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Sugar addiction like drug abuse, study reveals

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Replies

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    unawind wrote: »
    DrEnalg wrote: »
    Pleasurable activities activate the pleasure centers of the brain. Drugs and eating sugar are pleasurable, which is why people do them.

    So is listening to Mozart, watching a beautiful sunset, or getting a good backrub or a hug from a loved one. I would wager all of these things activate the pleasure circuits in the brain "similar to drugs of abuse." Don't know why this is even surprising or even that interesting.

    Unfortunately there are not entire industries, vending machines or supermarket aisles dedicated to selling back rubs, hugs, kittens or winning bingo. :(

    So we should stop selling food?

    It would probably reduce obesity.

    Unintended consequences might be a kitten, however.

    Was this one of those MFP replacements for what they deem inappropriate words? I saw that yesterday and had some laughs searching for it in posts. Some of the situations it makes it worse than if the original word was left in.

    Heh, I actually just used it as a euphemism, because of the filter.

    The worst was the "big kitten diet" or something like that.
  • Treehugger_88
    Treehugger_88 Posts: 207 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    richln wrote: »

    Thanks for the link to the actual scientific study. While I know in my case my 40 years of craving for carbs faded in a few weeks after I stopped eating sugar and all form of grains but it would still be nice to know why.

    But fat has the same effect on the brain, basically. Not surprising, as it's pleasurable too. (Fat+carbs or fat+salt seem to have the strongest effects.)

    Yeah, I'm all about fat+salt. I can eat a bite-size Milky Way, or a small serving of ice cream and be happy. But chips, fries, bacon, cheese I could eat until I puke. I love lobster because of the dish of melted salted-butter.

    Now I'm hungry...

    I'm the complete opposite. I go years without eating fatty salty foods like chips, fries, bacon, cheese, and am not even the slightest bit tempted to eat them (and my boyfriend keeps them all in the house). But chocolate and sugar = constant cravings and I could eat them till I puked every day. Wonder what the science is behind that.
  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,213 Member
    I have been wondering whether people who believe themselves to be "sugar addicts" are actually suffering from binge eating disorder. If no irrationally high consumption is occurring, would someone still think of it as an addiction?
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited April 2016
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    unawind wrote: »
    DrEnalg wrote: »
    Pleasurable activities activate the pleasure centers of the brain. Drugs and eating sugar are pleasurable, which is why people do them.

    So is listening to Mozart, watching a beautiful sunset, or getting a good backrub or a hug from a loved one. I would wager all of these things activate the pleasure circuits in the brain "similar to drugs of abuse." Don't know why this is even surprising or even that interesting.

    Unfortunately there are not entire industries, vending machines or supermarket aisles dedicated to selling back rubs, hugs, kittens or winning bingo. :(

    So we should stop selling food?

    It would probably reduce obesity.

    Unintended consequences might be a kitten, however.

    Was this one of those MFP replacements for what they deem inappropriate words? I saw that yesterday and had some laughs searching for it in posts. Some of the situations it makes it worse than if the original word was left in.

    The new and improved prohibited words filter has ** around the kitten.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    shell1005 wrote: »
    abatonfan wrote: »
    Or is all food potentially addictive?
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22641965

    Is it the food that stimulates dopamine release like heroin, or is it the heroin that stimulates dopamine release like food (with the food-dopamine release being a survival mechanism).

    My response to this is.....

    Take sugar away from someone who has been taking moderate amounts of it daily. Observe.

    Take heroin away from someone who has been taking moderate amounts of it daily. Observe.

    I will hypothesize that one of those subgroups is much more likely to need to be hospitalized due to the medical complications of physical detox.

    If you have never watched someone in active withdrawal from heroin, please consider yourself lucky.

    My response is...

    I've had substance abuse issues which I'm not going to cop to here and the food cravings I used to get before I reduced carbs felt exactly the same.

    I have also had substance abuse issues, and have never once had a food cravings that was anything near what I went through with my substances of choice. Not even close.

    Ditto this. I would rather kill myself then go through that hell again...
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    shell1005 wrote: »
    abatonfan wrote: »
    Or is all food potentially addictive?
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22641965

    Is it the food that stimulates dopamine release like heroin, or is it the heroin that stimulates dopamine release like food (with the food-dopamine release being a survival mechanism).

    My response to this is.....

    Take sugar away from someone who has been taking moderate amounts of it daily. Observe.

    Take heroin away from someone who has been taking moderate amounts of it daily. Observe.

    I will hypothesize that one of those subgroups is much more likely to need to be hospitalized due to the medical complications of physical detox.

    If you have never watched someone in active withdrawal from heroin, please consider yourself lucky.

    My response is...

    I've had substance abuse issues which I'm not going to cop to here and the food cravings I used to get before I reduced carbs felt exactly the same.

    I have also had substance abuse issues, and have never once had a food cravings that was anything near what I went through with my substances of choice. Not even close.

    Ditto this. I would rather kill myself then go through that hell again...

    My experience as well.
  • tincanonastring
    tincanonastring Posts: 3,944 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    shell1005 wrote: »
    abatonfan wrote: »
    Or is all food potentially addictive?
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22641965

    Is it the food that stimulates dopamine release like heroin, or is it the heroin that stimulates dopamine release like food (with the food-dopamine release being a survival mechanism).

    My response to this is.....

    Take sugar away from someone who has been taking moderate amounts of it daily. Observe.

    Take heroin away from someone who has been taking moderate amounts of it daily. Observe.

    I will hypothesize that one of those subgroups is much more likely to need to be hospitalized due to the medical complications of physical detox.

    If you have never watched someone in active withdrawal from heroin, please consider yourself lucky.

    My response is...

    I've had substance abuse issues which I'm not going to cop to here and the food cravings I used to get before I reduced carbs felt exactly the same.

    I have also had substance abuse issues, and have never once had a food cravings that was anything near what I went through with my substances of choice. Not even close.

    Adding on. The two feelings, for me at least, are on entirely different planes.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,994 Member
    What animal in life looks to get high on drugs rather then look to just eat? Only that I can think of. Of COURSE the rats went for the sugar.............it's food. That's the NORMAL reaction of any animal.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    unawind wrote: »
    DrEnalg wrote: »
    Pleasurable activities activate the pleasure centers of the brain. Drugs and eating sugar are pleasurable, which is why people do them.

    So is listening to Mozart, watching a beautiful sunset, or getting a good backrub or a hug from a loved one. I would wager all of these things activate the pleasure circuits in the brain "similar to drugs of abuse." Don't know why this is even surprising or even that interesting.

    Unfortunately there are not entire industries, vending machines or supermarket aisles dedicated to selling back rubs, hugs, kittens or winning bingo. :(

    So we should stop selling food?

    It would probably reduce obesity.

    Unintended consequences might be a kitten, however.

    Was this one of those MFP replacements for what they deem inappropriate words? I saw that yesterday and had some laughs searching for it in posts. Some of the situations it makes it worse than if the original word was left in.

    Very true. The first time I saw it a word that could mean kitten or a female body part would have fit the sentence perfectly. I thought the user had typed kitten on purpose to prevent getting the word removed.
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
    johnwelk wrote: »
    This study was done in rats. We can end the discussion now.

    What is your problem with the kind of basic research on model organisms that provides data that can't be obtained ethically from human subjects, and augments the data that can be obtained from human subjects?
  • moe0303
    moe0303 Posts: 934 Member
    telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/13/sugar-addiction-like-drug-abuse-study-reveals/

    Is the science strong enough to settle this debate one day?

    Why does it matter? Even if it were proven true beyond a shadow of a doubt, what should/could we as a general population do about it? We are not going to make sugar illegal. It's a personal problem that must be dealt with personally. I doubt having the addiction publicly validated will make the struggle any easier.

    I agree, and the same is true coming from the opposite perspective. Even if the substance is not found to be definitively addictive, it does not mean that the behavior of eating it can't become addictive in and of itself. In either case much of the treatment will be the same. If one feels they are addicted, they can recover from the addiction using similar methodologies as employed to address other addictions.
  • 100df
    100df Posts: 668 Member
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    What animal in life looks to get high on drugs rather then look to just eat? Only that I can think of. Of COURSE the rats went for the sugar.............it's food. That's the NORMAL reaction of any animal.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    These monkeys like to drink alcohol https://youtu.be/pSm7BcQHWXk
  • markrgeary1
    markrgeary1 Posts: 853 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    shell1005 wrote: »
    abatonfan wrote: »
    Or is all food potentially addictive?
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22641965

    Is it the food that stimulates dopamine release like heroin, or is it the heroin that stimulates dopamine release like food (with the food-dopamine release being a survival mechanism).

    My response to this is.....

    Take sugar away from someone who has been taking moderate amounts of it daily. Observe.

    Take heroin away from someone who has been taking moderate amounts of it daily. Observe.

    I will hypothesize that one of those subgroups is much more likely to need to be hospitalized due to the medical complications of physical detox.

    If you have never watched someone in active withdrawal from heroin, please consider yourself lucky.

    My response is...

    I've had substance abuse issues which I'm not going to cop to here and the food cravings I used to get before I reduced carbs felt exactly the same.

    I have also had substance abuse issues, and have never once had a food cravings that was anything near what I went through with my substances of choice. Not even close.

    Ditto this. I would rather kill myself then go through that hell again...

    Spent months not sleeping coming down from legal benzos. Somehow sugar doesn't have the ability to keep me up all night long for one day let alone 90.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    100df wrote: »
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    What animal in life looks to get high on drugs rather then look to just eat? Only that I can think of. Of COURSE the rats went for the sugar.............it's food. That's the NORMAL reaction of any animal.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    These monkeys like to drink alcohol https://youtu.be/pSm7BcQHWXk

    Alcohol has calories additionally to being a drug.
    Cocaine doesn't as far as I'm aware. Unless your dealer has been cheating you with flour.
  • 100df
    100df Posts: 668 Member
    telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/13/sugar-addiction-like-drug-abuse-study-reveals/

    Is the science strong enough to settle this debate one day?

    Why does it matter? Even if it were proven true beyond a shadow of a doubt, what should/could we as a general population do about it? We are not going to make sugar illegal. It's a personal problem that must be dealt with personally. I doubt having the addiction publicly validated will make the struggle any easier.

    It matters here because it's hard to talk about when most of the conversations about it turn to "yes it is" "not it is not".

    People need to do whatever works for them to solve their issues with overeating sugary foods. It really doesn't matter whether it is addictive or not to solve it. People here who say it is addictive have been successful and people who say it isn't addictive have been successful. That tells me it doesn't matter in the grand scheme.
  • positivepowers
    positivepowers Posts: 902 Member
    bpetrosky wrote: »
    unawind wrote: »
    DrEnalg wrote: »
    Pleasurable activities activate the pleasure centers of the brain. Drugs and eating sugar are pleasurable, which is why people do them.

    So is listening to Mozart, watching a beautiful sunset, or getting a good backrub or a hug from a loved one. I would wager all of these things activate the pleasure circuits in the brain "similar to drugs of abuse." Don't know why this is even surprising or even that interesting.

    Unfortunately there are not entire industries, vending machines or supermarket aisles dedicated to selling back rubs, hugs, kittens or winning bingo. :(

    Have you been to Vegas? They'd supply all of that, and probably only raise an eyebrow at the kittens.

    You obviously haven't been to Vegas because there is a HUGE population of animal rights activists here that would have *kitten* fits to find kittens in vending machines.

  • johnwelk
    johnwelk Posts: 396 Member
    lithezebra wrote: »
    johnwelk wrote: »
    This study was done in rats. We can end the discussion now.

    What is your problem with the kind of basic research on model organisms that provides data that can't be obtained ethically from human subjects, and augments the data that can be obtained from human subjects?

    I have no problem with animal studies. They are an absolute necessity. Where would get that idea? I have a problem with GoogleU researchers who misrepresent animal studies to suit their ideology. I have a problem with animal studies being extrapolated to humans.
  • FunkyTobias
    FunkyTobias Posts: 1,776 Member
    100df wrote: »
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    What animal in life looks to get high on drugs rather then look to just eat? Only that I can think of. Of COURSE the rats went for the sugar.............it's food. That's the NORMAL reaction of any animal.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    These monkeys like to drink alcohol https://youtu.be/pSm7BcQHWXk

    Alcohol has calories additionally to being a drug.
    Cocaine doesn't as far as I'm aware. Unless your dealer has been cheating you with flour.

    So THAT'S why cocaine is addictive. It's dem carbz.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    100df wrote: »
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    What animal in life looks to get high on drugs rather then look to just eat? Only that I can think of. Of COURSE the rats went for the sugar.............it's food. That's the NORMAL reaction of any animal.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    These monkeys like to drink alcohol https://youtu.be/pSm7BcQHWXk

    Alcohol has calories additionally to being a drug.
    Cocaine doesn't as far as I'm aware. Unless your dealer has been cheating you with flour.

    So THAT'S why cocaine is addictive. It's dem carbz.

    That explains a lot. <nods>
  • Wetcoaster
    Wetcoaster Posts: 1,788 Member

    http://ca.askmen.com/sports/foodcourt/food-addiction.html

    In a 2012 study in Nature Reviews, the authors concluded that although highly palatable food may have addictive-like properties, it does not meet all the criteria of an addictive substance. “The vast majority of overweight individuals have not shown a convincing behavioral or neurobiological profile that resembles addiction,” the authors wrote.

    Just because something is pleasurable, like eating sugar or fat, doesn’t mean you can develop an addiction to it.

    Despite efforts by some to have food addiction included, the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) did not classify “food” as an addiction. According to Nicole Avena, a research neuroscientist in the fields of diet and addiction at the University of Florida College of Medicine, even though highly palatable food affects the same brain mechanisms that addictive drugs do, there is not enough evidence to warrant a full psychiatric diagnosis for food addiction. “There are a lot of differences between food and drugs,” Avena told me.

    “It’s a matter of degree and vulnerability,” said Caroline Davis, a professor at York University in Toronto specializing in the psychobiology of obesity. “When it comes to food, I think it’s a small population that is truly addicted ... ‘Food addiction’ isn’t a good term.”

    And now we have a brand new study out of the University of Edinburgh that puts another nail in the coffin of so-called sugar addiction, and supports the research for binge-eating disorder.

    You can be addicted to eating, the study asserts, but not to food. Wait, what? What this means is, it is possible (although quite rare) to have a behavioral disorder — the act of insatiable eating, which is part of the larger family of eating disorders — but you can’t develop an addiction to a certain food type.
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    Why don't the "sugar is addictive" see the rat study for proof folks ever point to the rat study that bacon & fat is addictive?

    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/addicted-to-fat-eating/

    Is it a different type of study? Did they handle it different than the sugar study?
This discussion has been closed.