ABC STORY ON SUGAR ADDICTION
Is junk food addictive?
That's not a simple question to answer, because addictions are highly variable. For example, when it comes to the king of addictions -- nicotine -- some people get hooked, while others can have a few cigarettes and never want more.
So the same is probably true of food that qualifies as junk food -- high-calorie but low-nutrient foods like sodas, chips and candy bars. Not everyone craves these foods.
However, one main ingredient of junk food -- sugar -- seems to have unique addictive properties, researchers say, at least when it comes to rats.
After being fed a sugar-rich diet, rats showed signs of chemical dependency on sugar, said Bart Hoebel, a Princeton University psychology professor.
For several years now, he and others have been studying the addictive properties of sugar on the brain in rats.
But, it's not the sugar that's addictive, it's the high it causes. Like drugs, sugar stimulates the release of dopamine, a "feel-good" neurotransmitter -- among other functions. However, eating protein or other foods doesn't cause as big a rush of happy chemicals. Sugar is somewhat unique.
The very simplified basics of his and others' research: For a one-month period, rats were fasted/starved for a long time each day, and then given a heavy dose of sugary fluids -- sort of like drinking a large Coke for breakfast. They also were given normal food later in the day.
After the sugar meal, Hoebel's team measured that the rats experienced a flood of dopamine, and that their opioid -- morphine/opium -- receptors were activated.
Rats Hooked on Sugar?
After a few days, the rats were "hooked" -- wanting to drink more each day. Their brains created more dopamine receptors. After a month of this schedule, when the sugar was removed, or the dopamine was chemically blocked using a drug, anxiety increased, to the point that the rats' teeth audibly chattered -- a sign of withdrawal, Hoebel said.
Rats Given High Sugar Diet Show Strong Urge to Have More and More
When given sugar again after a few days, they ingested even more -- showing the tendency to crave it, too.
"As weeks go by, the rats take in more and more and more [sugar]," Hoebel said. "Like a good addict might, the crucial next thing is step two: They learn to binge. By day 20, when they get it, they drink a lot all at once. That's our definition of a binge."
What was especially interesting was that rats got a dopamine high even if they didn't actually digest the sugar. One set of rats had drains placed in their stomachs that made all the fluid secrete out. Even in that group, the rats craved sugar.
However, Hoebel said it's too early to know how this might apply to humans. And, because sugar is a substance every mammal needs for a quick source of energy, it's hard to know whether this was something that was normal -- that the body rewards us with pleasure for eating something it naturally needs.
"Shall we call this sugar addiction? This is milder than drug addiction, I'll admit that right up front," he said. "[But] why does sugar take on addictivelike properties? Because binging on sugar can repeatedly release dopamine."
michael appears to be hooke don sugar ..even mor ethan i am--he also has a strong thing fo rvicodin which he had gotten off of for about 5 weeks and today took one again--i am hoping (stupidly0 it will be the only one--i know better-and his surgeon is trying to get him off totally--so we should have a problem starting back up--
sorry-sidetracked ..
reenie- i wish i could offer help to you..i do believe it is chemical with you not just emotional or mental...if that helps at all....
hugs
I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.
- E. B. White
God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it or use it for good. Today is very imporant, because I'm exchaning a day of my life for it.
i'd love to go to the NL meeting but right now by the time it gets to be night time I'm heading home to relax. with my low blood sugar issues i have no energy right now. i need to put it all into work. mondays i'mj good tuesdays i'mj ok by wednesday i'm starting to ebb. come thursday i make it in and work friday i'm working but dragging then i get home and am pooped. saturday and sunday are for resting and getting things done that i have no energy for during the end of the week. by monday i'm better and ready to go again.
each week i'm better. this past week i went 5 days without an episode and when i did have one last night it was minor due to not eating at my regular time. plus i didin't have enough water during the daytime too.
its a royal pain in the you know what but i have to say doing what they said to do is helping me i do feel better.
my biggest fear is that i'm always goign to feel this way. i keep tellimg myself not to panic to remind myself that i'm doing so much better than i was 3 months ago. but its just so long. and i'm scared.
i swear i will never do anything stupid like htat again!