Sugar Now or Cocaine Later, You're Better off with Blow

Sugar is more addictive than snow

Photo by Paolo Nicolello on Unsplash

I watched the film “The Menu” last night. Man, was it brilliant.

Brilliant and wildly fucked up.

I won’t spoil anything but the head chef played by Ralph Fiennes—of “Schindler's List” and “Grand Budapest Hotel” fame—says this, “Over the next few hours you will ingest fat, salt, protein, and at times… entire ecosystems.”

Do you know what he didn’t say?

Sugar.

Sugar isn’t food. It is addiction.

Psychology Today defines a person with addiction as: “[someone who] uses a substance or engages in a behavior, for which the rewarding effects provide a compelling incentive to repeat the activity, despite detrimental consequences.”

To a scientist, the word addiction is never used lightly. It’s like a doctor saying positive. “Doctor what are the results?” you might ask. “Positive.”

And research now suggests that not only is sugar in everything—including bread, yogurt, canned foods, ketchup, and energy drinks—it is eight times more addicting than cocaine.

How Much Sugar Are We Consuming?

In a country where the big gulp is larger than the size of a newborn baby, you can imagine that Americans likely eat a lot more sugar than we’re supposed to.

The average American consumes 17 teaspoons (71.14 grams) every day. That translates into about 57 pounds of added sugar consumed a year. About 11 newborn babies of added sugar that we shouldn’t be eating.

According to the American Heart Association, men should consume no more than nine teaspoons (36 grams or 150 calories) of added sugar per day, and women no more than six teaspoons (24 grams or 100 calories). Most Americans are doubling the amount of added sugar they should be consuming.

Obesity has skyrocketed along with sugar consumption. Graph from Healthline

Drugs like cocaine are thought to have rewarding effects that greatly surpass those of other, nondrug rewards. I mean, one shot of heroin in the veins and you’re living on the streets—that’s what most Americans believe, yeah?

So, in the aforementioned study where rats were given the choice between cocaine and sugar you’d think they’d take the drugs. That wasn’t the case. Rats chose sugar. This is true for both sexes, and even for rats with extensive drug-using histories.

But this leads us to our question: Can we honestly say we’re addicted?

I mean rats are rats.

What about humans?

A study exists. Somewhat. In “That Sugar Film,” Australian actor Damon Gameau launched an experiment where he switched to a low-fat, high-sugar diet for 60 days. Gameau would eat 40 teaspoons of sugar a day and did so without changing the number of calories he consumed.

The results were so shocking they made “Supersize Me” seem tame in comparison. Despite being a healthy male in his 30s, he developed fatty liver disease, gained 20 pounds in 2 months, and was on a steady track for type-2 diabetes.

When Gameau called the film's producer to relay the startling developments, all he heard on the other end was a delighted yelp: “Brilliant! Now we have a movie!”

Sugar’s Shocking Effects on The Mind

Sugar’s effects on the body, while devastating, are a joke when compared to what it does to the mind.

When we consume sugar, our brains release endogenous opioids (natural painkillers) and dopamine into the body. These chemicals reassure us that whatever it is we’re taking, it’s making us happy.

Dopamine is very problematic when dealing with addiction.

The more we adjust to the dopaminergic effect we receive, the more stimulus we need to reach that same level of pleasure. As I reach for my fifth cup of coffee this morning, I, along with many of you, am likely familiar with needing more of a stimulus to achieve that “high.” This is known as dopamine desensitization.

The pleasure once rewarded from a small dosage or behavior now requires more stimulus to receive that same high.

An addictive substance or behavior might still provide a physical response, but it’s just not doing it for our dopamine receptors. Instead of feeling happier, we’re left unsatisfied and on the hunt for more stimulants. Except now, we have to take more to receive the same amount of pleasure.

As BB King once sang, “The thrill is gone.”

What’s scarier is that researchers have found sugar “lights up” your brain’s nucleus accumbens — the same area of the brain activated in response to heroin and cocaine.

A 2019 study attempted to measure the effects of sugar on the brain in Göttingen minipigs (brains similar to humans). They wanted to see if the addictive behaviors of sugar were comparable to that of drug addictions.

Researchers concluded the brain does have an opioid-like response to sugary foods and paralleled the response of drug addiction. And like addicts, the pigs needed more sugar as the study progressed.

This study and several others have enabled researchers to postulate that sugar is more addictive than cocaine.

So what do we do?

While some scientists are trepidatious about labeling sugar as an “addiction” many more can no longer deny the powerful impacts it has on us.

Those late-night raids on your fridge for cake and sweets make sense when we realize that our brains and body are hooked.

I have some tips:

• Read the back of every food label. Even food you think is healthy like wheat bread, coffee creamer, or yogurt is often loaded with sugar. You’re probably addicted and don’t even know it.

• Read the “Ingredient label.” Sugar substitutes like sucralose and allulose are no better than sugar and are known carcinogens.

• Ease into limiting your sugar. Start with the big items: scale back known sugary foods like donuts, snack cakes, and candy.

I was certified as a nutritionist a few years back and rarely use the knowledge, but as I train for the New York City Marathon next November it is all coming back to me.

Ditch added sugars.

Trust me. Your brain and body will thank you later.