Sugar 's Effect On The Brain Essay

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 is addictive and like any addictive substance it is toxic. The reaction mightn't be as obvious as what comes with a cocaine overdose, but don't be lulled into a false sense of "it's only sugar", overtime excess sugar consumption is deadly. Teeth decay, diabetes, bad skin, nutrient deficiencies, obesity all come hand in hand with sugar addiction.

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

There are plenty of reasons and research studies that show how destructive sugar can be for your health if not managed properly, “and unfortunately our standard American Diet is anything but balanced.”(Konie 1) Americans don’t manage their sugar levels, let alone manage their sugar intake. The exponential growth of obesity in underway and the main cause. Sugar. Many people don’t understand this but sugar is perfectly fine as long as you can control it, many also don’t realize just, “how dangerous the extremes can be.”(Konie 1)

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

Sweetness has been the obsession that affected humans for many years. It is the satisfaction that people seem to like, however, there might be a downfall to this addiction with sugar. There have been studies that claimed that the obesity rates in America have increased dramatically for over the past 20 years (Eatwell.com, 2012). Obesity rates have increased by double that it has made it to the top three health concerns in America. Experts are trying to find out what causes obesity. Moreover, there are studies that linked with drinking large amounts of sugar-sweetened beverages that a child can risk obesity. This might possibly prove that obesity can be caused by sugar-sweetened food.

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

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.

Today in our society sugar is accepted and consumed in large quantities. According to the United Stated Department of Agriculture the average American consumes between 150 to 170 pounds a sugar a year (that’s 30 five pound bags). I myself have undergone an experiment to go without sugar for a week to identify the effects it had on my body first hand. I will present you with findings I have found and hope you learn a little more about this substance we put into our bodies so readily and willingly. Today I will talk to you about the physical effects, mental and emotional effects of sugar on the body, and the proper intake of sugar.

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.

Other reasons why sugar is bad for you is that sugar is bad for your teeth, it makes you fat if you consume it in large amounts quite often, it also has a very addictive effect on your brain, and there are no nutrients in

Humans should not consume a large amount of sugar, especially at one time. In the data of webmd.com, ¨Americans average about 20 teaspoons of sugar daily compared to the 6 teaspoons women and 9 teaspoons for men, people are supposed to have.¨ Sugar can cause a build up of fat around the organs. ¨When your organs store fat around themselves, it can cause diseases like liver disease.¨ According to the text in prevention.com. When your body stores a large amount of sugar, it can cause an organ like your liver to get a fatty extra layer around it. As you can see, sugar is good to the taste, but bad for your health.

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.