How Sugar Is Affecting The Brain

Biologically, sugar effects the brain very dramatically than what they knew around the 1700- 1900’s. When sugar is in your bloodstream the body reacts the same way as if

A plethora of people have different opinions on if sugar is good or bad for you. In the article “Is sugar bad? Why I say NO!”, the speaker exclaims, “I think sugar is essential to health”. Each and every person has different experiences and opinions. A number of people might not care about their health or do not watch what they eat so this article does not apply to them. Konie, the speaker cut out all sugar and did not feel well at all. That indicates that sugar effects everyone differently.

Now let's talk about sugar. It’s in just about everything we eat. On average the american citizen consumes 19.5 teaspoons per day, that adds up 66 pounds per year, for one person! That is a clear display of our addiction to sugar as human beings. Studies have shown that through brain scans it has been found that sugar affects the brain similarly to the way certain drugs do. In an article I read called “Sugar is a ‘Drug’ and Here’s How We’re Hooked” the author explained how studies supported that sugar consumption can lead to neurochemical and behavioral transformations that resembles substance abuse. The dangers of sugar have gotten so serious that research released by the American Heart Association shows that there are about 180,000 deaths

Children’s health and wellness expert Dr. Alan Greene discusses this likeness of sugar to a drug in-depth in his Healthline.com article Is Sugar an Addictive Drug. “Evidence is mounting that too much added sugar could lead to true addiction. Added sugar is not the sugar naturally found in foods, but the amped up levels added to many processed foods. Medical addiction changes brain chemistry to cause binging, craving, withdrawal symptoms, and sensitization. Excess added sugar can do just that, through changes in the same pathways as addiction to amphetamines or alcohol. Sugar addiction could be an even harder habit to break, according to recent evidence about how added sugar affects our stress hormones.” Though the quantity and variety of food avaliable to us today is for the most part a good thing, it is having and will continue to have dire consequences for the

Added sugars have a negative impact on public health; research has discovered an addiction to sugar.The study by Johnson and Kenny used rats to conduct their research and found, “that intermittent sugar intake leads to physiological and behavioral symptoms on discontinuation that are similar to those seen during opiate withdrawal and binge-like intake of sugar that to some degree resembled the behavior of rats given unlimited access to psychostimulants” (Epstein and Shaham 530). Similar to other addiction, it does not matter what the consequence may be, the drive of wanting the subsistence is stronger. In the article, “If Sugar is Addictive”, using potentially addictive sugared foods, the rats would seek out “despite receiving electric shocks while doing so, another classic behavioral indicator of addiction” (Gearhardt, Roberts and Ashe 47). Another study that was conducted by Dr. Hoebelo indicates that “When the rats tasted sugar, their brains released opioids that acted on the same receptors as addictive drugs” (Tufts University 4). With the benefit of animal models, such as the rat, has given insights on sugar

Sugar is one of the leading causes of disease all across America, and too much over consumption could turn to be fatal. According to Sarah Elizabeth Richards in the article “The Bitter Truth about Sugar and its effects on our Health” She states “It’s long been implicated

There are five different tastes in your tongue, salty, sweet, sour, and bitter and umami. Sugar covers four out of five of those tastes. This way you can’t taste the negative aspects of the food. “Well, fructose is a toxic substance that is also abused. By that analogy, we ought to regulate it.” Robert Lustig. Fructose has abuse potential. Evidence from an epidemic, observational, and experimental studies show an association between sugars and overweight. In the study of young adult intakes of sugar reports that the consumption of sweet beverages, especially soft drinks were found to be associated with obesity.

Sugars are carbohydrates that provide the body with energy, our body’s fuel. Sugar receives a negative stigma in the media due to the vast obesity problem in Australia but the intake of sugar is a requirement for a healthy diet due to glucose being the preferred fuel or energy source for cells, and therefore sugar being highly nourishing. The nervous system, brain and red blood cells have a compulsory need for glucose as a source of energy. Even when sleeping, the human body still requires energy to function. Sugar will always be present in today’s society so it is up to the consumer to monitor and regulate the amount of daily intake.

Sugar is not the horrifying monster that everyone thinks will hurt you. Sugar isn't as bad as everyone thinks it is, it's actually good for you in different ways. It helps you focus, sugar is not addictive, and it doesn't cause serious diseases.

As the researchers stated, sugar over-consumption as a child is analogous to experiencing "serious trauma.” According to the American Psychological Association, childhood trauma can

This showed that sugar and sweetness can prompt reward and cravings in the brain that are comparable in magnitude to those prompted by addictive drugs. Purpose: To inform my audience of sugar’s effects on our bodies. Importance to Audience: Obesity, heart disease, type two diabetes, and metabolic syndrome

The first reason is sugar is the number one cause in the things we eat and drink. It can cause obesity because the more we eat it, it will get more addicting and will get people fatter. Also everyone would be out of shape and lazy. Second, sugar can cause heart problems which is a risk of death. It will make our heart stop then right there we can die without even knowing we are eating too much of it. The last reason is diabetes sometimes it follows through family history but sugar is the cause of it. People will have to take blood test mostly everyday and make sure your blood pressure gets lowered. In conclusion, sugar is the number one cause in foods and drinks.

Overall, sugar usually has two different meanings; on the one hand, “sugar” can be used as a general term to describe carbohydrates. Carbohydrates can be found in a large number of food and drink and it not only exists in the sweet food, but also in other normal food. For example, there is a huge amount of carbohydrate in our staple food such as pasta, pizza, French fries, bread, oatmeal. Even they are not taste sweet, but they can be still count having sugar. On the other hand, “sugar” can be used to describe the

The sugar addiction is the main root for causing diseases related to sugar. In the article( the source), they say that cutting sugar intake into 6 teaspoons daily need a big commitment in life. The neuroscientists found that when we eat the foods that contain lot of sugars, huge amount of dopamine will be released in the brain at the area known as “Nucleus Accumbens”. This same brain region implicated in response to dopamine and cocaine. So, sugar consumption is rush of pleasure that causes by endogenous opioids in the brain, similar as injecting heroin.

Advertisement and commercial industries portray table sugar, and other artificial sweeteners as fuel needed by the body. Though body and body cells need sugar as fuel source. The body mechanism is just like the case of engine, there are bad fuels which can destroy engine. Table sugar is just a bad fuel for the body. Several research studies have arraigned sugar first culprit for the epidemics of complicated health problems such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease and cancer. Worst of it, several research now ranking sugar as addictive substance as drugs.