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Addicted to sugar DEBATE
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When I hear someone say they are addicted to sugar, the image that comes to my mind is them, ingesting tablespoons of cane sugar in private, like a junky.
Everyone has something they love. But that doesn't mean you NEED it.
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Just because we cannot clearly define exactly how someone can or cannot be addicted to sugar, doesn't mean it does not exist or that it exists. It is to my mind, a grey area of possibility.
They used to think people couldn't get addicted to sex. If you were addicted to sex, it was viewed as a mental illness because sex was not considered addictive....remember the term nymphomaniac? The same with alcohol....alcoholics were simply viewed as "drunks" and there was zero recognition until the fifties that alcohol could be an addiction. All the questions you've asked about is it the taste? The texture? The same sort of questions were asked about sex...is it the thrill of cheating? The comfort of human contact? The orgasms?
Again also about alcohol...is it the feeling of being drunk? Is it the taste? Is it the type of alcohol?(wine, beer, liquor, etc).
I think it's a possibility that should be scientifically studied further because there is enough anecdotal evidence from sufferers that indicate sugar addiction might exist.
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janejellyroll wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Does it really matter whether it's a true clinical addiction or only a perceived addiction? Is all this debate over a word help anyone?
I would offer that understanding whether it's a true physical addition could help at least some people understand that there is a possibility they could eat sugar-containing foods in moderation and they aren't required to eliminate them the way an alcoholic has to eliminate alcohol or a heroin addict has to eliminate heroin.
As a point of fact, the majority of heroin addicts are only able to eliminate heroin if they are weaned off and purposely addicted to another opiate. Heroin was actually introduced to treat morphine addiction. Since heroin became a problem, there have been numerous opioids introduced that are used to "treat" heroin addicts...most commonly known is methodone. But make no mistake, a heroin addict is not really eliminating their addiction so much as getting addicted to a substitute opiate. So you can't really use whether or not a thing must be "eliminated" as a measuring stick for a "true physical addiction" as it's more complex than that.2 -
Are cattle and deer addicted to salt licks? Or are they attracted to the salt because it's hard to find in the natural environment and they are genetically predisposed to like it?
Sugar is a great source of quick energy. We are genetically predisposed to like it. Note how quickly baby latches on to mother's milk. It's a good darn thing we love to eat because it makes it a lot easier to survive.
The only difference is that we are no longer in a natural environment. Fat, salt, and sugar are now readily available. Heck, fresh blueberries are nearly universally available year round.8 -
The OP is asking for help not hair splitting!
Time was, I'd walk more than a mile in the rain for a chocolate bar, then buy three of the family size... So all my sympathy to you. smile:2 -
As far as I can tell, this is the break-out debate removed from the OP's original thread. So this would be the place to hair-split.11
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Are cattle and deer addicted to salt licks? Or are they attracted to the salt because it's hard to find in the natural environment and they are genetically predisposed to like it?
Sugar is a great source of quick energy. We are genetically predisposed to like it. Note how quickly baby latches on to mother's milk. It's a good darn thing we love to eat because it makes it a lot easier to survive.
The only difference is that we are no longer in a natural environment. Fat, salt, and sugar are now readily available. Heck, fresh blueberries are nearly universally available year round.
Interestingly breast milk has 7g sugars for 100g milk, but baby formula has 34g sugar for 100g. And studies have said that breastfed babies are less likely to grow up and become obese compared to formula fed babies. Maybe it's not an addiction so much as training the palate of babies to not only get used to high sugar contents? But also to associate high sugar food with the good feelings/memories of being held and fed as a baby?8 -
kristen8000 wrote: »When I hear someone say they are addicted to sugar, the image that comes to my mind is them, ingesting tablespoons of cane sugar in private, like a junky.
Everyone has something they love. But that doesn't mean you NEED it.
I actually have done this.
When I was a kid I used to binge-eat anything with sugar. There were so many candies and I was never a chocolate fan, so it was not about the fat for me. I would steal money to get it and steal candy to get it and I would do whatever it took. At nine years old, every day. So don't try to tell me there isn't a biological/physiological component. I would hide in the closet with the door closed and binge eat this stuff. My brain was seriously jacked.
And I've eaten entire big bags of skittles, red vines, Mike N Ikes cinnamon thingys, etc. This "has to be fat+sugar" thing is a red herring. ( I know you didn't say it, but it will come up time after time.)8 -
The point remains: if anyone who says they are addicted to sugar still ingests carbohydrates in any form, including vegetables, you are still getting sugar into your system.
You should have the same physical reaction to sugar if sugar is a substance of addiction and your addiction is not strictly a behavior-based thing.
I don't find it helpful for me personally to think of sugar as a substance of addiction. I struggle with behaviors around certain foods, and focus my efforts on changing my behaviors. I personally feel that keeps me accountable to the root of the real problem, which is ME. It also keeps me focused on what I'm going to do.
We can all go back and forth all day long on addiction - YES!, accition - NO!, and in the end, it doesn't matter. What matters is that some of us have problems with certain foods and every single one of us has to address those problems.
The fact that no one gets addicted to broccoli tells me that sugar is not addictive as a substance.10 -
My son used to slice off slabs of butter and eat it like cheese.0
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kristen8000 wrote: »
My son just discovered this with sriracha mayo. Yum. He also goes through almost a block of butter a week. LOL1 -
kristen8000 wrote: »
My son just discovered this with sriracha mayo. Yum. He also goes through almost a block of butter a week. LOL
I guess my point is, I did this because it tasted good. I think MOST people eat sugar for the same reason, not because there's a physical addiction. I also used to eat a bag of Ruffles and a container of french onion dip in one sitting. My teens and 20's were an amazingly freeing time, a time where I could eat WHATEVER I wanted and stay a healthy weight. Then my 30's hit and if I didn't want to be obese, I needed to learn how to "pair down" the habits. If being overweight didn't bother me, I'd still be doing those things and completely oblivious.
I think the "sugar addiction" thing in MOST cases is an excuse for some people to not honestly look at their habits and change them. Because it's easier to whine than to change.
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janejellyroll wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Does it really matter whether it's a true clinical addiction or only a perceived addiction? Is all this debate over a word help anyone?
I would offer that understanding whether it's a true physical addition could help at least some people understand that there is a possibility they could eat sugar-containing foods in moderation and they aren't required to eliminate them the way an alcoholic has to eliminate alcohol or a heroin addict has to eliminate heroin.
As a point of fact, the majority of heroin addicts are only able to eliminate heroin if they are weaned off and purposely addicted to another opiate. Heroin was actually introduced to treat morphine addiction. Since heroin became a problem, there have been numerous opioids introduced that are used to "treat" heroin addicts...most commonly known is methodone. But make no mistake, a heroin addict is not really eliminating their addiction so much as getting addicted to a substitute opiate. So you can't really use whether or not a thing must be "eliminated" as a measuring stick for a "true physical addiction" as it's more complex than that.
I wasn't using it as a measuring stick, I think you completely misunderstand what I wrote.1 -
Heck, habits are terrifically hard to break.2
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cmriverside wrote: »kristen8000 wrote: »When I hear someone say they are addicted to sugar, the image that comes to my mind is them, ingesting tablespoons of cane sugar in private, like a junky.
Everyone has something they love. But that doesn't mean you NEED it.
I actually have done this.
When I was a kid I used to binge-eat anything with sugar. There were so many candies and I was never a chocolate fan, so it was not about the fat for me. I would steal money to get it and steal candy to get it and I would do whatever it took. At nine years old, every day. So don't try to tell me there isn't a biological/physiological component. I would hide in the closet with the door closed and binge eat this stuff. My brain was seriously jacked.
And I've eaten entire big bags of skittles, red vines, Mike N Ikes cinnamon thingys, etc. This "has to be fat+sugar" thing is a red herring. ( I know you didn't say it, but it will come up time after time.)
The idea with the fat+sugar thing (as I think we've discussed before) is not that everyone will overeat fat+sugar and not other things. Lots of people mindlessly drink tons of soda, for example, and some people's taste preferences go to sweet carbs without fat (dry cereal, candy). But so, so many people who claim to have issues with "sugar" ONLY overeat sugar+fat and same with carbs (carbs+fat) and the claim that there's a special addictive reaction people have to sugar and only sugar, IN GENERAL, isn't supported even by those who claim to believe in food addiction, as -- as discussed earlier in this thread -- pizza and even just cheese score high.
If the issue is really and truly just a craving for sugar, and not really liking the taste of something, it seems like the trivially simple way of dealing with the problem would be to consume lower cal, more nutrient source of sugar, like fruit. Presto, problem solved.
My thought it that it's likely more complicated most of the time, like emotional eating or habit-related things or just having trouble moderating something that tastes really good to you.4 -
Addicted? Not addicted?
How about the current lack of ability to diagnose it as an illness? "Food Addiction" is not an actual mental illness that can be diagnosed. Binge Eating Disorder is, as is Gambling or Cocaine/Drug Addiction. Though it should be noted that gambling was just added as an addiction in 2014 (DSM 5).
There is currently an emphasis for future research around the concept of "food addiction" as a whole and whether it falls under SUD (Substance Abuse Diagnosis) or whether it would be behavioral in nature. There are currently behavioral interventions and/or supports for concerning/problem behaviors around food and eating, but it (food/sugar addiction) cannot be diagnosed as a "disorder" in and of itself (yet).
This is partly because there's no one food with which folks universally struggle. Studies have shown that pizza, as well as chocolate and ice cream, is a food people can have a hard time not-overeating. And these commonly over-eaten foods vary from culture to culture.
Sugar is almost always consumed with other things like fat, making it hard to accuse sugar of being the addictive element on its own. I've known quite a few folks who have become overweight or obese because they use food as a coping mechanism. In that case, the food is the symptom, not the disease. And the underlying issue of why the person is over eating needs to be addressed. When it is, the overeating typically stops over time as new coping behaviors are adopted.
For addiction, you need consistent evidence of pathology--how the addictive substance drives or controls problematic behaviors. We're not there yet with food/sugar. Or with internet/gaming.
Not being there yet, however, does not mean we won't get there. Coding manuals are routinely updated for this very reason.6 -
If people can be addicted to gambling, sex, drugs, etc, why is it so hard to accept that someone can be addicted to consuming sugar? They all cause reactions inside the body that release hormones that make us feel good, therefore we keep going back to that thing that gives us that feeling. People can be addicted to sugar just like anything else.
What is gained by this?
Is there a "Hey I'm addicted too?" trophy the rest of us aren't aware of?
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