Dr Oz: Kick Sugar Addiction + Rewire Brain & Healthier Options

Dr Oz: Addicted To Sugar

If you’re constantly reaching for a sweet treat, you’re certainly not alone! Elisa shared her sweet tooth struggles with Dr Oz, saying that ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, and milkshakes are her favorite. Sweets always kept her going as a busy mom, and she even starts her day with ice cream and added candy. She carries chocolate and cookies with her in her purse and will sip on packets of honey while she’s at work. Her afternoon snack is a milkshake and after dinner she has more ice cream and candy.

In the last six years, she’s gained 60 pounds, so she’s tried to go a day without sweets, but felt nausease, drained, and depressed. She recognized that she was suffering from an addiction and needed help.

Dr Oz: Rewire Your Brain & Kick The Sugar Habit

Dr Oz recognized the guilt that goes along with eating sugar and unhealthy treats. He explained that your body is actually hard-wired to like sweets. Our ancestors would actually hunt for sweet foods and avoid sour ones, which means you naturally gravitate toward sweets. The more sugar you eat, the more you want. That’s why you have to rewire your body and your brain in order to kick the sugar habit.

Dr Oz welcomed psychologist Dr Ramani Durvasula, who explained that as you slowly cut back on sugar, you’ll begin feeling better almost right away. She acknowledged that your body can still have sweets, but in a different and healthier way. Dr Durvasula said you should first get rid of the timed sugars, which is anything eaten as part of a routine.

Dr Oz: Low-Sugar Breakfast & Snack Options

Then, Dr Durvasula wants to retrain your tastebuds by bringing in healthier and more subtle sugar. Beginning first thing in the morning, make a vegetable smoothie with fruit. Try blending unsweetened vanilla coconu milk, spinach, kale, blueberries, a banana, cinnamon, coconut oil, and ice cubes. The coconut milk makes the smoothie creamy and the fruit adds sweetness. Hilariously, Elisa sipped on one Dr Durvasula made and couldn’t help but grimace and say it was awful!

Dr Oz  then had Elisa try his idea, which was a healthy chocolate popcorn. He used air-popped popcorn, coconut oil cooking spray, coconut sugar, cocoa powder, and sea salt to make the healthier snack option. Artificial sweeteners can be bad for digestive health which is why you should avoid them! Instead, go for natural sweets like mango and sprinkle it with salt to heighten the natural sugar that’s in the fruit. Just a little bit of salt on fruit can make it taste a lot sweeter!

Finally, instead of cookies, fill a cookie jar with activities you enjoy. Whenever you feel the need to eat a sweet, pull out one of those activities and do that instead.

Dr Oz: Parasite Infection From Wearing Contacts

Dr Oz then wanted to take a minute to speak to those who wear contact lenses. The CDC reports that almost all contact lens-wearers are putting themselves at risk for eye infections, including a parasite that feeds on your eyes. The parasite is called acanthamoeba and the bug actually cost one man his eye. An Atlanta eye doctor explained that he used to only see maybe one case of the parasite a year, but now he’s seen over 200 cases in Atlanta.

Jim Strickland, a consumer investigator, explained that contact lens wear is the number one risk factor and in just about every case of the parasite, bad contact lens hygiene was a factor. The infection can be easily misdiagnosed because patients will first only experience pain and a red eye. For the man who lost his eye, he was diagnosed with a virus and given a steroid drop that actually fed the bug, making things worse.

If you wear contacts and are experiencing eye pain or redness, ask your eye doctor to take a culture to rule out the parasite. If you’re worried about the parasite, keep contact lens’ away from sources of water. Throw away any used disinfecting solution and replace your lens case every three months.