Stuck on Sugar

Some people have addictive personalities; they’re more prone to crave certain activities or substances once introduced to it. That’s why former alcoholics have to stay “on the wagon;” just a drop of the stuff could cause them to step back into their drunk days.

When one thinks of addictions, one tends to think of the typical hard habits to break, like smoking, alcohol, gambling or drugs. But here’s another one that few of us consider addictive, but in actuality is and can be just as dangerous: sugar.

Researchers from Princeton University have been studying the effects of sugar on rats for years and have strong evidence suggesting that diets high in sugar instill bodily changes in rats similar to what people experience when taking an addictive substance for an extended period of time and then denied it.

This is one of the things the researchers did with the rats in their study, supplying their diet with high doses of sugar – to the point where the rats learned to binge on sugar – and then denying them the sweet stuff for an extended period of time. When this happened, the researchers observed marked change in the rats’ behavior. For instance, when sugar was re-introduced into the rats’ diets, they consumed more sugar than they had previously. But before it was re-introduced, the rats would often go to substances the researchers had supplied as replacements for the sugar they were craving. One of these substances was alcohol. Researchers say this happened because their brains went through significant chemical changes when robbed of addictive substances, looking for alternatives that might quench that desire.

Some of the chemical changes in the rats’ brains included a drop in dopamine when sugar was removed. The high amounts of sugar in the rats’ diets created a surge in dopamine production, but when the sugar was removed, the dopamine production dropped off. Because the brain became acclimated to the high levels of dopamine in the brain – a neurotransmitter responsible for many functions, including its role in addictive behavior – the rats experienced symptoms of withdrawal, such as anxiety (e.g. teeth chattering, being unwilling to go through a maze; rats are naturally adventurous mammals).

More research needs to be done regarding how this finding will translate to people, but the researchers believe the findings will be prove most beneficial in understanding addictive eating disorder behavior, like bingeing and bulimia.

I am hopeful that these findings will provide a better understanding of how eating disorders transpire and improved methods for how to combat them. But these findings should also be an indication to everyone that sugar can be just as addictive as the deadliest of drugs. Unlike drugs, where even a little is too much, consuming limited amounts of sugar is fine. But one should be very careful about how much one consumes on a regular basis – especially at a time where sugar is everywhere (several studies suggest the average person puts on between 5 and 10 pounds at Christmastime).

Exercising caution and restraint when it comes to sugar will not only save your waistline, but keep you from falling victim to the classic characteristics of an addict: dependence, changes in behavior and withdrawal symptoms.