Sugar: The Hidden Addiction (w/ Sugar Free Man Mike Collins)Sugar: The Hidden Addiction (w/ Sugar Free Man Mike Collins)
Alive and Free
Bob Gardner talks with Mike Collins about sugar as a hidden addiction, linking it to emotional self-soothing, brain health and other compulsive behaviours. They discuss fructose, modern diets and practical emotional tools for those who want to reassess their relationship with sugar.
56:43•30 Apr 2026
Sugar, Porn and the Stomach: Mike Collins on Hidden Addiction
Episode Overview
- Sugar can act like a substance use disorder, especially for about one-third of people who appear biologically unable to consume it without strong cravings.
- Fructose-heavy foods, including modern hybridised fruits and grains, can drive fatty liver disease, glucose spikes and constant hunger.
- Lasting change often requires at least 90 days of full abstinence from sugar, flour and caffeine, combined with emotional and behavioural work.
- Checking in with emotions at the moment of craving and asking "what do I really need?" helps separate genuine hunger from self-soothing.
- Community support and shared meetings are crucial, especially when family members are unsupportive or tired of repeated diet attempts.
“This is the worst substance use disorder pandemic the world has ever known, and it requires a substance use recovery process, not a diet.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation between Bob Gardner and Mike Collins, the self-styled "Sugar Free Man", throws a bright light on sugar as a hidden companion to other addictions. Mike shares how he grew up "covered up in sugar", then swapped teenage beer for sobriety at 28, only to end up mainlining fizzy drinks and sweets.
His turning point came with the book *Sugar Blues* and years of trial and error that led him to remove sugar, flour and caffeine from his life and raise his children sugar-free for their first six years. You’ll hear Mike explain why he calls sugar "the worst substance use disorder pandemic the world has ever known". He breaks down how fructose affects the liver, fuels fatty liver disease in children, and drives constant cravings and risky behaviour.
Bob and Mike also talk about hybridised fruit and grains, why "you can’t out-exercise this diet", and how one-third of people may be biologically unable to eat sugar without setting off powerful cravings. This isn’t framed as another diet chat. Instead, the focus is on emotional self-soothing and recovery. Mike and Bob link sugar use to the same emotional bypassing seen in alcohol, porn and other compulsive habits.
They talk through practical tools: pausing at cravings, asking "what do I really need, dear?", gentle self-touch for comfort, and regular emotional check-ins so you’re not "a military base without the radars on". The target audience is anyone in addiction recovery, those battling food or weight issues, and people curious about the spiritual, emotional and biochemical ties between sugar and other compulsions. It might leave you asking: is sugar quietly running the show in your own life?
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