar about?
What’s it about?
Breaking Up With Sugar (2019) is an empathetic, no-nonsense take on food addiction and unhealthy relationships with sugar and grain flour. Author Molly Carmel tells her story of struggling with obesity and gives readers actionable tips on how to get their relationship with sugar under control, once and for all.
Breaking Up With Sugar Review
Breaking Up With Sugar (2020) is an insightful book that explores our complicated relationship with sugar and provides practical strategies for overcoming our addiction. Here's why this book is worth reading:
- Filled with personal stories and relatable anecdotes, it helps readers understand the emotional and psychological aspects of sugar addiction.
- Offering actionable advice and a step-by-step plan, the book empowers readers to break free from their sugar habit and improve their overall health.
- With its down-to-earth approach and no-nonsense tone, the book manages to educate and entertain, making the journey to sugar freedom anything but boring.
Who should read Breaking Up With Sugar?
Who’s it for?
- Anyone who knows, deep down, their relationship with sugar is unhealthy
- People who avoid social gatherings so others won’t judge them for eating
- Veterans of yo-yo diets
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Breaking Up With Sugar FAQs
What is the main message of Breaking Up With Sugar?
The main message of Breaking Up With Sugar is to overcome sugar addiction for improved physical and mental well-being.
How long does it take to read Breaking Up With Sugar?
The reading time for Breaking Up With Sugar varies, but it typically takes several hours. The Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.
Is Breaking Up With Sugar a good book? Is it worth reading?
Breaking Up With Sugar is a valuable read for anyone looking to understand and break free from sugar addiction. It offers practical insights and strategies for a healthier lifestyle.
Who is the author of Breaking Up With Sugar?
The author of Breaking Up With Sugar is Molly Carmel.
What to read after Breaking Up With Sugar?
If you're wondering what to read next after Breaking Up With Sugar, here are some recommendations we suggest:
- Beat Sugar Addiction Now! by Jacob Teitelbaum and Chrystle Fiedler
- The 40-Day Sugar Fast by Wendy Speake
- Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss
- Zero Sugar / One Month by Becky Gillaspy
- The Case Against Sugar by Gary Taubes
- Grain Brain by David Perlmutter
- Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken
- 12 Rules For Life by Jordan B. Peterson
- The Metabolism Reset Diet by Alan Christianson
- Allen Carr's Easy Way to Quit Emotional Eating by Allen Carr