Surely you’re aware of the seemingly indomitable problem that is sugar addiction. Since I hit recovery, I’ve met countless fellow recovering alcoholics and drug addicts who have tried to go cold-turkey off the other white stuff completely, and in the process they’ve complained of experiencing everything from crippling depression to brutal migraine headaches as well as debilitating brain fog that lasts for weeks on end.
In the midst of the onslaught of anecdotal evidence suggesting that sugar is perhaps as deleterious for your system as caffeine or even Adderall, a new study from the University of Cambridge released in the European Journal of Nutrition argues that the concern about sugar addiction is mostly just exaggerated hype.
Should We Start Celebrating (With Cake)?
The new findings suggest that the concept of chemical dependency on sugar is blown way out of proportion. For starters, the authors point out that the original research that claimed that sugar is as addictive as cocaine or heroin involved experimentation with rats. The authors argue that the brain structures of rats are wildly different from those of humans, therefore the rodents’ addictive response to sugar really doesn’t reveal anything about how humans respond to it.
They also noted that in the original experiments, rats were given nothing but sugar water, and since humans typically eat sugar in combination with other foods and chemicals, the fact that rats kept returning over and over for the sugar water didn’t reveal much.
“We find little evidence to support sugar addiction in humans, and findings from the animal literature suggest that addiction-like behaviours, such as bingeing, occur only in the context of intermittent access to sugar,” the study’s authors wrote. “These behaviours likely arise from intermittent access to sweet tasting or highly palatable foods, not the neurochemical effects of sugar.”
So, basically the authors are saying a craving for or bingeing on sugar isn’t due to a neurochemical response, rather it is a behavioral issue—the effect of sugar on the brain is not comparable to that of other addictive drugs, such as nicotine, caffeine or heroin.
My Body Begs to Differ
Though it may be true that (some) people don’t become physically dependent on sugar as we might to nicotine, cocaine or heroin, I really do think the continual cravings that occur for individuals with a sugar sensitivity constitute some form of addiction.
This might not be a legit problem for people who lack a sensitivity to sugar, and that might just mean the majority of the population. But scientific research has also proven that those with the alcoholic gene—and even the addict gene—often have a serious sweet tooth. Knowing this, it seems rather myopic for these scientists to not address this population (ahem, us) that might have a harder time with sugar than, like, the average non-addict rat.
There’s a real problem (at least in my non-scientist mind) with the word “addiction.” Many folks—and even behavioral health practitioners—use the word addiction and the phrase “chemical dependency” interchangeably. But as someone who never had a chemical dependency on alcohol, but did have a continual craving for it, let me tell you: chemical dependency isn’t the only symptom of addiction.
This is My Brain on Sugar
I don’t eat sugar to avoid withdrawal symptoms—I stuff my face with it because I love the taste and I love what it does to my brain. I become euphoric—just like when I took that first sip of booze—and I can’t stop when I start. Which is why I recently quit sugar altogether (well, a week ago).
So while sugar maybe isn’t as physically addictive as other drugs, this new research certainly doesn’t address or explain the way I formerly abused sugar—nor will it change my mind about avoiding it. Which is to say, I’m not going near the shit. Just for today.
Sponsored DISCLAIMER: This is a paid advertisement for California Behavioral Health, LLC, a CA licensed substance abuse treatment provider and not a service provided by The Fix. Calls to this number are answered by CBH, free and without obligation to the consumer. No one who answers the call receives a fee based upon the consumer’s choice to enter treatment. For additional info on other treatment providers and options visit www.samhsa.gov.
