Does Sugar Make You Addicted?
Sugar consumption stimulates the same regions of the brain as cocaine consumption. Can we become addicted to sugar and does sugar make us sick?
Cake, orange juice, tomato ketchup: what do these foods have in common? They all contain sugar. And lots of it. Common table sugar (sucrose) is a carbohydrate made up of fructose and glucose. The WHO recommends that an adult should not consume more than 50 grams of sugar a day - that's about 17 sugar cubes.
However, the average daily consumption in Austria is 80 grams. Over the course of a year, this amounts to around 29 kilos of sugar per person. The number of diagnosed cases of diabetes and obesity threatens to rise further in the coming years.
However, it is difficult for humans to live without sugar. Glucose is essential for our brains. But we do not necessarily need table sugar. The body can make glucose from polysaccharides. Polysaccharides are found in starchy foods such as potatoes, rice and pasta.
Does sugar make you sick?
Overconsumption of sugar has a gradual and fatal effect on our bodies. The first symptoms are headaches, nausea and diarrhoea. There are also cosmetic problems such as skin blemishes and premature ageing of the skin. In the long term, diabetes develops. Elevated blood sugar levels damage the blood vessels.
It also promotes rapid weight gain and fat deposits. Excessive sugar consumption increases triglyceride levels. The risk of stroke and heart attack increases. Liver function tests can become similar to those of an alcoholic and fatty liver can develop. This develops into cirrhosis and then cancer.
I wish it didn't taste so good ...
Even as children, we learn to associate the taste of sweet with something positive: slightly sweet mother's milk, chocolate cake at every birthday party, or delicious ice cream as a reward for good grades. Almost no adult doesn't like sweets. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's the excess that's the problem.
The next time you go to the supermarket, turn over everything in your trolley and read the nutritional information. You may be surprised at how much sugar you find in products you would not expect. So-called hidden sugars can be found in most convenience products, including savoury foods. Sugar is often listed below the carbohydrates on the nutrition facts panel as "of which sugar".
The fructose content of fruit should also not be underestimated. Unfortunately, this also counts towards your sugar intake. Sugary drinks are particularly problematic. This is because they are far too often underestimated. A 330ml can of cola contains around 11.5 sugar cubes. But it's not just fizzy drinks that we need to watch out for.
Fruit juices are also real sugar bombs. You need about 10 oranges to make 1 litre of orange juice. The juice is quickly consumed. But you would never eat that much fruit individually in that time. This means that the body gets a lot more sugar from the juice in one go than it would from normal food.
Sugar as a drug
Sugar activates the brain's reward system. Eating a piece of chocolate releases the happiness hormone dopamine, just like cocaine or sex. These endogenous substances make us want to feel happy again. This may be why we reach for the sweets drawer when we are frustrated or stressed. When we stop eating sugar or carbohydrates, we quickly become irritable.
There is no conclusive study to prove that sugar is addictive. However, in an animal experiment with rats, researchers found that the animals could develop a strong craving for sugar water. When they were deprived of sugar water, they experienced withdrawal symptoms. It was also found that the rats needed more and more sugar to produce dopamine.
A low-sugar diet prevents life-threatening diseases and should therefore be a priority. Of course, a strict ban on sugar is not necessary. If we pay more attention to the hidden sugars in foods in the supermarket and minimise (or even eliminate) sugary drinks, we will be doing our bodies a favour.
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