The Doctor’s Cure for Sugar Addiction

By Sallie W. Boyles | Photography courtesy of Dr. Daryl Gioffre

The average American consumes about twenty teaspoons of added sugar a day—more than three times the six teaspoons your liver can metabolize. Anything above that small amount gets stored as fat.—Get Off Your Sugar

Many people are shocked to learn that their go-to, health-conscious selections are loaded with sugar, which, in turn, drives their food cravings. “Sugar is eight times more addictive than cocaine,” says Dr. Daryl Gioffre, author of Get Off Your Sugar (2021) and Get Off Your Acid (2018).

He’s also a highly demanded chiropractor and longevity expert who developed a line of nutritional supplements under the brand name Alkamind. They’re formulated to fortify the body (Gioffre champions “green juice” and essential minerals) in conjunction with neutralizing acid. Acid-Kicking Coffee Alkalizer (flavored and plain), for instance, lets coffee drinkers savor their morning cup without doing internal damage.

“Acid is so corrosive,” says Gioffre. “It can burn a hole through metal; it literally eats you alive.” He cites acidosis—the body’s inability to achieve a balanced pH—as the root of inflammation and, arguably, most disease. The pH (power/concentration of hydrogen) scale ranges from acidic to alkaline: 0 to 14. The optimal level for a human is 7.2 to 7.4, or slightly alkaline.

Among sugar’s many vices, it, too, turns acidic in the gut. Sugar also fuels cancer. “Cancer eats up sugar faster than healthy cells,” says Gioffre, who lost his father to esophageal cancer. Stunned to learn that his dad had been coping with acid reflux, he confides, “It’s amazing how his sickness paralleled my learning.”

Having treated upwards of 130,000 patients, Gioffre received a whirlwind of publicity in 2015. Referred to his practice by another doctor, Kelly Ripa raved about his acid-kicking approach to vitality during a chat with Ryan Seacrest (who subsequently became a patient) on their Live morning talk show. Ripa also wrote the forewords for both of Gioffre’s books. “Kelly put us on the map,” Gioffre affirms.

Today, besides treating patients (indeed, a growing cast of celebrities), speaking for groups, and spreading his message through numerous public appearances, Gioffre serves on Fran Drescher’s Cancer Schmancer Medical, Health, and Wellness Advisory Board.

Even Gioffre, however, once had an out-of-control sweet tooth. As a teen, if not downing sugary drinks or adding spoons of sugar to his presweetened cereal, he was snacking on bags of candy. Sharing with his friends earned him the nickname “Candyman.” Other than dealing with migraines, the athletic soccer and hockey player seemed in prime health.

While an undergraduate at Boston College, Gioffre played soccer on a men’s under-20 national team when he suffered an injury. “Different doctors told me I’d never play again,” he says, “so Dad dragged me to his chiropractor.”

Over the years, his father had found value in visiting a chiropractor for various ailments, including colds. “I had nothing to lose,” says Gioffre, “and went with an open mind. After two adjustments, I was back playing soccer. The doctor just removed the interferences in my body that were preventing me from healing myself. That blew my mind. After I started playing soccer again, I kept getting adjusted.”

“I tried to get rid of sugar, but you can’t just remove the poison without addressing the reason why you’re addicted in the first place.”

The adjustments Gioffre received in college also cured his migraines and inspired his professional path. Cramming in the required science curriculum, Gioffre says, “I changed from prelaw to premed courses in my senior year.” He then earned his doctor of chiropractic degree from Life University in Georgia. In 2004, after a few years in another practice, he opened Gioffre Chiropractic Wellness Center in New York City.

“I thought chiropractic medicine could heal all,” says Gioffre, who has been adjusting his two young sons from the day they were born.

With a hundred different techniques to address each patient’s unique condition, Gioffre contends that upper cervical work is universally beneficial. “Every nerve that goes through our body to the brain must pass through the first two vertebrae, C1 and C2,” he informs. “When the spine is aligned and flexible, communication in the nervous system is at its best.” He equates his role to unkinking a hose or flipping a tripped breaker switch back to its correct position so all segments line up correctly. “After every adjustment,” he divulges, “when that switch comes on, I say, ‘Power’s on!’”

Despite possessing such powerful tools and knowledge for several years, Gioffre still had a weakness for sugar. At one point, Gioffre’s wife informed him that, while he was sound asleep, he’d downed a handful of M&M’s from the bowl he kept on his nightstand.

The doctor was in denial. He trained for triathlons and marathons. He took supplements. He’d also put on more than forty excess pounds. At least he could zip up his slacks and button his shirts—to a point. “My clothes were the same size, but my body got bigger,” Gioffre says, recalling the moment he leaned over to adjust a patient and split the seam of his pants wide open. Embarrassment prompted him to lose weight, but dieting didn’t enhance his health.

“I tried to get rid of sugar,” he explains, “but you can’t just remove the poison without addressing the reason why you’re addicted in the first place.” Therefore, he admits, “Willpower got me through the day, but I was energy drained.”

Identifying himself as a “health investigator,” Gioffre took notes from his practice. “Ninety-five percent of the patients in my practice would come in, get adjusted, leave, and come back a few weeks later with inflammation in their joints,” he says. “The other five percent were running on all cylinders—uber healthy with incredible energy. I just started to add more of the things they were doing.” Further researching the science and testing his findings on himself, he says his personal dietary and lifestyle changes “evolved over time . . . in conjunction with trying to help others.”

With that, Gioffre says, “I learned about the alkaline diet and green juice.” Initially not a fan of the latter, he states, “Something told me, you have to get going. I started with a green juice a day.” His taste buds acclimated. “It wasn’t the green juice; it was me,” he says. “The green juice didn’t change; my body changed. Within three weeks, the sugar cravings were gone.”

All the same, he emphasizes, “You cannot supplement your way out of a bad diet.” Moreover, he calls for “testing, not guessing.” The diet must be assessed in conjunction with how the body processes food. “You are what you digest, absorb, and assimilate,” he says, “not what you eat.”

Accordingly, he conducts live blood-cell testing in his practice. “We look at a drop of blood, magnified twenty-five thousand times, in real time,” says Gioffre. An abundance of yeast, parasites, and other toxins indicates a “leaky gut.” The culprit, Gioffre says, is acidity that causes “holes” in the digestive tract, permitting waste products to seep into the bloodstream.

Cravings provide other clues, as in what the body is lacking. “When we crave chocolate,” says Gioffre, “the key mineral deficiency is magnesium.” Ice cream yearnings represent needs for healing fats (some good sources are avocados, coconut oil, and raw almonds) and minerals.

“This is not about deprivation,” Gioffre states, “it’s about moderation and balance.” When he appeared on Nigel Barker’s Shaken & Stirred celebrity podcast, which is all about the cocktail, Gioffre touted a grain-free Cîroc vodka on the rocks. “It has the least toxic effect,” he says, particularly with a dash of Alkamind Acid-Kicking Minerals and a lime slice. (Lime and lemon both become alkaline in the body, so Gioffre suggests adding a squeeze of either citrus to one’s water.)

His guidelines require many people to make dramatic changes in what they eat and how they prepare their meals. Gioffre, who encourages variety, shares an array of easy, widely popular recipes in his books. Further simplifying matters, earlier this year, he also launched The Acid-Kicking Meal Plan by Dr. Daryl Gioffre in partnership with Daily Dose, which can be found in the “Products” section of DailyDoseLife.com.

For a do-it-yourself trial, he’s thrilled to pass along his Avocado Chocolate Mousse and Citrus-Herb Roasted Salmon recipes to VIE’s readers. Also, Gioffre offers, “If your sugar cravings really have a hold on you—the way mine did on me—there are some biohacks that can help diminish your surges of that ‘gotta have sugar now’ feeling.”

Besides detoxing (his books walk through the steps) and fortifying nutritionally, Gioffre recommends high-value workouts. At the start of his transformation, he began bouncing on a rebounder (mini trampoline) for about ten minutes a day. Three months later, he was well rested, energized, and forty-two pounds lighter.

When it comes to adopting an acid-free, sugar-free lifestyle, Dr. Gioffre says the eighty-twenty rule wins the end game. Likewise, he says, “Eighty percent of the success is the why. You have to have the purpose—something that gives you goose bumps. We found that if you have a powerful why, you can comply.”

A compelling reason might be a scary diagnosis, fatigue, frustration over one’s appearance, or the potential to live longer. In fact, before and after incorporating lifestyle changes, Gioffre’s patients can take an epigenetic test that discerns their physical age. As time goes on, many are not only younger than their actual years, but they continue to grow more youthful. “Biohacking my own health, I’m thirty-two at forty-five years old,” says Gioffre. “I was thirty-three last year.”

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To gather Dr. Gioffre’s secrets, readers can purchase his books from major retailers. For updates and more information about his practice and products, visit GetOffYourAcid.com or follow him on Instagram @getoffyouracid.

Sallie W. Boyles works as a freelance journalist, ghostwriter, copywriter, and editor through Write Lady Inc., her Atlanta-based company. With an MBA in marketing, she marvels at the power of words, particularly in business and politics, but loves nothing more than relaying extraordinary personal stories that are believable only because they are true.

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Avocado Chocolate Mousse

Serves 2

1 1⁄2 Hass avocados, peeled and pitted
2⁄3 cup coconut water, ideally raw
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons raw cacao
3 dates, pitted (you can use 5 to make it a little sweeter)
1 1⁄2 teaspoons sea salt (Celtic grey, Himalayan pink, or Redmond Real Salt)

Combine all the ingredients in a blender, blend on high speed, then serve. You can also refrigerate before serving to make a firm mousse. To make a healthy version of Fudgsicles, pour the mousse into ice pop molds and freeze for 30 minutes—if you can wait that long!

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Citrus-Herb Roasted Salmon with Asparagus

Serves 4

1 tablespoon coconut oil
4 (6-ounce) Pacific wild-caught salmon fillets
1 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed
Sea salt (Celtic grey, Himalayan pink, or Redmond Real Salt)
Freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or thyme
Juice of 1⁄2 lemon

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Coat a roasting pan with some of the coconut oil and place the salmon, skin side down, in the pan. Use the remaining coconut oil to coat the asparagus and spread it out on the roasting pan. Sprinkle the whole pan with the seasonings, transfer to the oven, and roast for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on desired doneness. Remove from the oven, sprinkle the salmon with parsley or thyme leaves and a squeeze of lemon, and serve on a plate.

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Sugar-Craving Fat Bomb

This shot cleanses the liver and gall bladder, which will help you lose weight, especially in the belly area.

Dosage: Mix 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil with the juice of half an organic lemon and drink on an empty stomach whenever the craving monster shows itself. Or better yet, drink in the morning to anticipate and prevent cravings.

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Apple Cider Vinegar and Ceylon Cinnamon

Ceylon cinnamon regulates blood sugar, and apple cider vinegar can improve insulin function and insulin resistance and reduce fasting blood sugar and HbA1c levels.

Dosage: Mix 1 teaspoon of Ceylon cinnamon and a pinch of Himalayan pink salt into 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and a few ounces of filtered water. Drink it as a shot at any time of day to ward off cravings.