Man spent over $12k a year on 30 cans of Pepsi daily before ditching his addiction – “The worst sugar addiction I’ve ever heard of,”
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The majority of us associate addictions with illegal drugs, alcohol, and nicotine. However, you’ll be surprised to know that the sugar cravings we all experience occasionally could also go downhill quickly and turn into a full-blown addiction if we’re not careful enough.
One supermarket worker divulged spending over $12,000 annually on 30 cans of Pepsi every day for two decades before he turned his life around.
Andy Currie, 41, consumed a litre (yes, a litre!) of the soft drink each morning and drank nine more litres throughout the day.
He has downed an estimated 219,000 cans of Pepsi and nearly 8,000 kilograms of sugar (the equivalent of 7 million sugar cubes) since he first got hooked on the beverage back in his 20s.
“I’ve always loved the taste of a cold Pepsi. Nothing could beat it and I just got hooked,” he said.
“I work at night so I always liked the sugar rush to keep me going. I’d go through four or five two-litre bottles of Pepsi every day. Because I work at Tesco, I could just buy it straight after work and take it home,”
Andy suffered from a severe sugar addiction. Image Credit: news.com.au
“It cost me a fortune, to be honest,” he admitted. Andy spent $35 a day on Pepsi which amounted to $12,347 per year.
“I could have bought a car every year for the same amount I was spending on Pepsi. I just needed to have it – as soon as I woke up I’d go to the fridge and pour myself a large glass of Pepsi and just carry on through the day,”
“I remember going to weddings and birthdays and while other people had glasses of champagne, I’d be toasting people with a can of soft drink,” he continued.
Andy decided it was time for a change after he weighed 120 kilograms and was warned by doctors that he was at risk of becoming diabetic. By being more active and switching to a healthier diet, he was able to lose 12 kilograms.
But there was a slight issue holding him back – he still couldn’t manage to veer away from his sugar addiction.
He reached out to a London-based therapist and hypnotist David Kilmurry, who diagnosed him with an avoidant restrictive food intake disorder. After undergoing one online hypnotherapy session, Andy claimed that he was cured and drank water for the first time in two decades.
He knew it was time for a change. Image Credit: news.com.au
A month later, he lost 6 more kilograms. Andy said: “David met me online and hypnotised me for about 40 minutes,”
“I don’t know what he said but afterwards, I just didn’t want to drink it [Pepsi] anymore. I’ve still got two cans of Pepsi in my fridge which I was going to have before the session, but I didn’t drink them this time,”
“I haven’t touched them in a month and don’t plan to. I prefer water now. My wife Sarah said that my skin looks better and I’ve got so much more energy,”
“I like walking now. Sarah and I are planning to climb Mount Snowdon in Wales in the summer,”
David disclosed that he was “horrified” to learn of Andy’s 10-litre-a-day habit, hailing it as the worst sugar addiction he has ever heard of.
“Resigned to addiction, Andy was overweight, anxious, and struggled to get his words out because he was so breathless,” he explained.
“This kind of addiction is very dangerous as it puts huge pressure on your vital organs. Andy was pre-diabetic and needed to change quickly before heart disease and potential pancreatic cancer took him.”
“It became poison and a crutch to him. Since working with him I am delighted to see him drinking water and healthy drinks,” David added.
A study made in the journal Neuroscience and Behavioural Reviews discovered that “sugar meets the criteria for a substance of abuse and may be addictive to those who binge on it,”.
It works by affecting the chemistry of the limbic system, which is the part of the brain that’s associated with emotional control.
Reduce your sugar intake, folks! Image Credit: The Jakarta Post
“Intermittent access to sugar can lead to behavioural and neurochemical changes that resemble the effects of a substance of abuse,” said the researchers.
Dr David Sack who is the CEO of Elements Behavioural Health also touched on the issue saying: “The truth is that not everyone exposed to high-sugar foods is going to become addicted and seek it out regularly. The same is true with drugs like cocaine or alcohol,”
“The difference is that we don’t sell alcohol to anyone under the age of 18, but you can buy high-sugar content foods at any age.”
Dr David added that the best way to kick the habit is to curb it as early as possible.
“The biggest problem we’ve seen is that parents who are overweight or obese themselves feed these foods to their kids and don’t see it as abnormal,” he said.
“Right now, parents aren’t told what’s appropriate nutrition for children. Unless we educate parents, it’s very hard for kids to have a proper respect for food.”
So, the next time you feel like indulging in a bit of choccy or lollies with your grandchildren, just be cautious of how much you’re all having. Maybe try to limit sugary treats (and beverages) to once or twice a week!
Have you ever struggled with sugar addiction? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
Learn more tips on how you can reduce your sugar intake by watching the video below:
Video Credit: Ria Karan
One supermarket worker divulged spending over $12,000 annually on 30 cans of Pepsi every day for two decades before he turned his life around.
Andy Currie, 41, consumed a litre (yes, a litre!) of the soft drink each morning and drank nine more litres throughout the day.
He has downed an estimated 219,000 cans of Pepsi and nearly 8,000 kilograms of sugar (the equivalent of 7 million sugar cubes) since he first got hooked on the beverage back in his 20s.
“I’ve always loved the taste of a cold Pepsi. Nothing could beat it and I just got hooked,” he said.
“I work at night so I always liked the sugar rush to keep me going. I’d go through four or five two-litre bottles of Pepsi every day. Because I work at Tesco, I could just buy it straight after work and take it home,”
Andy suffered from a severe sugar addiction. Image Credit: news.com.au
“It cost me a fortune, to be honest,” he admitted. Andy spent $35 a day on Pepsi which amounted to $12,347 per year.
“I could have bought a car every year for the same amount I was spending on Pepsi. I just needed to have it – as soon as I woke up I’d go to the fridge and pour myself a large glass of Pepsi and just carry on through the day,”
“I remember going to weddings and birthdays and while other people had glasses of champagne, I’d be toasting people with a can of soft drink,” he continued.
Andy decided it was time for a change after he weighed 120 kilograms and was warned by doctors that he was at risk of becoming diabetic. By being more active and switching to a healthier diet, he was able to lose 12 kilograms.
But there was a slight issue holding him back – he still couldn’t manage to veer away from his sugar addiction.
He reached out to a London-based therapist and hypnotist David Kilmurry, who diagnosed him with an avoidant restrictive food intake disorder. After undergoing one online hypnotherapy session, Andy claimed that he was cured and drank water for the first time in two decades.
He knew it was time for a change. Image Credit: news.com.au
A month later, he lost 6 more kilograms. Andy said: “David met me online and hypnotised me for about 40 minutes,”
“I don’t know what he said but afterwards, I just didn’t want to drink it [Pepsi] anymore. I’ve still got two cans of Pepsi in my fridge which I was going to have before the session, but I didn’t drink them this time,”
“I haven’t touched them in a month and don’t plan to. I prefer water now. My wife Sarah said that my skin looks better and I’ve got so much more energy,”
“I like walking now. Sarah and I are planning to climb Mount Snowdon in Wales in the summer,”
David disclosed that he was “horrified” to learn of Andy’s 10-litre-a-day habit, hailing it as the worst sugar addiction he has ever heard of.
“Resigned to addiction, Andy was overweight, anxious, and struggled to get his words out because he was so breathless,” he explained.
“This kind of addiction is very dangerous as it puts huge pressure on your vital organs. Andy was pre-diabetic and needed to change quickly before heart disease and potential pancreatic cancer took him.”
“It became poison and a crutch to him. Since working with him I am delighted to see him drinking water and healthy drinks,” David added.
A study made in the journal Neuroscience and Behavioural Reviews discovered that “sugar meets the criteria for a substance of abuse and may be addictive to those who binge on it,”.
It works by affecting the chemistry of the limbic system, which is the part of the brain that’s associated with emotional control.
Reduce your sugar intake, folks! Image Credit: The Jakarta Post
“Intermittent access to sugar can lead to behavioural and neurochemical changes that resemble the effects of a substance of abuse,” said the researchers.
Dr David Sack who is the CEO of Elements Behavioural Health also touched on the issue saying: “The truth is that not everyone exposed to high-sugar foods is going to become addicted and seek it out regularly. The same is true with drugs like cocaine or alcohol,”
“The difference is that we don’t sell alcohol to anyone under the age of 18, but you can buy high-sugar content foods at any age.”
Dr David added that the best way to kick the habit is to curb it as early as possible.
“The biggest problem we’ve seen is that parents who are overweight or obese themselves feed these foods to their kids and don’t see it as abnormal,” he said.
“Right now, parents aren’t told what’s appropriate nutrition for children. Unless we educate parents, it’s very hard for kids to have a proper respect for food.”
So, the next time you feel like indulging in a bit of choccy or lollies with your grandchildren, just be cautious of how much you’re all having. Maybe try to limit sugary treats (and beverages) to once or twice a week!
Have you ever struggled with sugar addiction? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
Learn more tips on how you can reduce your sugar intake by watching the video below:
Video Credit: Ria Karan
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