Hi, My name is Melissa and I am addicted to sugar.

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  • EricNCSU
    EricNCSU Posts: 699 Member
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    I quit smoking cigarettes July 2011 after smoking for 26 years and literally watching my mother die of cancer. That was an addiction.
    I've had friends die from heroin overdoses and friends destroy their lives over meth. That's an addiction.
    Sugar is yummy. That's not the same thing.

    Actually, research is finding it is addictive in the same way that drugs and alcohol are addictive... and completely toxic in the same way. And I do understand the severity of drug addiction.
    http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-skinny-on-obesity-with-robert-lustig-concludes-all-episodes-now-available-on-uctv-primes-youtube-channel-2012-05-31
    Seriously? You're using a Lustig reference as evidence? :laugh:

    *applause* You're my hero. :)
  • elg3et
    elg3et Posts: 3
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    I have been addicted to alcohol and cigarettes and successfully quit both but food is different. I feel the same way you do about sugar, especially in the afternoons around 3pm. I absolutely LOVE chocolate peanut M&M's. I just see the yellow package and I get a high feeling. They are the best and they make me feel so calm. I try to tell myself I can have some later when I have a lot of extra calories left over or when I exercise alot instead of allowing it right now. Some times this works!
  • kuger4119
    kuger4119 Posts: 213 Member
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    Just a thought, but if it is specifically M&M's that you crave, it could just as easily be the chocolate that has got you hooked. Just a thought.
  • ShareeMorty
    ShareeMorty Posts: 324 Member
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    I quit smoking cigarettes July 2011 after smoking for 26 years and literally watching my mother die of cancer. That was an addiction.
    I've had friends die from heroin overdoses and friends destroy their lives over meth. That's an addiction.
    Sugar is yummy. That's not the same thing.

    Actually, research is finding it is addictive in the same way that drugs and alcohol are addictive... and completely toxic in the same way. And I do understand the severity of drug addiction.
    http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-skinny-on-obesity-with-robert-lustig-concludes-all-episodes-now-available-on-uctv-primes-youtube-channel-2012-05-31
    Seriously? You're using a Lustig reference as evidence? :laugh:

    *applause* You're my hero. :)

    Hear hear! Magazine articles and tv shows are not research, get back to me when you have read multiple papers on sugar and it's addictive powers written by actual academics.
  • elg3et
    elg3et Posts: 3
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    i'm definately addicted to chocolate!
  • elg3et
    elg3et Posts: 3
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    I have abstained from sugar and found my cravings get less. But I don't know if I am willing to live without it completely and forever...?
  • mabug01
    mabug01 Posts: 1,273 Member
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    bump for later
  • aleks80
    aleks80 Posts: 7
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    Interesting research from a group of psychologists at Princeton:

    "Abstract

    [Avena, N.M., Rada, P., Hoebel B.G., 2007. Evidence for sugar addiction: Behavioral and neurochemical effects of intermittent, excessive sugar intake. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews XX(X), XXX-XXX]. The experimental question is whether or not sugar can be a substance of abuse and lead to a natural form of addiction. "Food addiction" seems plausible because brain pathways that evolved to respond to natural rewards are also activated by addictive drugs. Sugar is noteworthy as a substance that releases opioids and dopamine and thus might be expected to have addictive potential. This review summarizes evidence of sugar dependence in an animal model. Four components of addiction are analyzed. "Bingeing," "withdrawal," "craving" and "cross-sensitization" are each given operational definitions and demonstrated behaviorally with sugar bingeing as the reinforcer. These behaviors are then related to neurochemical changes in the brain that also occur with addictive drugs. Neural adaptations include changes in dopamine and opioid receptor binding, enkephalin mRNA expression and dopamine and acetylcholine release in the nucleus accumbens. The evidence supports the hypothesis that under certain circumstances rats can become sugar dependent. This may translate to some human conditions as suggested by the literature on eating disorders and obesity."

    I can only speak from my personal experience, and I think sugar is highly addictive, much more so for me than cigarettes, alcohol, etc. Even back in my student days I experimented with different recreational drugs, but didn't become dependent on any of them. I think anyone that claims that sugar is not addictive is purely talking about their own situation, rather than empathising with those who do have a weakness for it.

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