Sorry, today is not good enough for Dylan Thomas. There is, however, rage.

I am not sure if it is blind rage or sugar rage or some combination, but the struggle is real. Seriously.

As some know and others might think I decided that my old friend and love sugar needed to part ways, and the less contact I had with the refined sugar, the better. I did this to begin to sensibly lose the weight that needs to come off my body. This weight has been on there thanks to numerous events that I try to blame, but in reality, it is me not being diligent and avoiding foods that are bad for you.

Sugar is a powerful addiction. I would dare say even more potent than alcohol or other substances. It is everywhere, and while a little (very little refined) is okay, it is not okay in the vast quantities in which we consume it. We consume a fuck ton (more significant than a metric ton, ass-ton, short ton…) daily, and it is shitty to our system. Is there anyone out there that doesn’t know this? We all know this, and yet we forage away into our cupboard of candy bars and our fridge full of soda to hit that need that we have for sugar. Let’s go to Harvard for the definitive answer.

The brain is dependent on sugar as its primary fuel,” says Vera Novak, MD, PhD, an HMS associate professor of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. “It cannot be without it.”

Although the brain needs glucose, too much of this energy source can be a bad thing. A 2012 study in animals by researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles indicated a positive relationship between the consumption of fructose, another form of sugar, and the aging of cells, while a 2009 study, also using an animal model, conducted by a team of scientists at the University of Montreal and Boston College, linked excess glucose consumption to memory and cognitive deficiencies.

Oopsie, too much of a good thing.

The effects of glucose and other forms of sugar on the brain may be the most profound in diabetes, a group of diseases in which high blood glucose levels persist over a prolonged period. Type 1 diabetes is a disease in which the immune system destroys the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, a hormone used by the body to keep blood glucose levels in check. Type 2 diabetes, caused by dietary and other environmental factors, is a condition in which cells become overwhelmed by insulin and fail to respond adequately; they become resistant to insulin.

So we need it, but we have too much of it, why.

One of the main currencies of the reward system is dopamine, a well-known neurotransmitter that spikes when we do things that we enjoy (for example, eat chocolate or have sex) and, if we get too much of it, it can trigger addiction by causing our body to crave more.

Fortunately, sugar doesn’t produce dopamine spikes as violently as drugs, but it does have a unique effect. And it’s one that explains why you can make a fantastic meal on Sunday to eat for the rest of the week, and by Wednesday can’t stand the sight of it, but can eat the same sugary snack day after day without getting bored.

Ah, dopamine, the cause of all the trouble and because it is tied to the reward center of your brain. It makes us feel good. It motivates us to do things because we feel good. It drives our continued need for something that causes us to get more dopamine from the brain, even if it is crap for the body.

What do we do, Nursie poo? Well, it is essential to watch your carb intake and not just from the plate to the mouth. It is necessary to regulate the sugars and look for carbs that are not dense in sugars. Think what is called complex carbs, like whole grains (not refined), Fiber-rich fruits like apples, berries, bananas. No canned fruits, fiber-rich vegetables, and beans.

The end answer is we have to do better. We need to see our primary care and move towards a visit with a nutritionist as well as physical therapy to help us with adequate exercise. I start Monday, when do you?

Remember to be the kind of person that your dog and your mom think you are.