Sugar Addiction Research Paper

I grew up playing the game “Candyland”, and I dreamed of finding the golden ticket and living in Willie Wonka’s factory. I was also given a Gatorade after every sporting event I ever played in so what could be so bad about sugar? Sugar, real and artificial, can be found in almost every product we consume and although sugar is a simple carbohydrate that the body uses for energy, its impact on our body is far from simple. The consumption of sugar has been linked to a host of chronic health problems, including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The addictive nature of sugar is also a significant problem that leads to the other detrimental effects listed above. Sugar has also been useful to help preserve goods, fuel fermentation, balance acidity, and add flavor to other foods. Whether it’s cereal, spaghetti sauce, or yogurt, sugar is everywhere and has become unavoidable in our daily diets. As Americans, we have become accustomed to the sweet addictive taste of sugar, and our dependence on excessive amounts of sugar in its different forms has become alarming to many health experts. In analyzing preference and dependency with sugar, I will trace the addictive nature and major risks sugar has placed on society.

Sugar addiction is a problem that has been in our society for many years. In today's world this type of addiction is being composed into drinks. Sugary drinks are found everywhere from local stores, to in home refrigerators. Sodas, juices, and energy drinks, all fall under unhealthy remedies to thirst. Sugar addiction can only restrain us from accomplishing healthy goals in life. Sugary drinks can lead to harming one's body. Over the past few years, many cities and states have considered taxing sodas and other sugary beverages. Sugary drinks must be tax due to its unhealthy components and addiction.

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

Many Americans believe that all sugar is bad for the human body. This statement is incorrect because in Konie’s article: Is sugar bad? Why I say no! States that, “Sugar is essential to good health, Im talking about the right kind of sugar as part of real foods diet.” (Konie.para 2.Line 4). What Konie is stating is sugar is good if it is natural sugar, like from ripe fruit and sweet potatoes. This kind of sugar is what the body needs to stay healthy.

Defining a sugar-addiction is not different than identifying an addiction to other substances. Addiction to substances similar to heroin, cocaine, alcohol, and cigarettes are defined by a pattern within a twelve month period. Three out of seven symptoms: increased tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, using the substance more than intended, an inability to control the use of the substance, expending effort to obtain the substance, replacing important activities with the use of the substance, and continuing to use the substance despite its negative consequences could indicate an addiction of the substance (Tufts University 4). Sugar-addiction is a complex issue, when it comes to sugar, since it is a substance that is in countless foods that are eaten.

In the article, “Sugar ‘Not Addictive’ says Edinburgh University Study” by Edinburgh, Edinburgh university scientists have found that the brain doesn’t respond to nutrients the same way as it does when a person is on active drugs. This is significant because this means that there is no evidence that people are addicted to certain chemical substances, such as sugar. Although sugar isn’t addictive, their research has found that people

In an effort to live a healthier lifestyle we seek products low in fat, sodium, and with zero calories. We reach for products that are convenient and commonly perceived healthy foods and drinks. Little do we know that all these products have an abundance of hidden sugars. ating too much sugar is linked to weight gain and various diseases like obesity, type II diabetes and heart disease. Too much sugar contributes to weight gain, type 2 II diabetes, and high blood pressure. A beverage sugar tax which consists mostly of soda has been proposed and where implemented it has shown to decrease the consumption of soft drinks. However successful, there are still many products in the grocery stores that have hidden sugars that are exempt of this tax.

What is sugar well sugar has 56 different names and types such as health sugar like fruit,and added sugar, which is usually made in factories and is highly processed. There are natural sugar like honey,organic evaporated cane juice,syrup from agave,brown rice and maple. Other names for sugar are sucrose,glucose and fructose. The most frequently used sugar would have to be Regular or white sugar which is mostly found in every home and commonly used in homes and cooking. In the United States about 7.2 million metric tons of sugar was produced in 2009/2010. In 2015/2016 about 165.8 million metric tons of sugar was produced. So how can sugar can affect your body in many ways.

Sugar is so addictive, that in the movie, "Fed Up", 93% of laboratory rats chose it over cocaine! Many

It get’s worse sugar can give people and has Headaches, Gas, Mood swings, Tiredness, Obesity, Heart attacks and Diabetes. When you think of it sugar can kill a lot of people.

Are you a sugarholic? Do you crave soft drinks, candy bars, ice cream, and donuts? Would you be devastated to find out you ran out of ketchup? If you're still not sure of your level of sugar addiction, take this simple true/false test as created by Dr. Nancy Appleton, author of Lick The Sugar Habit. If you answered false to more than four of these statements, chances are you are addicted to sugar the same way an alcoholic is addicted to alcohol. You crave sugar, have withdrawal symptoms when you don't get it, and probably feel better for a short time after you've eaten sugar. In eating sugar to feel better, Dr. Appleton states that a person is actually making his condition worse. In the last two centuries, sugar has become a staple of the American diet.

Attention: Are you a sugarholic? Do you eat refined sugar everyday? Can you go more than one day without eating some type of sugar containing food? Have you ever hidden candy in your home in an effort not to share them with anyone? If you have you are not alone; I am guilty of my own questions. Sugar addiction is the most prevalent, widely practiced and legally accepted addiction in our society. Through my research I have found several books written on the sugar addiction

As we hear of more studies exclaiming alarming findings of negative health concerns related to obesity and our continuously growing percentage of obesity in our country, particularly childhood obesity, sugar is in the spotlight. We often hear of dieticians and weight loss experts warning us that we

Research by Prof. Selena Bartlet from Queensland University of Technology, shows drug used to treat nicotine addiction could be used to treat sugar addiction. Pointing that sugar addiction should be treated as drug abuse. The research stated that excess sugar consumption elevate dopamine levels in the reward and pleasure ventral cortex of the brain, in a similar way to many drug of abuse including tobacco, cocaine and morphine.