Homeopathy And Sugar Cravings

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In his 2017 book, Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow, Yuval Noah Harari writes: “In 2012 about 56 million people died throughout the world; 620,000 of them died due to human violence (war killed 120,000 people, and crime killed another 500,000). In contrast, 800,000 committed suicide, and 1.5 million died of diabetes. Sugar is now more dangerous than gunpowder.”¹

Sugar is as addictive as cocaine and no less harmful to our health. A spoonful of sugar may make the medicine go down—but it keeps us buying more of it! Is that why drug stores are invariably filled with several aisles of sugary treats?

We were born with a taste for the sweet stuff. Mother’s milk is high in lactose, making it very sweet—much sweeter than most other mammalian milk. (Blame it on the mother, as always.) Sugar feels good because it trips dopa­mine sensors in the brain, creating a short but blissful euphoria.

SUGAR AND CHRONIC CONDITIONS

The average American now eats about one hundred sixty pounds of sugar every year, or slightly more than seven ounces a day. This compares to about ninety pounds of sugar per year around 1900 and about eighteen pounds of sugar annually around 1800.² If we didn’t like sugar so much, it would not be everywhere— from candies, cookies and bread to ketchup, salad dressings and even hot dogs and bacon.

The result is an epidemic of obesity, cardio­vascular disease and diabetes. Not only that, but sugar is also linked to many kinds of cancers. Cancer cells consume sugar at ten to twelve times the rate of normal cells, observable via PET scans. In fact, cancer cells consume so much sugar that researchers are targeting new therapies using sugar molecules for targeted delivery to cancer cells.³

As if diabetes and cancer were not bad enough, sugar can also contribute to depres­sion.⁴ Major depression is expected to become the leading cause of disability in high-income countries by 2030.⁵ A study published in 2017 examining sugar consumption and mental health data from over twenty-three thousand participants concluded that its findings “were consistent with the hypothesis that high sugar intake plays a causal role in the risks of both incident and recurrent depression and common mental disorders.”⁶

SUGAR CRAVINGS

A little sugar likely won’t do much harm, but what if the cravings are out of control? Does homeopathy have anything to offer? Indeed! However, there is not just one magic remedy for candy lust because homeopathic remedies are always given for the whole person, rather than for particular symptoms or conditions. In fact, the Complete Repertory 2016 (an enormous computer reference manual correlating symp­toms to remedies) lists two hundred sixty-two remedies in the rubric “desires sweets.”

Nonetheless, the combination of different symptoms can lead to the correct remedy, as in the “case of blue toes” that follows.

In this case, a pleasant man in his early sixties consulted me because two toes on his right foot were turning blue due to underlying diabetes. I felt quite concerned about this, es­pecially because a friend of mine had just lost a toe to amputation, also as a complication of diabetes. I’m in Canada, and in Ontario alone over twenty thousand patients with diabetes and/ or peripheral artery disease had a lower limb amputation between 2005-2015.⁷ Nearly two-thirds of these were above-ankle amputations. In the U.S., approximately two hundred thousand non-traumatic amputations each year are attributable to diabetes.⁸

My client described a number of different health issues, all on his right side. He also had a history of digestive problems and badly cracked heels on his feet, which did not respond to creams. I noticed that he lifted his eyebrows a lot when speaking and had prominent vertical wrinkles on his forehead. Recognizing the remedy based on those symptoms alone, I asked him how much he liked sweets. “I have a terrible craving for sweets, especially pastries! Always had!”

Right-sided complaints, digestive problems, cracked heels, vertical forehead wrinkles and a sweet tooth are the constellation for Lycopodium clavatum, a remedy made from a humble moss and one of our most sugar-loving remedies in homeopathy. After giving my client an immediate dose of the remedy (in the 200C potency) in my office, he reported two days later that his toes were already much less blue. Why this remedy fits this constellation of symptoms, nobody knows. It is one of nature’s great mysteries and the reason homeopaths are so fascinated with their work!

Could this remedy have helped my client in earlier years not to crave sugar as much and perhaps have prevented his diabetes? Potentially yes.

VACCINES AND DIABETES

Another client, a former nurse in her forties, described serious sugar cravings as well as longstanding blood-sugar control problems. She was on a very strict diet and battled her cravings steadfastly but found it hard to resist the cookies at her favorite bakery. Due to her profession, she had been vaccinated repeatedly against hepatitis B. I wondered whether there was a connection between her prediabetic state and the vaccine, as I had read about several studies linking early-onset diabetes in children to hepatitis B vaccination.^9,10,11

Because my client was very healthy oth­erwise, we decided on a course of hepatitis B vaccine detox. Sure enough, her blood sugar levels started to stabilize and her A1C levels (the blood test used to monitor prediabetes and diabetes control) dropped a whole point over the next three months. At a check-in, she told me, “And the other day I walked past the bakery and didn’t even think about the cookies.”

This was definitely interesting, particularly in light of research published in 2018 that un­earthed a “newish” type of diabetes called “la­tent autoimmune diabetes in adults” (LADA).¹² Individuals with LADA show a mixed pattern of insulin and non-insulin dependency and a “more heterogeneous” and less intensive autoimmune process compared to classical type 1 diabetes.¹²

Being aware of the correlation between vaccination and autoimmune disorders,¹³ I won­dered whether the dramatic increase in sugar consumption as well as diabetes was in some way related to vaccines. Sure enough, other studies emerged that link vaccines to diabetes¹⁴ as well as autism.¹⁵ In fact, it appears that autism may be positively associated with diabetes, most likely via autoimmune phenomena.¹⁵ Obesity may also be linked to vaccines via similar in­flammatory and autoimmune mechanisms.¹⁴

THE MAGIC SUGAR

You might wonder whether, with all the problems caused by sugar, there is a “sugar” homeopathic remedy. After all, like cures like. Indeed, we have a remedy made from cane sug­ar, Saccharum officinale. The Dutch physician and homeopath Dr. Tinus Smits—who created a system of healing universal archetypes with homeopathy which he called “Inspiring Home­opathy”—brilliantly explored the Saccharum officinale remedy.^16,17

Saccharum, according to Dr. Smits, corre­sponds to an archetype he called “lack of self-love,” which, in his opinion, leads to the fear of not deserving the mother’s love and the fear of being abandoned by her.¹⁶ Back to the mother again, you ask? One thing is certain: Many of my clients over the years have felt undeserving of love—whether their mother’s, their partner’s or even their children’s love—and whether real or perceived. Dr. Smits felt that we could be free to love unconditionally only if we learn to love ourselves again, overcoming greed, jealousy and the fear of losing love in the process.

It is probably no coincidence that many pet names for loved ones are associated with sweets, such as “sweetie-pie,” “sweetheart,” “sugar” and “honey.” People often use sugary treats as sym­bols of love and affection, such as chocolates on Valentine’s Day or a cake to celebrate birthdays.

Coincidentally, Dr. Smits also found Sac­charum to be a very useful remedy for the common digestive disorders experienced by children on the autism spectrum—a condition that scientists originally and falsely blamed on cold “refrigerator mothers” who supposedly did not connect with and love their children, theoretically causing the children to withdraw into themselves. Autism certainly is a very iso­lating condition that makes social connections, including love, difficult. Dr. Smits also found the remedy to be very helpful in addressing the picky eating that so many autistic children suffer from. Often, they want only white carbs and milk—basically, sugary foods.

Overall, Dr. Smits felt that the “magic sugar” remedy could be quite helpful to many of us, leading us back to our core and to the realization that we are already Love—rather than letting ourselves be fooled by a trickster stand-in in the form of white death. Here, homeopathy not only can help heal physical im­balances, but perhaps more importantly, can provide powerful, energetic support for our heroic and transcendent journey of spiritual growth.

Anke Zimmermann, BSc, FCAH, is a classically-trained homeopath living and working on beautiful Vancouver Island in Canada. You can learn more about her at ankezimmermann.net.

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SIDEBAR

A FEW COMMON REMEDIES TO CONSIDER
• Argentum nitricum: Extroverted and cheerful; possibly impulsive personalities; emotional with fears of heights and enclosed spaces; anticipatory anxiety. Can have intense cravings for sweets, even straight sugar, as well as salt.
• Calcarea carbonica: Can be plump and tend to obesity with a round, soft face; often perspires on the head, especially in children. Cravings are for pastries and ice cream as well as eggs, bread, milk and cheese.
• Lycopodium clavatum: Intense sugar cravings with many digestive issues in someone with right-sided complaints. Often there is a tendency to low self-esteem and anticipatory anxiety, but most Lycopodium types are very congenial. Cracked heels and vertical forehead wrinkles in combination with gastrointestinal issues and cravings for sweets can be a very clear indicator for this remedy.
• Phosphorous: Open, bright, excitable, sympathetic, anxious individuals who like company. Fears of being alone and of the dark. Worse from fasting. Craves chocolate, ice cream and cold foods and drinks; loves pop, also wine, as well as spicy and salty foods.
• Saccharum officinale: Children and adults who feel aggressive after eating sugar. May want to put everything in the mouth—such as sucking fingers, smoking or candies—or nothing in the mouth. Touching things excessively or not touching at all. May be indicated in those who have lost or believe they have lost or are undeserving of their mother’s love.
• Sulphur: Philosophical and independent types who tend to be warm-blooded and often love sweets such as ice cream and chocolate as well as fatty and spicy foods and often beer. May have an aversion to eggs.

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REFERENCES

1. Harari YN. Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow. Harper; 2017.
2. Dr. Mercola. Fructose: This addictive commonly used food feeds cancer cells, triggers weight gain and promotes premature aging. April 20, 2010. https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/04/20/sugar-dangers.aspx.
3. Tanasova M, Begoyan VV, Weselinski LJ. Targeting sugar uptake and metabo­lism for cancer identification and therapy: an overview. Curr Top Med Chem 2018;18(6):467-83.
4. Grases G, Colom MA, Sanchis P, Grases F. Possible relation between consump­tion of different food groups and depression. BMC Psychol 2019;7(1):14.
5. Mathers CD, Loncar D. Projections of global mortality and burden of disease from 2002 to 2030. PLoS Med 2006;3(11):e442.
6. Knüppel A, Shipley MJ, Llewellyn CH, Brunner EJ. Sugar intake from sweet food and beverages, common mental disorder and depression: prospective findings from the Whitehall II study. Sci Rep 2017;7:6287.
7. Hussain MA, Al-Omran M, Salata K et al. Population-based secular trends in lower-extremity amputation for diabetes and peripheral artery disease. CMAJ 2019;191(35):E955-E961.
8. Geiss LS, Li Y, Hora I et al. Resurgence of diabetes-related nontraumatic lower-extremity amputation in the young and middle-aged adult U.S. population. Diabetes Care 2019;42(1):50-54.
9. WebMD. Hepatitis B vaccine linked to onset of diabetes. June 13, 2000. https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/news/20000613/hepatitis-b-vaccine-linked-to-onset-of-diabetes#1.
10. Vaccine Choice Canada. Hepatitis B vaccine link to diabetes. February 5, 2008. https://vaccinechoicecanada.com/doctors-speak/hepatitis-b-vaccine-link-to-diabetes/.
11. Classen JB. Evidence childhood epidemics of type 1 and type 2 diabetes are opposite extremes of an immune spectrum disorder induced by immune stimu­lants. Role of race and associated cortisol activity as a major determining factor of the type of diabetes. Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews 2009;3(1):67-9.
12. Schoenfeld Y, Agmon-Levin N, Tomljenovic L (Eds.). Vaccines and Autoim­munity. Wiley-Blackwell; 2015.
13. Pieralice S, Pozzilli P. Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults: a review on clini­cal implications and management. Diabetes Metab J 2018;42(6):451-64.
14. Classen JB. Cause of the obesity, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome epidemics, vaccine induced immune overload versus nutrition overload. J Endocrinol Diabetes Obes 2017;5(3):1107.
15. Classen JB. Prevalence of autism is positively associated with the incidence of type 1 diabetes, but negatively associated with the incidence of type 2 diabetes, implication for the etiology of the autism epidemic. Open Access Scientific Reports 2013;2(3):679.
16. Smits T. Saccharum officinale. Inspiring Homeopathy. http://www.tinussmits.com/3870/saccharum-officinale.aspx.
17. Smits T. Inspiring Homeopathy: Treatment of Universal Layers. The Netherlands: Emryss; 2013.

This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Spring 2020

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