Is sugar as addictive as cocaine?
Jess, I read that sugar is actually addictive. Is it really that bad for you in even in moderation? Thanks, T.G
Interesting question. We could have quite a long discussion about what “addictive” is or isn’t, but let’s look at a recent 
study that came to my attention yesterday while perusing Dr. Mercola’s site: “Intense Sweetness Surpasses Cocaine Reward”.
“An astonishing 94 percent of rats, who were allowed to choose mutually-exclusively between sugar water and cocaine, chose sugar. Even rats who were addicted to cocaine quickly switched their preference to sugar, once it was offered as a choice. The rats were also more willing to work for sugar than for cocaine.”
Sugar appears to trigger production of the brain’s natural opioids. Essentially, the brain is getting addicted to its own opioids as it would to morphine or heroin, or in the case of this study, cocaine.
You can read the entire research article here.
As far as “moderation” goes…white processed sugar has essentially no redeeming qualities. It is a calorie-dense food stuff devoid of any nutritional value. Yet it is not benignly “lacking” of value; there is a whole long list of why sugar is bad for you. I recommend taking a look at: 146 Reasons Why Sugar Is Ruining Your Health, by Nancy Appleton, Ph.D. In my experience, there are very few people who can eat sugar in “moderation”, whatever we define that to be. Eating sugars drives the desire to eat more sugar.
My advice is to avoid sugar (including corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners) whenever possible. If that sounds too harsh, then let’s just have a shift of perspective on what is “moderate” consumption. Originally, sugar was considered a spice used in minute quantities. In 1900, sugar was still expensive, considered a “treat” and average per capita consumption was only a couple teaspoons a day. Go back even further and we find our ancestors ate as much sugar in a year as we do in a day.
Changing your perspective changes everything.
Salud-
Jess
