Today, I am blessed to have here with me Bitten Johnson. It has been 27 years since Bitten started her journey into food addiction, which she now calls “Sugar Addiction.” Over the years Bitten has had the good fortune to collaborate with many professionals and treat thousands of people worldwide. Through these collaborations, Bitten have developed a deep understanding of the brain disease addiction and she has developed a unique treatment method called Holistic Addiction Medicine. Bitten has trained many professionals in her native country and now it is time to bring Holistic Medicine for Addiction (HMA) to you. All addiction begins in the brain, regardless of the drug, so Bitten works with ASAM’s definition of Addiction Interaction Disorder which aims to correct the dysfunctions of the brain’s circuitry. The word addiction comes from the Latin word “addicere” which means being a slave to something. Addictions are powerful and lead to hundreds of deaths every day. Bitten is a registered nurse, addiction specialist and ADDIS®/SUGAR® authorized (addiction screening, assessment and diagnostic tools) and currently offer courses and training for professionals. Today there are many very skilled counselors all over the world to whom Bitten refers any clients that contact her. Bitten’s mission is to bring knowledge and experience to others so that more people are able to diagnose and treat this fatal disease, addiction, in order to free people from this painful illness and to decrease shame and stigma. In this episode, Bitten talks about becoming an expert on sugar addiction. Once you realize that addiction is something going on in your brain, you can start to heal. Bitten explains how you can tell the difference between someone who is an addict and someone who is a harmful user. Later, we talk about how sugar addicts can start the keto diet and whether or not you need to stay away from natural sweeteners. Tune in as Bitten explains why an “LSD” trip can be a fantastic tool on your journey to health. Order Keto Flex: http://www.ketoflexbook.com -------------------------------------------------------- / / E P I S O D E   S P ON S O R S  Good Idea Functional Sparkling Water Drinks. Visit http://www.goodidea.us and use the coupon code BEN at checkout. Get Bioptimizers Magnesium Breakthrough for the best night of sleep, ever! Nurture your mind and body with this all-natural, full-spectrum magnesium supplement. Visit www.magbreakthrough.com/ketokamp and use code ketokamp10 for 10% off.  Text me the words "Podcast" +1 (786) 364-5002 to be added to my contacts list.  [00:45] How Bitten Became An Expert on Sugar Addiction Growing up, Bitten was obsessed with sugar cubes, chocolate, and ice cream. In nursing school, Bitten learned that you suppress your appetite if you smoke. So that's why she started smoking. Then, Bitten became an alcoholic. Addiction is about the brain and how your brain reacts to substances. At age 33, Bitten fell in love with addiction medicine. Bitten knew that she was using ice cream and chocolate the same way she would use alcohol.   [13:00] Addiction Is All About What Is Happening In Your Brain You can be addicted to something with just small amounts. Addiction is all about what is going on in your brain. You don’t have to eat a lot or drink a lot to be an addict. As time goes on, you will increase how much you are drinking or eating. Each drug that comes into your life, you become addicted to faster and faster. [15:10] How To Identify Whether or Not Your Addiction Is Real There’s a difference between harmful use and addiction. You need to figure out which one you have because there will be different treatments. Harmful users are emotional eaters. They eat when they are sad, happy, stressed, etc. There are all kinds of reasons why people will overeat. Ask a harmful user, “why?” There will be an answer. You can’t ask “why” to addict because it's a primary illness; it doesn't have a cause. Instead, you need to ask