Can some people be sugar addicted like an alcoholic?

onrush
onrush Posts: 25
in Food and Nutrition
So it was really hard to say no to a Krispy Kreme donut, my family bought a bunch, they are nut free and the only time my boys get any type of real yummy baked goods. Food is my problem not theirs. Saying no is easier than having "just a little". Sugar makes me go crazy and I loose all focus and always end up going "all in". Anyone experience this type of "addiction"? Kinda feel like I have to stay away from sugar like some have to stay away from alcohol. Just wondering...

Replies

  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    Sugars alter brain chemistry. So yes.

    We really need a word that describes different addictions differently, though. I hate using the word 'addiction' for anything so mild that I'm reasonably certain I wouldn't prostitute myself in pursuit of it.

    Although if they were custard filled donuts, maybe...
  • Athena53
    Athena53 Posts: 717 Member
    Yeah, refined sugar is something I avoid because it just makes me want to eat more.
  • ruthiejewell
    ruthiejewell Posts: 134 Member
    Absolutely. I'm so happy being free of almost all sugar. To eat everything in moderation is impossible for some of us just as alcohol in moderation is impossible for alcoholics.:devil:
  • gradygirl666
    gradygirl666 Posts: 5
    I also agree sugar can be addictive. I too experience the feeling of once I have had a taste, I must just dive right in. I try my best to stay away from sugar as a whole.
  • OneDimSim
    OneDimSim Posts: 188 Member
    So it was really hard to say no to a Krispy Kreme donut, my family bought a bunch, they are nut free and the only time my boys get any type of real yummy baked goods. Food is my problem not theirs. Saying no is easier than having "just a little". Sugar makes me go crazy and I loose all focus and always end up going "all in". Anyone experience this type of "addiction"? Kinda feel like I have to stay away from sugar like some have to stay away from alcohol. Just wondering...

    A few months ago I struggled to go a whole day without sugar - and failed a lot of those days if not all. I am now eating pretty clean and no sugar. I no longer crave it.

    Lots of folks talk moderation - but I am not sure for myself if that is possible without going back to that addiction.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    So it was really hard to say no to a Krispy Kreme donut, my family bought a bunch, they are nut free and the only time my boys get any type of real yummy baked goods. Food is my problem not theirs. Saying no is easier than having "just a little". Sugar makes me go crazy and I loose all focus and always end up going "all in". Anyone experience this type of "addiction"? Kinda feel like I have to stay away from sugar like some have to stay away from alcohol. Just wondering...

    Due to the rapid increase in number of sugar detox clinics, I would say yes
  • OneDimSim
    OneDimSim Posts: 188 Member
    We really need a word that describes different addictions differently, though. I hate using the word 'addiction' for anything so mild that I'm reasonably certain I wouldn't prostitute myself in pursuit of it.

    See, i respectfully disagree....if you are an "addict" you ruin your health in the form of morbid obesity to pursue it. Sort of worse than prostitution!
  • RHSheetz
    RHSheetz Posts: 268 Member
    Yes Sugar is addictive to some, and I mean ALL Sugars, Corn Syrup, Refined Sugar. What I find Helps (Cause when I do eat sugar in soemthing, I start Jonesing for it), I eat Fruit after it. For some reason the Fructose does something in my body that ends the sugar craving.

    BUT, now that I recognize the issue, I am ready for it when I eat sugar.
  • RHSheetz
    RHSheetz Posts: 268 Member
    Sugars alter brain chemistry. So yes.

    We really need a word that describes different addictions differently, though. I hate using the word 'addiction' for anything so mild that I'm reasonably certain I wouldn't prostitute myself in pursuit of it.

    Although if they were custard filled donuts, maybe...

    Oh Trust me, when I was in too deep, I would actually get up in the middle of the night and fight with myself to NOT run to the nearest convenience store for a bag of Reese's PB Cups!
  • Judyquilter
    Judyquilter Posts: 16 Member
    Yes Sugar is addictive to some, and I mean ALL Sugars, Corn Syrup, Refined Sugar. What I find Helps (Cause when I do eat sugar in soemthing, I start Jonesing for it), I eat Fruit after it. For some reason the Fructose does something in my body that ends the sugar craving.

    BUT, now that I recognize the issue, I am ready for it when I eat sugar.

    I think it is the natural fructose -fiber combination working together that makes the fructose in fruit less harmful.
  • neurochamp
    neurochamp Posts: 261 Member
    The main thing that main addictive drugs have in common is that they increase the release of a chemical called dopamine in the nucleus accumbens (this is a part of the brain that is sometimes referred to as the "pleasure center"). As it turns out, things like gambling, computer gaming, and food CAN ALSO increase dopamine release, so they do have the potential to cause addiction. This is actually one reason why eating disorders like bulimia need to be treated carefully and with lots of support - it's awfully hard to break an addiction to food (can you imagine asking a cocaine addict to only use in moderation??).

    It's not my area of research, but I imagine that certain people are probably more likely to form food or sugar addictions if food/sugar give them a particularly strong sense of well-being (that warm, fuzzy feeling). If sugar is something that you've used to comfort yourself in the past when you're feeling down (and who HASN'T had the occasional crappy-day pint of Ben and Jerry's?), I can definitely see how that would make it hard to say no now.

    Anyway, an example for reference:
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15987666
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    The main thing that main addictive drugs have in common is that they increase the release of a chemical called dopamine in the nucleus accumbens (this is a part of the brain that is sometimes referred to as the "pleasure center"). As it turns out, things like gambling, computer gaming, and food CAN ALSO increase dopamine release, so they do have the potential to cause addiction. This is actually one reason why eating disorders like bulimia need to be treated carefully and with lots of support - it's awfully hard to break an addiction to food (can you imagine asking a cocaine addict to only use in moderation??).

    It's not my area of research, but I imagine that certain people are probably more likely to form food or sugar addictions if food/sugar give them a particularly strong sense of well-being (that warm, fuzzy feeling). If sugar is something that you've used to comfort yourself in the past when you're feeling down (and who HASN'T had the occasional crappy-day pint of Ben and Jerry's?), I can definitely see how that would make it hard to say no now.

    Anyway, an example for reference:
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15987666

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/feb/03/dopamine-the-unsexy-truth
  • neurochamp
    neurochamp Posts: 261 Member
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/feb/03/dopamine-the-unsexy-truth

    Yes, it's absolutely true that the signals are complicated and scientists are still working out what they all mean ("If the brain were so simple we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn't" -- Lyall Watson). As a neuroscientist myself, I am well aware of this fact, even though my area of specialty is memory processing and not addiction.

    I'm absolutely not saying that everyone could or should blame a lack of willpower on their brain chemistry; my point is simply that SOME people CAN get an unusually strong "reward" response from things like sugar that might make them more apt to feel out of control when faced with the offending substance. The abstract I posted makes the point that deprivation and periodic bingeing makes the situation worse than if you allow yourself to have sugar every day (I mean, at least if you're a rat...but anecdotal evidence suggests dieters aren't so different).
  • pennydreadful270
    pennydreadful270 Posts: 266 Member
    It's a lot milder in symptoms of withdrawal, but I think absolutely yes.

    For me, it seems to me headaches. When I stop, when I start again, when I've had too much, when it dips too low... Gah. It reminds me of the way people get "medicines overuse" headaches from painkillers.

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