Is sugar addiction real?

katiej080810
katiej080810 Posts: 42
in Health and Weight Loss
First of all, let me just say, I know this post may come off as a little bit whiny...but I just want to know, does anyone else experience eating something like a cookie and then feeling as though you cannot stop? I know that the obvious solution would be to just not eat anything at all with sugar in it, but I am not a robot. The way I deal with stress and anxiety is to eat..I am not saying it is right! I know that needs to change but when I have been dealing with a stressful situation I will hold out for several hours and the urge to eat is like a gaping hole in my chest. Eventually I give in and it is not for fruit, usually it is something like 3 subway cookies or a hot fudge sunday from dairy queen. I know it is wrong and I need to deal with my feelings instead of stuffing them down with food. I wonder if sugar is just something that I can't have if I am going to reach my goals. Maybe I just can't tolerate it, because once I do have something I feel that I am completely out of control and can't stop getting more and more sweets. At the same time I hate the thought that I will have to just cut out a food group entirely because it seems so legalistic and not sustainable over the long term. So I guess my question is, do you think sugar addiction is real and if so, what characterizes it and how do you stop???
Thank you, please be gentle with the "snap out of it" type responses. :-)
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Replies

  • MJDuley
    MJDuley Posts: 47 Member
    I would say yes. I am addicted to sugar, to the point that I get extremely cranky if I don't get it. My husband has actually gone to the store, bought chocolate for me and then practically thrown it at me when he got home because I was such a bear!

    I'm the type of person that will sit and eat 1/2 a bag of Hershey's Hugs. My daughter bought me a huge box of chocolates for Mother's Day. I ate it all in less than two weeks. I will usually eat chocolate until I feel sick. I don't do it because I'm feeling depressed or stressed or anything like that, I do it because I want chocolate and I want a lot of it!

    So my short answer is a very definite YES, you can get addicted to sugar! :wink:
  • melindasuefritz
    melindasuefritz Posts: 3,509 Member
    didnt real whole post but sugar addiction is real yes
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    In for answers on the diagnostic criteria for "sugar addiction" and proof that doesn't involve rats
  • hausisse
    hausisse Posts: 90
    I would say yes! I used to have a real sweet tooth. I honestly cut it out cold turkey at first and now I have a small piece of candy every morning and I seriously don't crave it at all anymore... but of course I indulge on special occasions! Trust me trust me trust me, it's very possible to get over :)
  • Calliope610
    Calliope610 Posts: 3,782 Member
    If I believed in the validity of sugar addiction, I suppose I would suggest treating it the way one treats other addictions, such as drug addiction, alcohol addiction, etc and abstain completely. Whether or not complete abstinence is sustainable depends on what you are willing to do to kick your addiction.
  • lisa9803
    lisa9803 Posts: 39
    Sugar addiction IS real. I didn't realize that I was addicted to it until I stopped eating all refined sugars and had a headache for 3 days straight. It's hard to cut out, but you should try. Otherwise the viscous cycle may keep going round and round....feel bad, eat sugar, feel bad for eating sugar, etc. The stress alone is going to hinder your progress and slow your weight loss. You should read up on it some. Good luck!
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    In for answers on the diagnostic criteria for "sugar addiction" and proof that doesn't involve rats

    Beat me to it. Pretty much ^ this.
  • hausisse
    hausisse Posts: 90
    oh but as for whether or not the "sugar addiction" is actually real, I think the short answer is yes... humans were designed to crave sugar so much because it was so difficult for our ancestors to find in large quantities- the sweetest thing the average caveman probably ate on a regular basis was about as sweet as a carrot, most likely- but our brains run on glucose, which is a component of sugar; and since we have such complex brains, of course we crave it a lot. Our biology hasn't quite caught up to adapting the amount of sugary foods that are available to us today- our bodies are telling us that eating as much sugar as possible at once would be efficient, when in reality it's so much more readily available than it used to be that we don't need to crave it as much as we do!

    I'm just remembering information from a lecture that I watched online from an evolutionary biologist on Harvard's YouTube channel- I can probably find the link if you want!
  • allshebe
    allshebe Posts: 423 Member
    If being addicted involves loss of control/inability to stop eating it, even when you've had so much already that you're feeling ill? Yep. It is for me (there's a certain amount I can eat and stop, but if I go beyond that point...), I don't buy bags of candy any more.
  • kevrit
    kevrit Posts: 4,282 Member
    For me, it is very real. I am very much like you. Once I start I feel like I have to binge on it. Here are a couple of good websites that talk about sugar addiction and how to beat it. I have not tried any of these suggestions yet so I can't advise as to which is the best. I would say whatever works for you.
    www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-sugar-addiction
    www.prweb.com/releases/2012/7/prweb9723826.htm
    http://30bananasadaysucks.com/2013/04/sugar-addiction-is-very-real-very-serious/
    www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark.../sugar-addiction_b_819113.html‎
    www.atkins.com/.../Sugar/Sugar-Addiction--Real-or-Imagined.aspx
    philmaffetone.com/sugaraddictio.cfm
  • sozisraw
    sozisraw Posts: 418 Member
    Yes ! As bad an addiction as crack cocaine! Speaking from experience :sad:

    My experience is Sugar not crack cocaine lol, just clarifying
  • Tilran
    Tilran Posts: 627 Member
    Yes, Sugar is very addicting...its a tough habit to break just like caffeine. You really just need to stop cold turkey if it affects you like that.

    I tend to over-indulge in sugar based products like chocolates, baked goods and other desserts. I have a problem that I cant help....I embrace it and work out harder at the gym to compensate. Is it right? nope....working out that hard is time consuming, boring and making me dread the gym. I SHOULD just quit cold turkey, but its proving much harder to do then say.

    Again, cold turkey is the only way as you need to break that desire (just as with any drug), but its hard to do.
  • hausisse
    hausisse Posts: 90
    http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/the-evolutionary-biology-of-obesity/
    I think this was it!
  • 1ConcreteGirl
    1ConcreteGirl Posts: 3,677 Member
    Yes ! As bad an addiction as crack cocaine! Speaking from experience :sad:

    Please tell me more about the last time your children went hungry because you spent all your money on cupcake frosting.
  • 1duffwf
    1duffwf Posts: 76 Member
    YES I would definitely say it's real!! The issue (for me at least) with sugar is that if I break down and have something sweet...I crave more later that day and even have bad cravings a few days after!

    What helps me is chewing gum or having a diet soda (bad I know - but better than a candy bar) when the cravings get tough. I try to save sweets for a special occassion (birthday cake, my mom's Christmas cookies) and don't stress too much if I mess up and eat more than I should.
  • bornleader79
    bornleader79 Posts: 57 Member
    Yes ma'am....I have literally ate so much sugar that my body would tingle so bad it felt like little needles stabbing me...BUT that couldnt even stop me. I had to have it!!!! They said it like the same brain reaction that heroin addicts receive
  • Nicoleace22
    Nicoleace22 Posts: 32 Member
    I think eeer maybe.

    I know that it can feel addictive?

    The more sugar you eat the move you are going to need ( has to do with blood sugar levels. The higher you go the higher they fall which makes you want more. :drinker:

    And if you don't get more--- you crash!:sick: :sad:

    Sounds like burnout to me.

    Maybe switch sugar types with fruit?
    Not as good but no gotta have more feeling.


    P.S. Dark chocolate is always goods- sweet, antioxidants, and endorphins all in a mouthwatering package. Psssh! greatest creation on earth.
  • katiej080810
    katiej080810 Posts: 42
    In for answers on the diagnostic criteria for "sugar addiction" and proof that doesn't involve rats


    I don't understand what this comment means?
  • seg49
    seg49 Posts: 9
    this is exactly me! I just can't have sugar (lollies, cookies, chocolate) in the house. I'm okay if its unopened, but as soon as the packet is open I can't help myself. I get into that mentality where I'm like "well I'm gonna eat it anyway so I may as well just eat it now". So have decided just not to allow myself to have that stuff around! Every now and then I'll have some for a special occasion - birthday party, treat, easter... but try to limit it!
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    The short answer is: Yes.

    From wikipedia:
    A 1987 study showed sugar acted as an analgesic drug whose effects could be blocked by a morphine blocker.[2] In her 1998 book, author Kathleen DesMaisons outlined the concept of sugar addiction as a measurable physiological state caused by activation of opioid receptors in the brain and hypothesized that dependence on sugar followed the same track outlined in the DSM IV for other drugs of abuse.
  • katiej080810
    katiej080810 Posts: 42
    Thank you for all of the helpful advice. Giving up sugar completely scares the crap out of me but I think it is something I will have to try to do. I am so unhappy where I am now and binging out all the time on sugar is keeping me here.
  • highervibes
    highervibes Posts: 2,219 Member
    It was easier for me to stop using cocaine recreationally than it was sugar... just sayin'.
  • michellechawner
    michellechawner Posts: 892
    Yes it is.

    My mother is addicted to sugar. She's learned to keep it out of the house. I've seen her go on crazy eating binges when I was younger... whole tins of Oreo's, brownies, Full cartons of ice cream...

    She still has fruit, and more "natural" sugars. But she knows she can't just stop at one cookie. I apparently don't take after her, I can have 2 cookies and say ok, I'm done.
  • TheEffort
    TheEffort Posts: 1,028 Member
    It feels like an addiction to me. :smile:

    8488541.png
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    The short answer is: Yes.

    From wikipedia:
    A 1987 study showed sugar acted as an analgesic drug whose effects could be blocked by a morphine blocker.[2] In her 1998 book, author Kathleen DesMaisons outlined the concept of sugar addiction as a measurable physiological state caused by activation of opioid receptors in the brain and hypothesized that dependence on sugar followed the same track outlined in the DSM IV for other drugs of abuse.

    You quoted wikipedia that quotes a 26 year old study that was quoted in a book that's 15 years old. Seems legit.
  • RickNeedzToGetShreaded
    RickNeedzToGetShreaded Posts: 293 Member
    I cut out sugar recently, and down to one coffee a day, and it sure is an addiction, I crave it!
  • toaster6
    toaster6 Posts: 703 Member
    ad·dic·tion
    noun
    the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.

    I know many people that love sugar and don't like the thought of cutting down on it but I don't know anyone that suffers severe trauma when they don't get enough sweets. I think people confuse "I want" with "I need".
  • PlayerHatinDogooder
    PlayerHatinDogooder Posts: 1,018 Member
    No, It just taste good and people like to eat it.

    I used to believe I had a sugar addiction. Then I just realized that I had to exercise a bit of self control. Having friends that have suffered numerous addictions from cigarettes to heroin I have never experienced any of the symptoms that they have described when withdrawing.
  • GiGiBeans
    GiGiBeans Posts: 1,062 Member
    Yes, it's real. My addiction got so bad I was stealing candy from children in the park and holding up candy stores. Then I found The Low Carb Way and was cured, praise be to Atkins.
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    In for answers on the diagnostic criteria for "sugar addiction" and proof that doesn't involve rats


    I don't understand what this comment means?

    He is discounting research done on laboratory animals as invalid information when extrapolating the information onto human subjects.

    Rats =/= humans, therefore the research validity is limited.
This discussion has been closed.

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