For me, it began as a fondness for cakes. As a kid, during my summer breaks, I baked every other day since it was fun and harmless — that is what I assumed. Celebrating good news with desserts was a norm in my household — perhaps another excuse for me to devour sweets. I could eat an entire cake or a whole pack of chocolate in one sitting without batting an eye. I never perceived it as concerning because it brought me joy. Gradually, it became a part of my sad days as well. Every time I got sad, I would start to crave sweets. I realized nothing else could uplift my mood except that chocolate brownie I relentlessly craved.
Emotional and psychological distress is strongly associated with emotional eating and high-sugar food intake, as well as lower levels of healthy eating habits. The science behind this is that sugar can release dopamine — a feel-good chemical in your brain — which puts you in a loop of consuming sugar, experiencing the dopamine hit, coming down from the hit, feeling low without it, and eventually wanting more. Sugar is an especially strong craving for many because when the body is under the effects of stress, the dopamine release resulting from consuming sugar temporarily makes it all feel better. I used to get happy and have an instant energy boost, promptly followed by sluggishness and irritability. I always felt it was satisfying my hunger, but it never did. Rather, it was feeding my emotions and my body kept asking for more.
Earlier this year, I started experiencing mild pain in my molar teeth, but I paid no mind and ignored it. I did not think it was concerning and I carried on with my life — consuming more sugar with a very happy heart and an aching tooth. After a month, the pain increased drastically, but I still did not care. I took painkillers and brushed the pain off. Before I knew it, I was rolling a hot water bottle on my cheek during class, very casually, and very irresponsibly. Two days later I was bawling my eyes out to the constant pain. Since I don’t have a family dentist, I called every clinic I possibly could to get the earliest appointment. To my dismay, the majority of them shut me off and told me they were overbooked. I eventually called one of the new dentists near where I live and requested them to take me in. The receptionist felt bad for me and I finally got a walk-in appointment for the same day. Turns out, I had a tooth infection which needed an emergency root canal. I somehow managed to land myself an appointment the same week and the outcome was very expensive. Needless to say, I learned a lesson about how consuming sugar in excess can do more harm than good.
I’m not telling you this to feel bad for me, but instead to share what unhealthy and repeated sugar indulgence can do to your body. I have loved brownies and cakes all my life and I still do because they are more than sweet treats, they’re my emotional attachments. To cut cake with a candle on it to celebrate my big achievements, to devour a whole chocolate bar when I am going through an emotional turmoil — they are part of my story, and maybe yours too.
But as the saying from Theodore Levitt goes, “anything in excess is poison.” The dopamine hit might explain the joy sugar brings, but it does not justify the harms that slowly creep in. There are too many risks to consuming sugar in excess.
I am not saying I have stopped eating sugar, nor I am advising you to. I still enjoy my brownies but also recognize when it’s for joy and when it is for dopamine. It’s okay to have it in small quantities without depending on it. I am also trying to consciously listen to my body before it gives up on me. After all, my joy and well-being should not be restricted to a brownie.
