Some well-known Irish faces discuss the highs and the lows of sugar addiction

ACTORS Eva Longoria, Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks and Gwyneth Paltrow have all kicked their sugar habit.

Desperate Housewives star Longoria says now she sleeps better. 30 Rock star Baldwin lost 30lbs in four months. Paltrow has written extensively about overcoming sugar addiction and about its effect on mood: “Sugar gives an initial high, then you crash, then you crave more, so you consume more. It’s this series of highs and lows that provokes unnecessary stress on your adrenals. You get anxious, moody, and eventually feel exhausted.”

Some of Ireland’s well-known names have also quit.

RTE 2FM presenter Paddy McKenna: “I gave up sugar a year ago. I was doing mixed martial arts training and I had to get the diet right.

“I had the sweetest tooth imaginable. I just love cake — man, I’m bad for cake. I took sugar out of my tea. I stopped eating cake and chocolate. The cravings were outrageous for two weeks — I’d be staring longingly at sponge cake and chocolate fingers. After three weeks, I was over the hump — I didn’t want sugar.

“I couldn’t come off it completely, though. This will sound incredibly nerdy, but I’d have three Rich Tea biscuits with tea. It was like taking a replacement with something not so strong.

“After giving it up, I initially felt tired. The biscuits and tea gave me extra zip. I went from one vice to another — I became a caffeine junkie. After four or five weeks, I was grand — no craving. Then, one day I was wrecked and needed a bit of sugar. I took a drink of a can of coke. I just couldn’t believe the taste — I actually asked ‘did someone put a spoon of sugar in this?’ “That was the moment I slowly slipped back. I’d re-set my taste buds to normal, neutral — suddenly, I tasted sugar like you wouldn’t believe. Everything tasted sweet — bread, cornflakes. I wouldn’t be at my previous intake level now. I still take a half teaspoon in my tea.

“Sugar’s added to everything. It’s definitely not being spoken about — not in the way we were always told ‘there’s fat in that’.”

- Paddy’s band, Storyfold, release their second album on September 26.

Soprano Regina Nathan: “I gave up processed sugar for two to three years. It’s a legalised drug, as far as I’m concerned. I introduced agave syrup and maple syrup, which I find more digestible.

“But my daughter, Jessie, who’s 10, was beginning to feel different to everybody else at school. She’d get very embarrassed at parties. She needed to feel part of everything.

“I’m still very careful. I’ve given Jessie all the information — I’ve tried to educate her, so it’s not an imposition on my part, but a choice on hers. Your connection to your body, knowing how much to eat and when, gets all put out of whack by processed sugar.

“I don’t have white sugar in the house. If somebody was to bake me a cake, I’d eat it, but I’d be very careful [about how much at a time]. I never buy white bread — we make our own spelt bread. I love sauces, but I don’t buy them. Eighty percent, I cook at home.

“I’m not as diehard as I would have been. I tried it, but you’d need to give your whole life over to it.”

Singer-songwriter Jimmy McCarthy: “I don’t take sugar. I don’t put it in tea or cereal, not for 10 to 15 years. I was on a health regime back then. I felt sugar would make me gain weight.

“We’re not always aware of what’s in processed food. The only thing I check for now is wheat and flour — they don’t agree with me. I wouldn’t really check for sugar amount. I’m not a dessert person, so sugar is limited there.

“For me, sugar just doesn’t taste that nice. It’s like taking your tea black — after a year, you don’t want it with milk. I can’t imagine tea with sugar — it would be appalling.

“Sugary foods and drinks are so bad for you. It should all be exposed. It’s all about money. They know it’s bad for you, but they still promote it.”

Maria Tecce, of The Nualas: “There was a patch of about three years when I wasn’t eating any refined sugar. I started reading about the health problems associated with refined sugars 10 years ago, when my mother turned me onto its medical and physical effects.

“I was having chronic health problems — my blood sugar levels were turning towards Type 2 diabetes. I had to do something. To be honest, if I hadn’t started having health problems, I wouldn’t have done a thing to change my sugar intake. It was the kick up the backside I needed.

“I’ve since reintroduced sugar in minimal amounts. I don’t take sugar in drinks and it has to come fifth down on the list of any sauces, marinades or dressings. I haven’t completely given it up, but with the small amounts I occasionally have now, I have less infections and headaches, my energy levels have improved massively and my dentist is delighted”.

- The Nualas are on tour from October 2 to December 19.