It’s 4pm, and it’s only you and a tall tower of marking in the classroom. You eye the emergency stash of all things sweet.

Should you? Of course you should, you decide. You retrieve a bar of chocolate that releases a wave of sugary euphoria, and you get started on the marking.
 
Whether it’s a chocolate bar, ice cream, fizzy drinks, or anything else delicious, most of us have at some point relied on a sugar hit to push us through when we are feeling lethargic. 
 
But relying on sugar in this way comes with risks. An overconsumption of sugar can lead to disastrous physical, neurological and emotional effects on the body.
 
So how do you know how much is too much? According to the NHS, adults should have no more than 30g of free sugars a day, (roughly equivalent to 7 sugar cubes).

What does this look like over a typical teaching day? We asked Dr Nicole Avena, an author and expert in food addiction, to review the habits of three fictitious teachers. 

Gabriela

Gabriela works as a modern foreign languages teacher.

She swears that the fruit smoothie she drinks for breakfast is the secret to her energy. During her breaks, she finishes preparations for her next lesson while eating an apple. At lunchtime, she scoffs down her homemade BLT sandwich and a side salad. And then after school, she fills up her refillable water bottle and finishes off her marking.
 
If she goes out, it tends to be something active. And it will likely finish with a glass of wine (or three).
 
Total sugar intake: approx 29g

Dr Avena’s view: 
Because Gabriela stays within the daily sugar recommendation, Dr Avena says she is doing well. She’s getting “healthy sugars” from her whole fruits and, although her morning smoothie is high in sugar, as the smoothie is made from fresh fruits and vegetables it’s a much better alternative than other typical breakfasts, such as cereal. 

However, Dr Avena explains that having “a lot of sugar later in the day (especially in the form of alcohol), can cause you to not sleep well and wake up in the night”. This could then lead to Gabriela feeling tired or lethargic during the day.

Graham

Graham has been teaching for 30 years and he’s a little set in his ways. 
 
He has a leisurely breakfast with his husband. It consists of a glass of orange juice and a full English. During breaktimes, he likes to read ahead on the current text the class is studying. He nurses a black coffee as he does so.
 
For lunch, he usually eats a can of Heinz soup, two slices of buttered bread, and a Mars bar. After school, there is usually some cake left in the staffroom and he almost always grabs a slice. 

Evenings are often spent socialising in the pub, and Graham’s usual picks are a curry, a brownie shared with his husband, and a gin and tonic.
 
Total sugar intake: approx 77g
 
Dr Avena’s view: 
Graham is above the daily recommendation and is at the stage, says Dr Avena, when he will be craving sugar between helpings. 

“The brain releases opioids and dopamine, this makes many people feel good when they eat sugar, and is often why it makes us want to eat more and more of it,” says Dr Avena. 

If Graham were to work on cutting the sugar out of his diet, not only would he find himself losing weight but also his overall mood would improve, explains Dr Avena. 

Jess

Jess has three young children and teaches Year 6 at the local primary school. 

Most mornings, she and her husband eat the same breakfast as their children: toast with strawberry jam. Jess washes it down a milky brew (which she always puts two sugars in).
 
At breaktime, cake is almost always on offer but Jess, in a bid to live a healthier lifestyle, declines the cake and has a yoghurt instead.
 
For lunch, she usually grabs beans on toast. She also snacks on biscuits that she brings in from home, such as a packet of Animals chocolate biscuits.

At 3pm, Jess runs an after-school club. On most days, she manages to eat some food with the children there: pasta and pizza are the regular options. 

In the evening, there is usually a cake treat for her and the kids, and then a nice glass of wine with her husband. 
 
Total sugar intake: approx 97.5g
 
Dr Avena’s view:
Jess is way above the daily recommendation and, if she tried to cut back, she would less often feel irritable or quick to anger, says Dr Avena. 

The trouble is, a lot of the food Jess is eating she may not have thought of as high in sugar - such as pizza and baked beans - Dr Avena explains.

“Her high sugar intake and unawareness of it may lead to Jess’ body storing unnecessary fat. This can pose as a danger to Jess.”

What is worse, as Jess is snacking throughout the day, it’s unlikely that she will experience the withdrawal symptoms and so will miss the body’s warning signs.

A spoonful of sugar?

So, which day are you closest to? Before you get too worried,  Dr Avena is keen to point out that sugar isn’t all bad. However, in cases of overconsumption, the impact of too much sugar can be hard to shake.

“It is hard to break the addiction because sugar is in so many of the foods that we eat, and it is very hard to avoid it,” she says. 
 
If you find yourself in that category, then Dr Avena suggests that instead of going cold turkey, it may be best to identify the things in your diet that contain the most sugar and work to replace them with healthier alternatives. It isn’t about “quitting” these foods, but finding out what it is you like about them, and then making the appropriate changes.
 
She also says we should try to work on understanding the link between our hunger and mood. For example, if you are eating sugar-rich foods as a way to cope with stress. 

And lastly, you could always remove the temptation: lose the snack drawer!