You must have probably heard that sugar is bad for you. You may also have struggled to stay off sugary stuff and somehow you heard that sugar is addictive. But what you may probably not be aware of is that sugar is more addictive than cocaine.
Four scientists Magalie Lenoir, Fuschia Serre, Lauriane Cantin, and Serge H. Ahmed from the University Bordeaux France in 2007 published their research findings titled Intense Sweetness Surpasses Cocaine Reward.
Source: pixabay.com
In the findings using laboratory rat placed in a cage with two levers rigged in such a way a hit on the lever either provides the rat with an intravenous injection of cocaine and the other gives them 20 seconds to drink a saccharine-sweetened water. Saccharine is an artificial sweetener. In the subsequent test, sugar was used.
At the beginning to remove bias, the rats were given freedom to test the two levers to have a record of preference if any.
Result
The test result revealed that rat 94% of the time went for the lever that allows them to drink from the sugar-sweetened water. This behavior continued even when the cocaine dosage was increased with the sugar quantity same amount; the rat preferred the sugar-sweetened water.
Source
Inference
From this article the researchers found out that both animals and humans have an intense reaction to sweetness due to the simple fact that the sweetness receptors in our system evolved at a time when diets/foods have very low sugar content and as a result any sweetness above that little level has a high response from the reward centers of the brain making us seek for some more of it and hence get addicted.
For more on this astounding research finding you could read more here.
The Sugary Truth: Why Sugar is Bad for You
Sugar tastes good but it is also addictive and it plays with our brain. consuming or even thinking about it triggers the production of dopamine( a neurotransmitter that controls pleasure also responsible for behavior rewards) in the brain. This keeps sugar right on top of addictive foods right in the league of alcohol and cocaine.
Sugar is also easily obtained as it is freely available as it is in about 80% (or more) of items to be bought from the grocery stores.
The food manufacturers are very smart people who try to hide these facts by using other nicknames for sugar such as cane sugar, caramel, corn syrup, cane juice, agave nectar, Barbados sugar, beet sugar,corn sweetener,fructose,crystalline fructose,corn sweetener,dehydrated cane juice, confectioner's sugar,maple syrup, invert sugar, etc.
Here are just the simple reasons sugar is bad for you
Insulin Resistance: Too much sugar creates insulin resistance. Insulin (an important hormone) whose role it is to allow glucose (blood sugar) to enter cells and informs cells to burn glucose instead of fat. This is because too much glucose in blood could lead to complications like blindness and diabetes.
Bad for your Teeth: Sugar contains no essential calorie that is why it is called 'empty calorie' also it is bad for your teeth (provides easily digestible energy for the harmful bacteria in the mouth). It is just pure energy since it contains no proteins, essential fats, vitamins or minerals in sugar.Little wonder it is the major constituent of energy drinks.
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More Work for the liver: Consuming large amounts of sugar gives the liver more work as it converts the excess fructose to fat which can lead to fatty liver and other complications to the liver.
Makes you fat: Increased consumption of sugar leads to a high-calorie intake since the calorie from sugar is not as satisfying in effecting the hunger hormone ghrelin.
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Addiction: Due to its effect on dopamine, consumers are easily addicted leading to more consumption of junk food containing sugar with its resultant bad complication on their health.
Sugar is the major culprit in heart diseases.It is often said to be fats but it is sugar that raises our cholesterol level.
Studies show that large amounts of fructose can raise triglycerides, small, dense LDL and oxidized LDL (very, very bad), raise blood glucose and insulin levels and increase abdominal obesity -- in as little as 10 weeks.
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The stated factors all help in causing heart diseases.
After reading this, still feel like going on a sugar binge?
I wish the brain could be rewired to stay off sugar. That would be so much easier instead of this everyday
I wish too to have such a one time fix solution. But if wishes were horses beggars would ride.
Most certainly.
Lol. It's definietly true. I can't live 1 day without sugar in any form. It's bigger addiction than nicotine for me -_-
Oh. You are not alone.
Why is this boat getting bigger and bigger?
The offer was too sweet to be turned down :)
Try as I may, I can't shake the thought. This post reminds me of Bachelor Girl's Buses and Trains which you can listen to https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DrB7hbZyPCM
I know sugar is bad for me but I just can't leave it alone. Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks for the education and reminder to curb our addiction.
I'm happy the post was of any help.
I have to say that, yes, I will be going to look for some chocolate pretty soon. It is indeed an addiction, unfortunately. But thanks for the reminder, as it might shame others like me into moderation at least!
Yeah, the addiction is strong. The only way I beat it is not to have sugary things around. If I do, then there's no stopping me :)
This is definitely not a good season to try to fight sugar addiction, the shops are full of sweets, not to mention those we usually make for Christmas :(
It's like trying to sell ice to an Eskimo :)
The amount of sugar to be consumed this month alone would far outstrip the consumption of past months.
I stopped taking last year. I used to like sugar in my yam, beans, garri and golden morn but not anymore.
and I don't eat much too. (Feeling fly)
Well-done
@mimy, do we ever stop taking sugar? You reduced. Thanks for dropping by
Lol.....
you are welcome.
Hey there! Would you mind adding the source for your quoted part as well?
Just to be fair on the author ;)
Ok. I just did. Thanks a lot.
That's great ;)
Thank you.
This is educative.. please enlighten us more on what kind of sugar is good for the body. Lovely post
Sugar from fruits and other natural occurring sugar. The recommendation is to stay off as much as you can from sugar in proceeded food.
I wish i could stop taking sugar. I know i take it too much but cant seem to stop. My mum use to say, sugar will call me one day. After reading all this, i see that sugar causes more harm than good. Will have to drastically reduce its intake
You have a sweet tooth. Not to worry, you are not alone. Many are also addicted. I am trying to kick the addiction.
Me and sugar has never been friends, in fact sometimes I just take it when I feel guilty that my body might need a little of the energy.
Most people still find it hard to believe that sugar causes high cholesterol level. Although sugar differs, for instance natuaral sugars like cane sugar, sugar in honey and fructose (found in fruits) are harmless to the body but the industral sugars are detrimental to health.
Therefore, it is beter we use more of natural sugar in sweetening our foods and confectionaries. That way we can reduce the high risk of insulin resistance. But those who already suffer diabetes can minimise their in take.
But scientists says that all carbohydrates contain glucose. The fructose is also sweeter than glucose and from their research findings more damaging to health than glucose.
The long and short of it is to avoid packaged food as often as possible.
Check my source here.
Yes it is easier and more flexible to say avoid packed food which have added sugar or sucrose.
From the source, sugar is gotten from sucrose and fructose. Which makes sugar more complex than fructose.
Glucose is the blood sugar and easily used by the body which is the end product of all carbohydrates and food we eat. It is not possible not to need sugar because our body needs it for glucose so that we can have energy for our daily activities.
I hope you know that hypoglycermia is not good for us as individuals. I was so concious of sugar intake at a particular time back then. I was practically staying away from sugar all together but one day I got to the market and fainted. I was told I had low sugar count which lead to my body in ability to produce energy for work.
In summary too much of everything is bad, we can always get our glucose from fructose which is the sugar in fruits. That alone gives one more edge as it will help increase immunity through the fruit actions. So its a way two way thing to eat fruits and get fructose from them as energy and sweeteners to meals.
I am eating way too much sugar to be running out of sugar any time soon.
👌👍....Just be mindful and eat it moderately.
I'd try not to buy it. It reduces the temptation when you do NOT have it.
Ofcourse, I don't expect anything contradictory. Sugar is everything that taste good FCOL.
Everyone got a sweet tooth. I'm trying to extract mine.
I must say that I do still feel like going on a sugar binge, just not a sucrose binge :) I did enjoy your post by the way.