Why are We Addicted to Sugar? What are our heart’s Seeking?

Sugar is bad for your heart health.

Ah, this should come as no surprise.  We’ve all been told this.  But a recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA 2010;303:1490-1497.)  confirms what we all knew deep down.  Sugar isn’t good for you.

A lot of sugar is very bad for you.  If you eat high levels of sugar it can lower your good (protective cholesterol) and raise something called your triglycerides.  High triglycerides are a known risk factor for heart disease.

Its not surprising that American’s are overweight, obese, and very out of shape.  All you have to do is look at the amount of food and sweetened beverages that people consume.  But why do they do this?

It’s a question that goes back to the heart I believe.  People eat for comfort.  They eat to satisfy something emotionally that is missing in their lives.  You can call it tension or stress.  But I would suggest that it all comes back to the heart.

The heart’s of most people are troubled.  They work too hard.  They rush here and there.  They feel overwhelmed and stressed out.  The gravitate to sugar as a way to placate what is missing in their lives.

So what can be done to heal our hearts?  What has worked for me and many people is to begin the process of becoming more heart centered.  We need to learn how to live more heart centered lives.  We need to become more open hearted.

Dr. Dean Ornish in his book, Reversing Heart Disease (the first book to really prove that heart disease was reversible), observed that patients whose hearts were closed and troubled had more illness.  They were more likely not to follow a program of heart reversal and become well.

Indeed, in my own practice I have observed a common emotional link to most heart attacks.

Here are my suggestions for learning to become more heart centered.

1.  Acknowledge that you have a problem.   Many people want to ignore the fact that they feel overwhelmed.

2.  Seek out a method of heart opening that appeals to you. This might be counseling, meditation, guided meditations, journaling, or my favorite Sufi Practice of Remembrance.

3.  Work it. Whatever method you feel drawn to work at it.  Plan on spending 15-30 minutes everyday doing this technique.

4.  Listen to your heart.  Once you’ve found a method and are working it, listen closely.  Your heart will tell you important things about you life.

I have utilized these methods and taught hundreds of people how to become more heart centered.  It does indeed work.

Don’t use sugar as your coping mechanism.

Look inside and discover what your heart is seeking.

www.drkirklaman.com