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Is Sugar really as addictive as Cocaine/drugs in general? (lemmy.ml)
submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Modified post. Read the edit at the buttom.

Now, call me crazy, I don't think so! I have been an addict and I know how it is to be an addict, but I don't think sugar is as addictive as cocaine. And I really am frustrated with people who say such things.

This notion that it's as addictive drives me crazy! I mean, imagine someone gullible who says, well, "I can control my addiction to ice cream, heck I can go without ice cream for months, if it's as addictive as cocaine, why not give cocaine a chance? It's not like it's gonna destroy me or something?" Yeah, I have once been this gullible (when I was younger) and I hate this.

I do crave sugar and I do occasionally (once per week and sometimes twice a month) buy sugary treats/lays packet (5 Indian Rupees, smallest one) to quench that craving, but I refuse to believe that it is as addictive as cocaine or any other drugs. PS: My last lays packet was 45 ago and I am fine, and this is the most addictive substance I have consumed.

I am pretty some people here have been addicted to cocaine (truly no judgement, I hope you are sober now), so what say you?

PS: If you haven't been addicted to anything drastic as drugs, you are still welcome to chip in.

edit: thank you all for adding greater context.

I realize now that when they talk about sugar, they are not just talking abt lays and ice creams, but sugar in general. I get the studies now. But media is doing a terrible job of reporting on studies.

Also, the media depiction of scientific studies is really the worst. I mean, they make claims which garbage and/or incomplete data or publish articles on studies which make more alarming claims. Also, maybe wait for a consensus before you publish anything, i.e., don't publish anything which isn't peer reviewed and replicated multiple times. Yes, your readers might miss out on the latest and greatest, but it isn't really helpful if the latest and greatest studies in science aren't peer reviewed and backed up well by data.

I feel like a headline "SUGAR IS AS ADDICTIVE AS COCAINE" can and will be life destroying if you don't give enough information. I feel like there should be an ethical responsibility to not sensationalize studies, maybe instead of "SUGAR IS AS ADDICTIVE AS COCAINE" give a headline like "Sugar and Addiction, what science says."

also, https://i.imgur.com/VrBgrjA.png ss of bing chat gpt answering the question.

some articles: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/25/is-sugar-really-as-addictive-as-cocaine-scientists-row-over-effect-on-body-and-brain

https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/experts-is-sugar-addictive-drug

https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/cravings/202209/is-sugar-addictive

https://brainmd.com/blog/what-do-sugar-and-cocaine-have-in-common/

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[-] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10284150500485221

Studies done on mice, and mice addiction to sugar, and mice addiction to other drugs. Are these studies directly applicable to humans? That's a good debate, it's hard to say. But the studies do show that mice have a stronger preference to sugar than to other drugs.

I do keto, I go for the absolute absence of sugar, try to get less than 20 grams per day.

The first two weeks is very difficult. Especially the first 3 to 4 days. We're talking hallucinations almost, deep cravings, it's very difficult to kick the habit. I can't compare it to other addictions, but the effect is very real.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Same bro. I decided I can’t be doing more than 20 grams of coke per day any more

[-] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

I challenge anyone who says sugar isn’t addictive to go a week without. No sugar. No sugar substitutes like fructose. I’ve done it. It is awful.

I’ve also done hard drugs. Quitting those are awful too.

The difference is that I haven’t done drugs in decades but I still have a pack of Oreos on my counter.

[-] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

See, the impracticality here is not that I'd be jonesing for sugar, it's that almost all processed food and most natural food has a little sugar in it, and also that our bodies literally require some simple carbohydrates to operate. Best case, you go on a hard keto overnight, and yes, the first week is terrible, because keto is a stupid fucking diet that doctors don't recommend because it sucks.

Yes, if I eat nothing but beef and saltines for a week, I'm going to feel like shit. That's not an addiction issue.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Fun fact exogenous sugar is not required in the human diet. The body will produce sugar in the liver through a process called gluconeogenesis converting fat into sugar. But it only needs to do that a little bit.

[-] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

Going without a basic macro nutrient making you feel bad doesn't mean its addictive. You'd feel like shit if you tried to go without oxygen too. Your body doesn't need as much sugar as many consume, but it's more than nothing.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Sugar is not nutritionally required. Humans can live without sugar in their diet, including carbohydrates. Paleo/keto are viable diets the humans live with throughout history.

So it is not a necessary macronutrient. It is not necessary like oxygen.

Of course the literature has many assumptions about sugar, and it's easy to get confused. Which is why we need more foundational nutritional research from the ground up not sponsored by corporations. To help clarify all of this.

But if you know of even one person who does strict keto, and there's still alive, it's clearly not as necessary as oxygen.

The human body can create glucose from fat sources, it's called gluconeogenesis and it happens in the liver. But it only produces small amounts of blood glucose. And because it synthesize sugar from fat, exogenous sugar is clearly not biologically necessary

this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2023
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