Sugar Addiction Doesn't Exist


#1

What do you guys think of this article? I think it’s b.s. but I don’t know enough about science (or have heard conflicting things) regarding sugar addiction. And my personal experience suggests addictive behavior with this substance and success at healthy eating when I avoid it entirely.


(John) #2

Ok. I tend to overeat sugary foods, and eating them makes me want more of them, not less. For now, cutting them out of my diet is working really well. Whether or not there is such a thing as sugar addiction, what works for me is treating it as if it were addictive, whether it is or not.


#3

Well for point No. 1, the “sugar is fine in moderation” is useless advice because we have no idea what the minimum acceptable amount of sugar is before it causes long-term health issues. And if you’re insulin resistant, it will be even less than that, if there is an acceptable small amount.

Point No. 4 re: fruits, I mean has she seen the people on Keto and how they felt about giving up fruits. You have people admitting they ate an obscene amount a day, under the assumption they were healthy. Seems like an example of a sugar addiction to me.

This person makes the assumption “sugar isn’t currently treated like a drug ergo it cannot be like a drug” and that’s pretty bunk. Having been around hangry sugar-burners and seeing what carb withdrawal does to Ketoers, that seems the biggest reason to suggest something about sugar is addictive.


(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #4

This person is selling a service so she’ll write articles to folks telling them what they want to hear like “Removing the labels and allowing yourself to indulge in your cravings, you’ll find addiction-like behavior goes away” and they’ll go, wow, this woman will help me get healthy but she understands I need to indulge in my cravings too!


(Laurie) #5

Her article is full of random and smartass remarks about exes and cantaloupes. She’s entitled to her opinion. The article she links to provides an overview of current research, and concludes that more research is needed.

I believe I’m a sugar addict and will continue to act accordingly. Works for me. Oh, I see that @JohnH already said that.


#6

Thank you for your replies. I wondered how a dietician could be so flippant about sweets. But I also read the Obesity Code and Dr. Fung didn’t seem to have much faith in them! I also didn’t realize she was selling something though I’m always suspicious of these sleek food blogs and wonder who sponsors and affiliates with them. I think what bothered me the most were the comments where, because sugar isn’t as bad as real drugs like crystal meth or heroin, it’s absurd and idiotic to consider it addictive. It seemed so dismissive and unsympathetic. The fact is, there are really horrible side effects of sugar, people ultimately ending up on dialysis or dying of heart disease but since it isn’t as dramatic as hard drugs it can just be hand waved away.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #7

There are people who talk the same way about alcohol being fine “in moderation,” and that all you need is self-control. Unfortunately, somewhere between 10 and 20% of the population cannot drink “in moderation.” As far as I can see, the percentage is about the same for sugar. It is a known fact that fructose affects the brain’s reward center in the same manner as ethanol. The fact that many other things do as well is an explanation of why a percentage of the population gets addicted to those things (sex, gambling, food, exercise, adrenalin rush, etc.). The fact that the vast majority of the population can handle these substances and these kinds of behavior without becoming addicted is irrelevant to that fact that some people do. Many people drink without becoming alcoholics, for example, but that is no argument that alcoholism doesn’t exist.

On the other hand, many people become addicted to heroin and nicotine after just one experience, so go figure. From hearing the experiences of various members of Alcoholics Anonymous, I am convinced that some people are addicted to certain things even before trying them (such cases are a very small minority, but it is known to happen).

By the way, there was a scientist in New York years ago who was determined to prove that alcoholics could learn to drink in moderation. Her research was well-publicized in the papers. Various people I knew, who knew her from A.A. meetings they attended, told me that she eventually went to jail for vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. This was a couple of decades ago, and I suppose she might be out by now . . .


(Daisy) #8

I think it was total bs!

1. SUGAR IS FINE IN MODERATION, DRUGS ARE NOT

If you want to play that game, I have known many people who have ”tried” drugs and not become addicts. I also know many people who can eat sugar without being an addict. I’m not one of those people. I have a very addictive personality and if I tried drugs, it wouldn’t end well for me. Just as I know I had a very serious, very real addiction to sugar that took me 36 years to break.

2. RAT STUDIES ARE KIND OF DUMB

We’ll just let that title speak for itself…

3. THERE’S A LOT OF THINGS THAT TRIGGER THE ADDICTION PATHWAY

“To dumb down the addiction pathway: essentially doing drugs releases a flood of feel good hormones, especially dopamine, which triggers the part of the brain that’s responsible for reward. Yes, sugar triggers this pathway, but so do a lot of other things including naps, exercise, sex, connecting with others, and ALL food, not just food that breaks down into sugar.”

Ok, I am super annoyed at this statement. Just because some people aren’t addicted to any number of those things, doesn’t mean those addictions don’t exist. There are drug addicts, sex addicts, food addicts, and yes sugar addicts!

4. IF SUGAR WAS ADDICTIVE, YOU WOULD GET AN EQUAL HIGH FROM BANANAS AND YOGURT

Based on that assumption, alcoholics shouldn’t drink water because a drink is a drink. Different types of sugar break down differently in the body

5. BINGE EATING DECREASES WHEN GIVEN ACCESS TO "FORBIDDEN FOODS"

I can only speak off my own experience here. I tried every method of breaking my addiction, including having regular access to sweets. My husband preached that to me for years, that if I kept regular access to it, I wouldn’t binge eat it. I can tell you on behalf of myself and my sugar addicted daughters that this (for us) is complete and total rubbish. It works for him because he’s not a sugar addict. We are. Total abstinence is the only thing that works for me.


(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #9

You missed the BEST part where she says, “Rats primary concern in life and survival as a species is highly dependent on finding food in any form. Remember Templeton the rat from Charlotte’s Web? Ratatouille?”

Because…science.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #10

Rats derive a lot of enjoyment from the food in their life, but it certainly isn’t the be-all and end-all of their existence. Sleeping, grooming, playing, and chewing on expensive things (give them all the carboard you want, they’ll still gnaw holes in your Givenchy dress or Savile Row trousers—I don’t know how they can tell . . . ) are right up there, too, in terms of the meaning of life.


(Running from stupidity) #11

Do we have photos of you in this dress? If not, why not?


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #12

Behave, or I’ll hit you with my purse! :rofl:


(Running from stupidity) #13

:grin:

yes I’m out of likes again. stupid software


(Laurie) #14

I have silk flags. The cat loves to attack them while I’m flagging, and chew on them and roll around in them if he gets a chance. I made a cotton flag of similar size and color and tried to distract him with it. Nope.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #15

I have tried telling the rats that the expensive stuff is there for them to shred and the cardboard is terribly expensive, so they must leave it alone—no luck, they see right through me! :heart:


(Laurie) #16

Silk addiction in rats. And cats.


(Karen) #17

I don’t have the science studies, but I know how my brain lights up when I eat sugar. And how it takes the better part of the week to get back on keto because I’m craving it.


(Doug) #18

Lame article. Sheesh! Ugh! I’d say let’s look at the accepted substance dependence model for addiction - sugar sometimes qualifies for people, along with other foods. So there. :wink:

The author really needs to get a better overview of what can happen, what often happens - and she starts going there in the comments, saying, “Certainly, the spike and drop in blood sugar can lead to more cravings.”

She asks, “Can’t stop eating sugar?” Let’s broaden it out to refined carbohydrates in general, and include the fact that it’s not always just people getting a neurochemical “high” from the foods in question, but rather that insulin resistance can and does become a factor for many people.


(Scott) #19

I don’t fit well in this discussion, if the sugar bowl was empty or removed I would never notice. I just don’t sweeten anything and only eat desert when prompted. I also lack a dress or purse.


(Running from stupidity) #20

I believe you can stay on the basis that Paul has enough for all of us.