UKESAD Lou Lebentz Presentation

Sugar –
The New Baddie on the Block?

Welcome to the BACP
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I’m here today to talk about
• Sugar – is it really Addictive?
• The Addiction Model and the Eating Disorders
Model
• The latest research: the Brain and the Gut
• The Obese Population versus Eating Disorders, Body
Image
• Abstinence, Exclusion, Inclusion, of Sugar and the
Middle Path
• The Neuro, Bio, Psycho, Spiritual and Environmental
Model

Do you think sugar is
addictive?
Who’s here?
Do you think food is
addictive?

Obesity – News - UK
statistics from NHS report: “Statistics on obesity, physical activity and diet”
In 2010, for example, 62.8% of English
adults were overweight and 26.1%
were obese (a BMI>30)
The overall cost of obesity to the
economy already exceeds £16
billion every year and is rising……
In 2010, more than one-quarter of
all adults were obese (this figure
has tripled since 1980

34% – that’s more than a third – of all
primary school children are overweight
or obese by the time they reach Year 6
(ten and eleven year-olds)
(statistics from National Obesity Survey: Dec 2012)

In 2050 no fewer than 60% of men, 50%
of women and 25% of children will be
not just overweight, but clinically obese
(current Department of Health estimates)

Obesity - News - RoW
Mexico is now the most obese country in the world,
according to the United Nations Food and Agricultural
Organisation, with 32.8% of its people now obese,
compared with 31.8% in the USA

Kids aren’t to blame surely?
• More than 25% of Egyptian children are
obese; the numbers are similar for Chile,
Peru, Germany, and Mexico
• 15% - 20% of four-year-olds are obese in
Zambia and Morocco
(Source: 2nd World Health Organisation obesity report)

A complex mixture of ….
Physics, Biochemistry,
Endocrinology,
Neuroscience, Psychology,
Sociology and
Environmental Health

Westerners are eating on average about 25
teaspoons of sugar a day! This is because it’s
hidden in almost all the foods we buy from the
supermarkets, women should be having about 6
teaspoons a day and men about 9
Sugar is everywhere

Our digestion and
metabolisms haven’t
changed in 130,000
years. In 150 years, our
sugar intake has gone
from 0 kg to about 60 kg
a year. Yes, sugar is
natural. But the amount
we’re constantly exposed
to isn’t……
Sugar is everywhere

Lazy and Gluttonous?
• Many people still believe that obesity is down to
gluttony and sloth, however the latest research is
disproving this when looking at the brain, the
reward system, the hormonal system and the way
fat is stored

Excess Sugar and Insulin
• It’s clearly evident that greed doesn’t
make us fat but excess sugar and a
constantly raised insulin level does
• We become fat making machines on
our average modern diet today

Societal Changes
• Society has radically altered over the past five
decades, with major changes in work
patterns, transport, food production and food
sales
• These changes have exposed an underlying
tendency, possessed by many people, to
both put on weight and retain it
(Source: Sir David King, the government’s chief scientific adviser
and head of the government office for science)

Processed Foods and Low
Fat = added Sugar
Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser, summed up our predicament
quite neatly. Writing in 2000, he said:
‘What we eat has changed more in
the last 40 years than in the previous
40,000.’

Fat = added Sugar
Three quarters of all global
food sales now involve
processed foods!

Fat = added Sugar
The Obesity Epidemic Got Worse When
The Low-Fat Guidelines Were Published

Why do I care about sugar, obesity
and food?

….and then I ended up in
Rehab

The Therapeutic and
Clinical Settings I worked in
The ATP Prog
OR
The Eating Disorders Unit

Sugar or no sugar? - is that the question
In Rehab – I was confused

I hope I’m not Teaching you all to
suck eggs?

What is an Addiction?
• Having been exhaustively discussed in medical,
psychological and academic debate, addictive behavior
is difficult to categorize or quantify, and seems to be the
result of the convergence of multiple contributing
conditions: genetic, biological, behavioral and
environmental
(O’Brien & McLellan, 1996)

DSM-IV criteria, alcoholism and addiction are classified as
diseases - addiction being explained as any compulsive
behavior that is causing damage to the practicing individual,
which that individual wishes, but is unable, to stop.

• Emphasis is placed on addiction as a state
of being that is comprised of compulsive
patterns of thought, automated responses,
increasing tolerance and increasing
negative life consequences resulting from
the compulsive behavior (Orford, 2001)

Addiction Definition
“Not having control over doing, taking or
using something harmful. You can't control
how you use whatever you are addicted to
and you become dependent on it to get
through each day.”

Addiction
• An addiction is an idol that, at best, delivers only short-
term pleasure. It is a misguided attempt to avoid pain
or to experience happiness. Even minor addictions
eat away at your freedom of choice and take away
from your wellbeing. Addiction treatment theory
believes that at the root of a person’s addiction is a
failure to listen with respect to his or her own feelings

“Addiction”
But ……is it the right word
to use with food?
Words after all are so
loaded with meaning!
http://www.cleanlanguage.co.u
k/

The Addiction Model
• At the moment, the majority of addiction treatment
centres in the UK follow the “Minnesota Method”, or
the 12 step treatment approach

12 Step Philosophy
OA (Overeater Anon) and FA (Food
Addicts Anon) both use the word addiction
with food and treat it as an incurable illness
based on a brain based disease

12 Step Philosophy
• FAA, like Alcoholics Anonymous, is an organization
that shares the belief that food addiction is a
biochemical disorder that occurs at a cellular level
and cannot be cured by willpower or therapy
alone

12 Step Philosophy
• "the term food addiction implies there
is a biochemical condition in the body
that creates a physiological craving
for specific foods. This craving, and its
underlying biochemistry, is
comparable to an alcoholic's craving
for alcohol".

12 Step Philosophy
• FAA literature states: “when we abstain
from these substances and work the
Twelve Steps of the FAA program, food
addicts are able to create dramatic
positive changes in the physical,
emotional, and spiritual quality of their
lives.

12 Step Philosophy
• These substances are typically refined
carbohydrates, sweeteners, fats and
processed foods. These foods seem to
affect the same addictive brain
pathways that are influenced by
alcohol and drugs. (Sheppard,1993)

12 Step Philosophy
Originally, 12 step groups and the “fellowship” viewed
change as possible when the individual made a radical
transformation of the self and their behaviour.
(Kellogg, 1993).

12 Step Philosophy
• The emphasis on the “Fellowship” helped
to establish or restore a sense of
relatedness to others.
• The sharing of experiences within the
programme provides the opportunity to
use language to represent the self and to
express feelings, thus facilitating the
establishment and consolidation of a
sense of self.

12 Step Philosophy
“the programme encouraged a sense
of agency in maintaining recovery
which was facilitated by attending AA
meetings”
Hopson and Beaird-Spiller (1995)

12 Step Philosophy
"The actual purpose of the 12 steps is to
facilitate a spiritual awakening in the person
who follows them”.
Rosen, T., (2014) Recovery 2.0: Move Beyond Addiction and Upgrade
Your Life

Eating Disorders Model
• The eating disorders community
and some alternative therapeutic
theories such as cognitive
behavioural therapy (CBT) differ in
their ideas of how to treat food
issues, binge eating disorder (BED)
or alleged “food addiction”

Eating Disorders Model
• All types of cognitive therapy for Binge Eating Disorder
attempt to help the binge eater normalize eating by
• Adopting a more flexible, healthier eating pattern,
• Loosening the connection between self-esteem and
body shape/weight
• Finding other sources of support for self-esteem
• Accepting a larger than average body size
(Mitchell et al., 2007)

CBT and other Theories?
• The CBT model of treating Eating Disorders or Binge
Eating Disorder specifically looks at increasing
consciousness of the links between thoughts, feelings
and behaviours associated with binge eating and
acquiring tools to restructure thinking in binge-prone
situations
(Mitchell et al, 2007).

• Psycho-education is a crucial
component and at the beginning
of treatment the multiple causes
including the genetic, biological
and environmental elements are
discussed

• Behavioural tools are based on the
identification of links between
conditioned stimulus control techniques
and unwanted responses and the re-
enforcement of desired responses.
• Cognitive tools include motivational
techniques such as decision analysis and
change focused techniques such as
cognitive restructuring are also used

So Addiction or ED Model?
Wilson and Fairburn (2005) comment
that while eating disorder treatment and
12 step programmes share some
features, there are also many important
differences

The Two Different Approaches
12 Step CBT
The disorder is an illness for which there
is no cure, only abstinence.
Recovery is within the reach of most
people.
Immediate abstinence is paramount Emphasis on the immediate cessation of
bingeing is neither reasonable nor realistic.
Gradual change is preferred, to avoid
relapse
Total abstinence of “toxic” foods that
trigger episodes of binge eating
Food avoidance should be eliminated, not
encouraged
One is either in control or out of control,
foods are either safe or toxic
Black and white thinking is a problem that
must be tackled

Robinson and Berridge (2003) have
suggested that some drugs of abuse may
weaken the “rational break” of cognitive
regulatory processes, which are necessary
to inhibit motivational impulses and could
impact on other psychological factors such
as decision taking.

Numerous studies support the
observation of impaired decision making
and altered neural activation
(Bechara et al. 2001; Clark and Robbins
2002; Esch et al. 2005; Grant et al 1996;
Rogers et al. 1999).

Significant main effects for addiction
showed that the food-addiction model
produced less stigma, less blame, and
lower perceived psychopathology
attributed to the target described in
vignettes, regardless of the target’s weight.

The food-addiction model also
produced less blame toward obese
people in general and less fear of fat.
The present findings suggest that
presenting obesity as an addiction does
not increase weight bias and could
even be helpful in reducing the
widespread prejudice against obese
people

Presenting obese individuals as physically
dependent on food, rather than as free agents of
their own dietary decisions, reduced blame toward
these specific individuals and, indeed, toward
obese people in general.
Latner, J. D., Puhl, R. M., Murakami, J. M., & O’Brien, K. S. (2014). Food
addiction as a causal model of obesity. Effects on stigma, blame,
and perceived psychopathology. Appetite, 77C, 77-82.

Willpower or Thinking isn’t
the answer……
……but of course thinking right is helpful!

Best of Both Worlds?
• Ideally a treatment paradigm that
does not blame a person’s lack of
willpower, supposed failure at self-
regulation or any indications of
culpability that are shame based!

What about the
Science and
the Research?

Research increased
dramatically
• Fifteen years ago there were less than
a dozen articles on food addiction
and today there are nearly 3,000 peer
reviewed journal articles and books
relating to food as a chemical
dependency

The Scientists and People
who say NO to Addiction!
In 1993, Wilson reviewed the scientific literature on food
and found the theory that foods cause physical craving
was empirically unsupported. Many believe that true
addiction requires a psychoactive substance which
produces symptoms e.g. physical tolerance and
withdrawal

The Scientists and People
who say NO!
Foods are not addictive per se (Corwin and Grigson
2009) food may not fit the use, abstinence, relapse drug
model of addiction (Rodgers and Smit 1999) and there is
no support from human subjects that sucrose may be
physically addictive or that addiction to sugar plays a
role in eating disorders (Benton 2009; Herrin and
Matsumoto, 2007)

The Scientists and People who say NO!
According to Wilson, 1995, “The concept of addiction has
been debased by promiscuous and imprecise usage to
describe virtually any form of repetitive behaviour”
(pg.101). “When the word is used in this loose, all
embracing way, most of us could be described as being
addicted to something. We need to be cautious when
defining binge eating or any other behaviour as an
addiction”.

A recent, thorough review published in 2010 in the esteemed “Journal of
Clinical Nutrition” by Benton from the University of Swansea concluded
“there is no support from the human literature
for the hypothesis that sucrose may be
physically addictive or that addiction to sugar
plays a role in eating disorders.” (pg. 288-303).
This review looked at over 160 studies that have been conducted on this
topic.

The scientific case against the addiction
model of eating disorders is compelling
when evidence from laboratory eating
studies, epidemiology, genetic and
familial research and core
psychopathology research is evaluated.
(NICE, 2004; Wilson et al., 2007).

How can a label of ‘addictive’ be
applied to that which supports life itself?
Rather than assume all foods are
addictive it is proposed that certain fat
or sugar rich foods are highly palatable
and may become addictive following a
restriction/binge pattern of
consumption.
(Wilson et al., 2007).

Highly palatable food is not addictive in
and of itself rather it is the manner in which
the food is presented (i.e. intermittently)
and consumed (i.e. repeated, intermittent
gorging) that appears to entrain the
addiction like process.
Corwin, R. L., & Grigson, P. S. (2009). Symposium
Overview- Food Addiction: Fact or Fiction? The
Journal of Nutrition, 139(3), 617-619.

Keller (2008) explains, “we all need food
to survive but it is difficult to ascribe
addiction to behaviors towards food”.
However, recent brain imaging data
have shown similarities in dopamine
functioning and activation of the reward
circuitry of the brain between those
experiencing “loss of control” over
eating and those addicted to drugs. (pg
285).

Although, under certain circumstances, some food
substances may have subtle effects on mood and
behaviour, the effects of food are quite different from
that of psychoactive drugs such as nicotine and
alcohol.
Therefore, the food addictions model is unlikely to
provide a fruitful paradigm for understanding the
complex problem of obesity.
Haddock, K. C., & Dill, P. L. (2008). The Effects of Food on Mood and
Behavior: Implications for the Addictions Model of Obesity and
Eating Disorders. [Abstract]. Drugs and Society, 15(1), 17-47.

In humans, addictive behavior is often
accompanied by complex
psychological/psychiatric constructs like memory,
boredom, shame, guilt, habit, impulsivity, restraint,
depression and anxiety.
Undoubtedly, these contribute to behavioral
addiction but this further layer of complexity is
difficult to model in rats.
(Hebebrand et al, 2014)

Humans who overeat usually do not restrict
their diets to specific nutrients; instead the
availability of a wider range of palatable
foods appears to render prone subjects
vulnerable to overeating.
Hebebrand, et Al. (2014).
“Eating addiction”, rather than “food addiction”, better captures
addictive-like eating behavior.
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 47, 295-306.

The Scientist’s who say Yes
Nora Volkow from the National Institute on
Drug Abuse in the States also draws the link
between addiction and food, arguing that
certain types of obesity can be understood as
resulting from habits that strengthen with
repetition of the behaviour and that become
increasingly harder for the individual to control
despite their potentially catastrophic
consequences.
(Volkow and Wise 2005)

The late Bart Hoebel and his team in the
Department of Psychology at the
Princeton Neuroscience Institute studied
signs of sugar addiction in rats. Rats
under study have met two of the three
elements of addiction.
Sugar also induces behavioural changes
(Avena, Rada and Hoebel, 2008).

There are a growing amount of scholars
and papers that argue there is a link
between bingeing and addiction
Geardhardt et al (2011), Luttler & Nestler (2009); Comings
(2000) Avena et al (2005); Rada et al (2005); Colantuoni et
al (2002); amongst many others.

Similar areas of the brain are activated
when overeating/using drugs of abuse.
Both activate brain circuitry that involves
reward, motivation, decision making,
learning and memory.
Wang, G-J., Volkow, N. D., & Fowler, J. S. (2012).
Dopamine deficiency, Eating and Body Weight. In K.
D. Brownell & M. S. Gold (Eds.), Food and Addiction
(pp.185-193). Oxford University Press, New York.

• Ingestion of sugar induces brain release of
opioids and dopamine- neurotransmitters
traditionally associated with the rewarding
effects of drugs of abuse.

In humans, pictures of drugs of abuse (shown to
addicts) and food (shown to anyone) both
activate regions of the appetitive network.
Activation of this network likely reflects craving
for and motivation to consume the drug or food
Dagher, A. (2012). Hormones, Hunger and Food Addiction. In K.
D. Brownell & M. S. Gold (Eds.), Food and Addiction (pp.200-
205). Oxford University Press, New York

• The taste of sweet is unique in being an
innately and intensely rewarding primary
sensory modality that is hard wired to the
brain reward system.
• Sweet taste activates brain systems that are
also targeted by drugs of abuse
• Consumption of sugar water activates
midbrain DA neurons, which then release DA
into the ventral striatum.

Sweet taste also activates
other components of the brain
reward circuitry that is affected
by drugs of abuse, such as the
ventral striatum, the ventral
pallidum and the orbitofrontal
cortex.

In rats, the rate of preference acquisition was
slower when behaviour was rewarded with
cocaine than with sweetened water, suggesting
that cocaine is less efficacious a reward then
sugared water.
Ahmed, S. H. (2012). Is Sugar as Addictive as Cocaine? In K. D.
Brownell & M. S. Gold (Eds.), Food and Addiction (pp.231-237).
Oxford University Press, New York.

Mice largely prefer drinking sucrose over direct
electrical stimulation of the brain reward circuit
(midbrain DA cells). Sucrose intake activates
more DA neurons in the brain, which may
explain why it is such a compelling stimulus,
even when compared to cocaine
Blumenthal, D. M., & Gold, M. S. (2012). Relationships between Drugs of
Abuse and Eating. In K. D. Brownell & M. S. Gold (Eds.), Food and
Addiction (pp.254-265). Oxford University Press, New York.

Neuro-adaptation
• Food addiction is more complex than drug addiction
because food is necessary for survival therefore
abstinence is not a viable treatment. In all addicts,
including food addicts, the somatosensory cortex
changes over time to over represent the functions
that facilitate eating and its pleasurable effects
• Once the neuronal networks that regulate an activity
and its rewarding response are organised, the
behaviour is very difficult to extinguish

Creating Addictive Brains
• Exposure to high-density, highly reinforcing hedonic
foods during pregnancy, early childhood or
adolescence could alter gene expression and
proteins and make overeating and food addiction
more likely later on

Yale Food Addiction Scale
• To empirically determine whether the addiction
model can be applied to overeating, researchers
have recently developed a survey that uses the DSM
criteria for substance dependence; however, instead
of asking individuals about drugs, the survey asks
about behaviours and emotions related to food

• 1. Substance taken in larger amount and for longer period
than intended.
• 2. Persistent desire or repeated unsuccessful attempt to quit.
• 3. Much time/activity to obtain, use, recover,
• 4. Important social, occupational, or recreation activities given
up or reduced.
• 5. Use continues despite knowledge of adverse consequences
(e.g., failure to fulfil role obligation, use when physically
hazardous).
• 6. Tolerance (marked increase in amount; marked decrease in
effect).
• 7. Characteristic withdrawal symptoms; substance taken to
relieve withdrawal.

• With the use of this assessment tool
researchers have found increasing
evidence of addiction to palatable foods in
humans
• Research using this newly developed scale
suggests that food addiction is apparent in
a variety of groups. It can be detected in
individuals who are normal weight,
overweight, obese, or severely obese
http://www.uconnruddcenter.org

In the Brain, Body or
Mind?
• The Brain? Reward?
• The Body and hormones?
• Insulin?
• Stress?
• Psychology?
• Other idea’s?

The Brain on Food and Sugar
http://www.drugabuse.gov

The Reward Pathway
http://www.drugabuse.gov

The Body and Biology
of Sugar
• Besides altered brain responses to
food, disorders in peripheral digestion
and metabolism can also contribute to
a sense of “loss of control” over eating
in obese individuals.

Hormones and Biochemistry
• Specifically, sugar dampens the suppression of the hormone
ghrelin, which signals hunger to the brain
• It also interferes with the normal transport and signalling of the
hormone leptin, which helps to produce the feeling of satiety
• it reduces dopamine signalling in the brain’s reward centre,
thereby decreasing the pleasure derived from food and
compelling us to eat more
• If you’re serotonin-deficient, you’re going to want to boost
your serotonin any way you can

The Body and Biology
of Sugar
Insulin resistance leads to leptin resistance in
the VTA, contributing to increased caloric intake
by preventing dopamine clearance from the NA.
Increased pleasure is then derived from food
when energy stores are full.

Hormones and the Brain
• Obese People and Sugar creates
leptin resistancy and the hypothalami
can’t see their leptin
• Brain thinks its starving
• Will try to increase energy storage and
conserve energy usage
• Gluttony and Sloth

The Body, Gut and Biology
And another thing; Seratonin
"It has been estimated that about 95% of serotonin is
found in the GI tract. Serotonin is a mediator of the
brain-gut connection Kim, D. Y., & Camilleri, M. (2000).
Serotonin- A mediator of the brain-gut connection.
The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 95,(10).
698-709

Stress and Cortisol
• Two mechanisms by which stress leads to
obesity are stress-induced eating and stress-
induced fat deposition
• Both animals and humans have been
documented to increase their food intake
following stress or negative emotion, even if
the organism is not hungry

The Limbic Triangle
So these three brain pathways
(hunger, reward, stress)
drive hyperinsulinemia (excess insulin levels),
resulting in obesity and metabolic syndrome
We call this model the “limbic triangle”—similar to
the Bermuda Triangle: once you get in, you can’t get
out
Fat Chance: The bitter truth about sugar (Lustig, Dr. Robert)

The Limbic Triangle
Which pathway has a problem?
It’s different for all clients or
maybe a mixture of them all?
Fat Chance: The bitter truth about sugar
(Lustig, Dr. Robert)

The Body, Gut and Biology
of Sugar
Nobody chooses to be obese or compulsively overeat
Nobody can assert cognitive inhibition on a biochemical drive,
particularly one that has been primed for 365 days a year maybe
every year for the last 30 or 40 years. Obesity changes the
wiring of the brain
Robert Lustig

The Obese Population
Versus Eating Disorders
• Obesity is not an Eating Disorder
• Body Image is a key part of Eating Disorders and
not all Fat people are unhappy with their size
• Cutting sugar from diet for Eating Disordered
client? (not including Anorexia)
• Encouraging Orthorexia

All Food Issues and Obesity
• To reduce attachment to food
• To work with body image and weight concerns.
• To help define healthy strategies and behaviours
• To address underlying emotional needs/promote emotional health
• To regain contact with bodily needs – hunger mechanism, exercise etc
• To educate around cross addiction
• To educate about the brain
• To educate around hormones
• To help with food choices and supply

What if People are Sugar
Dependent?
• Neuroscience suggests a multi-prong approach that targets
strategies to:
• Decrease the rewarding properties of the problem reinforce
(drug or food):
• Enhance the rewarding properties of alternative reinforcers
(i.e. social interactions, physical activity);
• Interfere with conditioned-learned associations (i.e. promoting
new habits to substitute for old ones);
• Strengthen inhibitory control (i.e. bio feedback), in the
treatment of drug abuse/addiction and obesity
Volkow et al (2003b)

Mild, Moderate, Chronic
• Mildly
dependent
• Moderately
dependent
• Chronically
dependent

Abstinence, Exclusion,
Inclusion?
• The burning question
“Is there something to be
learned from the addiction
community that can be
transferred across effectively”

Who do we believe?
• What is useful when a client for
examples displays more than a
diagnosis of Binge Eating Disorder, and
or a disordered relationship around
food or even Obesity – which we will
be called to work with much more in
the future!

Both Sides or a Middle Path?
• For Whom?
• Mild, Moderate and
Chronic
• Harm Minimisation Model
• Reward System
Compromised
• Insulin? Metabolic
Syndrome?
• Trauma. Psychological,
Emotional, Affect
• Spiritual

The Way to treat food issues?
• Neuro first
• Resources next
• Bio second
• Affect Management and Cravings
• Psychological and Emotional
• Relational
• Deeper Dive
• Spiritual
• Mission and Purpose

The Neuro, Bio, Psycho,
Societal/Environmental and
Spiritual Model
• The Neuro

Neurological 1st – Brain
• Awareness and psycho-education
• How the brain works, how connections and conditioning
happen and how synapses are built
• The principles of pain and pleasure

Neurological 1st – Brain
Induce Pain and Pleasure

Then building strength, resilience
and resources
Skills, strength etc. before setting sail on the
journey

Spiritual Model
• The Bio

Bio before Psycho
• Working with nutritional rehab and the hormones, gut and
biochemistry before working on psychological material is
vital, the problem may be here and we need to rule this
out first

Bio, Which Brain?
• Rebalance physiology and
biochemistry
•Develop organised, healthy
eating patterns
•To provide appropriate
nutritional information
•Help people understand their
behaviour with food
•De-programme dieting and
weighing until body image
dealt with and 3 meals a day

Psychological/Emotional and
Relational
• This section looks at people’s relationships with themselves
first and then others

Psychology, Biology, Trauma?
Our memories, histories,
affect tolerance and trauma
– should we go here before?

Spiritual Model
• The Societal, Environmental comes as psycho education
in the beginning

The Spiritual
• Spiritual
• Our Connection to something Greater
• Our Soul – Spirituality

Spirituality
• The spiritual part can be brought in at any moment in the
process, negotiable as to when the client is ready.
• In Sweet Dreams my programme, they are the greater
power or there soul is, it’s not outside of them, it’s in them
as it is in all of us

Different Strokes for
Different Folks
• Not everyone will suit an abstinence model
• Not everyone will suit an allowance model
• Not everyone fits into one frame or cause
• Until we can wire up people’s brains, guts and
whole systems to a readable device, we cannot
know in which domain lies the issue? Totally!
• We need to work on all levels and in all domains

What will happen if food
addiction is proven?
Twenty -eight scientific studies
and papers on food addiction
have already been published
this year, according to a
National Library of Medicine
database

The Future of Food
Addiction
• Insurance companies presently do not fund treatment
for obesity or food “addiction” whereas other
addictive processes such as drugs and alcohol are
covered by private medical insurance
• This is an interesting area of delineation bearing in
mind the obesity crisis is costing the NHS £5.1bn a year
in treatment and equipment. An obesity report by the
Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (2011) warned
that on current trends, obesity could become so
serious that "the NHS will no longer be able to cope by
the year 2023 and be bankrupt"

The Future of Food
Addiction
The word “addiction” with
regard to sugar will
undoubtedly be powerful for
some and usually until mind-
altering substances are
terminated, significant
therapeutic progress is unlikely.

Way out globally
Firstly, for us clinicians to
work with the whole
person and know that a
myriad of systems are
involved and that we
need to have awareness
of all of them

Way out globally
• Biochemically we have to alter our hormones = stop sugar
and insulin release and change diet
• Biochemically and environmentally, we have to alter our
food production and supply radically
• Psychologically - No more fighting, stop the battle, the war
within has to end
• Emotionally - No more blame, shame or pain – it’s not your
fault but you can take responsibility, nobody else will take it
for you
• Neurophysiologically - Why rock bottom matters – You
need to feel enough pain to change your wiring and
ultimately the sugar dependency in the brain

Way out globally
• Spiritually - How to break the pattern is to have a big
enough dream or vision, go into the future and beyond - it
helps – this is not mindfulness! : )
• Socially, get people on board to help and change who
you hang out with if necessary!
• Education – We have to teach people about real food,
how to cook and how to take care of their mind, bodies
and souls and we have to teach them young enough!
• Get Government intervention and taxes on junk foods and
sugary drinks, subsides on healthy foods to make them
cheaper and limit advertising and marketing to children
• We have to care and we have to care about ourselves
and others too : )

I’d love a Discussion and
Feedback
In your opinion what
treatment
forms the best basis
for abstinence
from sugar bingeing
and can the
addiction model help
inform successful
obesity treatment?

And finally if you have a
moment? ;
• [currently jumps from sugar facts to
pictures of Philip Green – maybe need to
add slide in between]

I’d like to tell you about a business
opportunity

What is Sweet Dreams Online?
Sweet Dreams is a revolutionary,
brand new quit sugar programme that
is multi-layered
The modules launched later this year
will look at integrating your mind, your
body and your spirit
.

How to become an Affiliate Partner
Sweet Dreams The Programme is an original digital 12
week programme alongside the live motivational 3 day
seminar. There will be an online membership portal for
group encouragement and support
• The 12 week online programme (launches Jan 2016)
• The six month DVD home study course (launches later
in 2016)

Commission on Referrals
• The commission will be 40% and the RRP has not been set
yet but early indication shows it will be in the region of min
£497 and max £997 for the online programme and the DVD
home study will be more training and in depth at £1497 RRP
• This will all be confirmed over the summer before the Pilot
Seminar and Tester Programme running in the
autumn/winter of 2015
• Example Earnings would be @ £997 RRP 40% = 398.80 x 3
per month = £1,196.40 per month commission

Free Ebook and Pilot Programme
The Pilot Programme will be in the
Autumn and consists of a 3 day live
seminar followed by a 12 week
online programme
Early indications are there will be a
nominal fee for the 3 day seminar
and no fee currently for the pilot at
present (to be confirmed via email
later in the Spring/Summer)

What do you have to do to become
an affiliate?
• Simply enter your details on the piece of
paper so you can be entered into our
“possibly interested in becoming an affiliate
• Or tick the box to say you are interested in
receiving the totally free e-book and other
non affiliate updates due out in the next few
weeks

Just register your interest
• You don’t have to commit to anything
today except to ask us to keep you posted
on developments by providing your contact
details
• When we move to the next phase, we will
be sending out affiliate contracts
confirmations etc but not until the
programme is ready

What do you have to do to
become an affiliate?
• When we launch “Sweet Dreams” later in the year, we
will send you full details of each of the stages and
product launches, including full terms in relation to that
particular promotion or product
• You can forward these links to whomever you feel Sweet
Dreams is a good fit for, because wherever you send it,
with your unique ID code, we will know the
recommendation has come from you and you will be
credited for it should they buy

For more details on
Sweet Dreams and the Affiliate Programme
visit: www.loulebentz.com
Or give us a call
Lou Lebentz 07789 866922
lou@loulebentz.com
and/or
Eve Devenney
07882 308443
eve@loulebentz.com
For more information..

UKESAD Lou Lebentz Presentation

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