So what do you think can you be a sugar addict?

ldrosophila · April 2013

I'll preface this with saying I'm pretty educated on nutrition. A carbohydrate is a carbohydrate is a carbohydrate whether it be from an apple or a can of soda. I've never been the type to say avoid A because I truly believe in moderation, variety, balance, and portion control. However, I notice when ever I drink or eat something with a concentrated sourse of sucrose what follows afterwards is the uncontrolled binge cycle. All I can think about is food with sugar and fat. Today I've already drank 2 sodas, cakes, burritios....it's out of control. My hunger becomes insatiable afterwards and I fall back into the cycle of binge which means to break this cycle I will have to fight out of control cravings for at least the next 3 days. I know that I have more control and the addiction is manageable when I avoid large amounts of concentrated sucrose and fructose.

So what's going on? Do I need to change my whole way of thinking? Is there something to the belief that our brains can become addicted to sugar? Could a harmless can of 150kcal soda primarily sourced from sucrose and fructose really put me into a binge cycle or am I just looking for an excuse? Doesnt feel like an excuse because now I know the struggle the next 3 days will be as I fight to avoid the thoughts and cravings to binge.

Found a small abstract here, but not much more to support or refute. Come on you brilliant people I need answers!

Med Hypotheses. 2009 May;72(5):518-26. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2008.11.035. Epub 2009 Feb 14.
Refined food addiction: a classic substance use disorder.
Ifland JR, Preuss HG, Marcus MT, Rourke KM, Taylor WC, Burau K, Jacobs WS, Kadish W, Manso G.

Rat study here:
PLoS One. 2007 Aug 1;2(8):e698.
Intense sweetness surpasses cocaine reward.
Lenoir M, Serre F, Cantin L, Ahmed SH.

Kid's w/ ADHD no real correlation:
Adv Pediatr. 1986;33:23-47.
Dietary influences on neurotransmission.

iWaffle · April 2013

So what's going on? Do I need to change my whole way of thinking? Is there something to the belief that our brains can become addicted to sugar?

You can become addicted to anything that triggers your pleasure points and releases dopamine. Common activities such as eating, bonding and sex naturally trigger these chemicals because they're necessary for survival. Drugs and alcohol can trigger the same response chemically. These feelings are natural but if you're depending on one specific area more heavily than others for this release it can become unhealthy.

Foods that are more calorie dense trigger your dopamine release in a greater response than less calorie dense foods. You can become addicted to this feeling much like a drug addict becomes addicted to wanting a bigger and bigger hit to feel high. Eventually it will become difficult to get excited or feel pleasure from eating healthier foods or just having a small treat of ice cream. You'll want more and more of that comforting feeling till it gets out of control. You're going to have to mentally focus and force yourself to eat better foods. Not only will you feel more full but eventually you'll begin to appreciate the less stimulating foods as much as the very stimulating foods. I just had some almonds for a snack. Just plain almonds. Nothing fancy. They were amazing. I love the texture and the taste. If however I was eating high sugar foods all the time I would probably think these were bland.

You need to either force yourself to limit the amount of these foods or possibly cut them out all together for a while till you appreciate more healthy foods. There's nothing wrong with having ice cream or chocolate and I enjoy this stuff fairly often but I don't use it as an emotional crutch to feel better. "Eat to live. Don't live to eat." This simple phrase summarizes my thoughts on eating in general and it's a good thing to keep in mind when you get a craving. I still think the candy bars in the checkout lines are tempting but I know I don't need them and that counter balances my desire for them.

amnesiaiom · April 2013

Hey,

I'm going through exactly the same thing at the moment...

I eat and straight after eating I want something sweet, and have some chocolate, biscuits or meringue (I love meringue!). At work I binge on chocolate biscuits all afternoon and then when I get home I raid the cupboards for more food before I cook my meal. It is literally like my life depends on having some sugar. Also, when I have an afternoon snooze, I need sugar as soon as I wake up... I'm constantly dipping up and down, my glucose levels must be going crazy!

I tried the Harcombe Diet last month, whilst my boyfriend was away, just for 5 days and I felt so much better. It reduces sugar and carbs (cos they turn into glucose too!) and processed foods. I lost a pound a day on it, but when my boyfriend returned I went back to normal eating and feel terrible again.

I started a less restrictive version of the diet on Monday and already I feel lots better. I have had no cravings between meals and have been able to go through the day without having the roller coaster of feelings, no need to grab something sweet. I'm definitely going to stick to it and see what happens as I am sick of craving sugar all the time, it's definitely something my body relies on so going cold turkey seems to be the only way forward.

Hopefully after a few months I can slowly introduce sweet things (not as much as before) to my diet and enjoy them as a treat.

PS I have also realised that artificial sweeteners cause sugar cravings too, so I have cut all diet products out of my diet as well.

barebon · April 2013

I thought I was haha I love sweets, but I've kicked up my water drinking considerably and I can go down the candy aisle now with my eyes open without grabbing stuff lol

Hearts_2015 · April 2013

So what's going on? Do I need to change my whole way of thinking? Is there something to the belief that our brains can become addicted to sugar?

You can become addicted to anything that triggers your pleasure points and releases dopamine. Common activities such as eating, bonding and sex naturally trigger these chemicals because they're necessary for survival. Drugs and alcohol can trigger the same response chemically. These feelings are natural but if you're depending on one specific area more heavily than others for this release it can become unhealthy.

Foods that are more calorie dense trigger your dopamine release in a greater response than less calorie dense foods. You can become addicted to this feeling much like a drug addict becomes addicted to wanting a bigger and bigger hit to feel high. Eventually it will become difficult to get excited or feel pleasure from eating healthier foods or just having a small treat of ice cream. You'll want more and more of that comforting feeling till it gets out of control. You're going to have to mentally focus and force yourself to eat better foods. Not only will you feel more full but eventually you'll begin to appreciate the less stimulating foods as much as the very stimulating foods. I just had some almonds for a snack. Just plain almonds. Nothing fancy. They were amazing. I love the texture and the taste. If however I was eating high sugar foods all the time I would probably think these were bland.

You need to either force yourself to limit the amount of these foods or possibly cut them out all together for a while till you appreciate more healthy foods. There's nothing wrong with having ice cream or chocolate and I enjoy this stuff fairly often but I don't use it as an emotional crutch to feel better. "Eat to live. Don't live to eat." This simple phrase summarizes my thoughts on eating in general and it's a good thing to keep in mind when you get a craving. I still think the candy bars in the checkout lines are tempting but I know I don't need them and that counter balances my desire for them.

nicely put.

http://www.allaboutyou.com/health/diet/the-harcombe-diet-five-day-eating-plan ... interesting... not planning on doing it but found some of the info to make sense. Regarding the 5day diet someone mentioned, I don't diet anymore so I won't be jumping on board but I DO believe sugar can be addictive to some.

Tw1zzler · April 2013

I may be off base but I think that when you eat something with little nutrients such as a doughnut or candy your body wants to keep eating to get the vitamins and phytochemicals its needs. I do agree a carb is a carb. But if I eat say steak and veggies and follow it up with cake, I'm fine. If I just snack on cake alone, it leads to a binge.

butterfli7o · April 2013

I don't know the real answer, but from my experience....when I get a little sugar, it doesn't satfisy me. It just makes me want more. Which is why I try to stay away. For me personally, I am better off having none than having a little.

Example: Donuts in the office. Most of the time I can stay away, but one day I decided to cut off a quarter of it, with the mentality of "having a little bit so it will satisfy the craving." Did not work. I ended up eating the rest of the donut later and then another one.

Cr01502 · April 2013

Hey,

I'm going through exactly the same thing at the moment...

I eat and straight after eating I want something sweet, and have some chocolate, biscuits or meringue (I love meringue!). At work I binge on chocolate biscuits all afternoon and then when I get home I raid the cupboards for more food before I cook my meal. It is literally like my life depends on having some sugar. Also, when I have an afternoon snooze, I need sugar as soon as I wake up... I'm constantly dipping up and down, my glucose levels must be going crazy!

I tried the Harcombe Diet last month, whilst my boyfriend was away, just for 5 days and I felt so much better. It reduces sugar and carbs (cos they turn into glucose too!) and processed foods. I lost a pound a day on it, but when my boyfriend returned I went back to normal eating and feel terrible again.

I started a less restrictive version of the diet on Monday and already I feel lots better. I have had no cravings between meals and have been able to go through the day without having the roller coaster of feelings, no need to grab something sweet. I'm definitely going to stick to it and see what happens as I am sick of craving sugar all the time, it's definitely something my body relies on so going cold turkey seems to be the only way forward.

Hopefully after a few months I can slowly introduce sweet things (not as much as before) to my diet and enjoy them as a treat.

PS I have also realised that artificial sweeteners cause sugar cravings too, so I have cut all diet products out of my diet as well.

This is awesome. Very well explained!

MariaLivingFit · April 2013

I don't know the real answer, but from my experience....when I get a little sugar, it doesn't satfisy me. It just makes me want more. Which is why I try to stay away. For me personally, I am better off having none than having a little.

Agree completely. I am definitely addicted to sugar - and I'm better off having none rather than just a little. A little sugar sets off so many insatiable cravings - it's just not worth it.

AlabasterVerve · April 2013

I think so. I eat a low carb, high fat whole foods based diet and generally keep my total sugar within the MPF guidelines and my sugar and junk food cravings are completely gone eating this way. But even though I don't crave sugar at all any more if I eat some I'll want more. That's just the way it is. There can be a cake on the counter and I'm not tempted the least little bit -- the cravings really are gone -- but if I eat a slice I'll want another And another. Until it's gone. My brain just switches off when it comes to sugar.

I don't know if it's an actual addiction but it's the exact same way I was with cigarettes. I do much better just not eating it at all on a daily basis and saving the sweets for special occasions a few times a year instead of torturing myself on a daily basis learning "portion control" or how to "eat like a normal person".

kelseyhere · April 2013

I have found that when I avoid highly-concentrated sugary foods my cravings for everything are better. I am able to better control my portions at meal time, not just snack time. It seems like if I eat one cookie it sends me into a horrible spiral, wanting more and more. When I've gone whole weeks without candy, cakes or cookies, i feel much better and don't think about fodo so much between meals. I'm also less cranky.

I checked out the link to the harcombe diet and I think I will try it, it sounds very sensible. I have tried to go completely grain free, and that doesn't work for me. I end up eating the same stuff and get hungry and then binge. I'm hoping with the rice in the mix I'll do better.

Cbefitforlife · April 2013

I watch Doctor Oz a lot. He had a show one time that showed different people eating same foods for a week. IT was a test. Some craved more of the fatty foods and protiens...some watned the carbs and sugars. He showed that everyone has different tastebuds. I guess there is a hormone in our body that goes crazy according to our tastebuds with certain foods. Makes total sense to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i know i will eat a sunday over fries any day!

Cbefitforlife · April 2013

i also was going to say that if i eat a little dark chocolate i can satisfy myself verses anything else. I get dark hershey kisses and eat 4. Not bad calorie wise.

Cre8veLifeR · April 2013

Some people are more susceptible to the "sugar rush" than others, and can definitely become addicted to sugar. You may find this interesting - I did some research a while back because there are many hypoglycemics in my family, including me - except I don't have the sugar addiction, I just get REALLY CRANKY when I don't eat. I became interested in researching the link between hypoglycemia and sugar addiction in correspondence with alcoholism, because I had read once that alcoholics are also sugar addicts, and there are lots of alcoholics in my family as well (I'm Irish lol) so naturally it concerns me to watch my sugar in the form of booze intake. In my readings I found two articles you may find interesting in regards to sugar addiction.

http://www.hypoglycemia.asn.au/2011/the-connection-between-depression-addiction-hypoglycemia/

http://www.joanmathewslarson.com/HRC_2006/CorrectingChemistry.htm

PamPeekeMD · April 2013

Yes, sugar is addictive. In fact, hyperpalatable foods can affect and damage the brain in exactly the same ways that alcohol and cocaine can. And here is the neurological component:

As I write in my latest book, The Hunger Fix, substance abuse researchers say that the brain adaptions that result from regularly eating s foods that layer salt, fat, and sweet flavors, proven to increase consumption, are likely to be more difficult to change than those from cocaine or alcohol because they involve many more neural pathways. Almost 90 percent of the dopamine receptors in the vental tegmental area (VTA) of the brain are activated in response to food cues.

Brand-new research also shows direct evidence of lasting and fundamental injuries to a part of the brain that helps us regulate our food intake, the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus. Within three days of being placed on a high-fat diet, a rat’s hypothalamus (the area of the brain that responds to the hormones that signal hunger and satiety, pair and maternal bonding and certain social behavior) shows increased inflammation; within a week, researchers see evidence of permanent scarring and neuron injury in an area of the brain crucial for weight control. Brain scans of obese men and women show this exact pattern as well.

University of Oregon researchers, as well as teams from two other centers, compared how the dopamine system, which regulates reward, responds to hyperpalatable foods in obese and lean individuals. Female volunteers, ranging in age from 14 to 22 were given chocolate milkshakes. The taste lit up the brains of overweight volunteers, while the lean subjects’ response was far more subdued.

"A brain imaging study at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory reveals a subtle difference between ordinary obese subjects and those who compulsively overeat, or binge: In binge eaters but not ordinary obese subjects, the mere sight or smell of favorite foods triggers a spike in dopamine -- a brain chemical linked to reward and motivation. The findings -- published online on February 24, 2011, in the journal Obesity – suggest that this dopamine spike may play a role in triggering compulsive overeating. 'These results identify dopamine neurotransmission, which primes the brain to seek reward, as being of relevance to the neurobiology of binge eating disorder,' said study lead author Gene-Jack Wang, a physician at Brookhaven Lab and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Previous studies conducted by Wang's team have identified a similar dopamine spike in drug-addicted individuals when they were shown images of people taking drugs, as well as other neurochemical similarities between drug addiction and obesity, including a role for dopamine in triggering desire for drugs and/or food." ( http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110228104308.htm)

Dense stuff, but the short answer is still a resounding yes, with new evidence accruing every day.

murphy612 · April 2013

It may not be just sugar. It's a combination of the Sugar/fat/salt. I struggle with the same thing, ugggg! This book is supposed to explain the process, I just started reading it.

The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite
David A. Kessler

lisadlocks · April 2013

Yes.

Arkhos · April 2013

Yes, sugar is addictive. In fact, hyperpalatable foods can affect and damage the brain in exactly the same ways that alcohol and cocaine can. And here is the neurological component:

As I write in my latest book, The Hunger Fix, substance abuse researchers say that the brain adaptions that result from regularly eating s foods that layer salt, fat, and sweet flavors, proven to increase consumption, are likely to be more difficult to change than those from cocaine or alcohol because they involve many more neural pathways. Almost 90 percent of the dopamine receptors in the vental tegmental area (VTA) of the brain are activated in response to food cues.

Brand-new research also shows direct evidence of lasting and fundamental injuries to a part of the brain that helps us regulate our food intake, the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus. Within three days of being placed on a high-fat diet, a rat’s hypothalamus (the area of the brain that responds to the hormones that signal hunger and satiety, pair and maternal bonding and certain social behavior) shows increased inflammation; within a week, researchers see evidence of permanent scarring and neuron injury in an area of the brain crucial for weight control. Brain scans of obese men and women show this exact pattern as well.

University of Oregon researchers, as well as teams from two other centers, compared how the dopamine system, which regulates reward, responds to hyperpalatable foods in obese and lean individuals. Female volunteers, ranging in age from 14 to 22 were given chocolate milkshakes. The taste lit up the brains of overweight volunteers, while the lean subjects’ response was far more subdued.

"A brain imaging study at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory reveals a subtle difference between ordinary obese subjects and those who compulsively overeat, or binge: In binge eaters but not ordinary obese subjects, the mere sight or smell of favorite foods triggers a spike in dopamine -- a brain chemical linked to reward and motivation. The findings -- published online on February 24, 2011, in the journal Obesity – suggest that this dopamine spike may play a role in triggering compulsive overeating. 'These results identify dopamine neurotransmission, which primes the brain to seek reward, as being of relevance to the neurobiology of binge eating disorder,' said study lead author Gene-Jack Wang, a physician at Brookhaven Lab and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Previous studies conducted by Wang's team have identified a similar dopamine spike in drug-addicted individuals when they were shown images of people taking drugs, as well as other neurochemical similarities between drug addiction and obesity, including a role for dopamine in triggering desire for drugs and/or food." ( http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110228104308.htm)

Dense stuff, but the short answer is still a resounding yes, with new evidence accruing every day.

So have they found an answer to reverse/eliminate the addiction cravings? What everyone describes on here is the same way I feel. Someone brings in donuts and I resist them. But days and weeks later I keep thinking about them until I feel I HAVE to eat one. I feel like an addict. :frown:

christineogara · April 2013

I know that I get out of control when I go for a sweet item when hungry....I really need to stay clear of this stuff. I feel hungry very, very shortly after I eat something sweet. If I want to satisfy my hunger , I must eat something without sugar.....

So what do you think can you be a sugar addict?

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