Sugar is Addictive and the Most Dangerous Drug of the Times

The head of Amsterdams health service says that sugar is addictive and the most dangerous drug of the times. I fully agree with that. 3 1/2 years ago I had to go 'cold turkey' off sugar, and foods that turn to sugar like bread and pasta. This radical chance in diet is because I have an autoimmune disease and I found out that sugar is a trigger. I miss sugar. Three years later I still have massive cravings for sugar. I can smell sugar on baked goods when I walk a block away from a bakery. If someone has had so much as an Oreo within a few minutes of being around me .... I know it. I can smell it. I want sugar so badly ... and yet I don't dare touch it.

This fella suggests warning labels about sugar content and statements that it's addictive. I HATE nanny states running peoples lives, but the warning labels I could go for. It's not taking people's rights away to make their own choices. It's not forcing people to drink smaller sodas and it's not taxing sugary drinks. But it's giving people more information so they can make informed decisions.

Sugar addiction. Don't laugh. It's real. And 'they' are putting sugar in everything .. which leads to other health issues like obesity and triggers for those with autoimmune.

Telegraph - Sugar is Addictive and the Most Dangerous Drug of the Times

Paul van der Velpen, the head of Amsterdam's health service, the Dutch capital city where the sale of cannabis is legalised, wants to see sugar tightly regulated.

"Just like alcohol and tobacco, sugar is actually a drug. There is an important role for government. The use of sugar should be discouraged. And users should be made aware of the dangers," he wrote on an official public health website.

"This may seem exaggerated and far-fetched, but sugar is the most dangerous drug of the times and can still be easily acquired everywhere."

Well, sugar is a crystal extracted from a plant... And we know the other crystals extracted from plants ARE drugs, so...

And, as I have been saying for years, give sugar to an animal, and you will be able to train it to do lots of things. The addiction is that bad.

reply to post by FlyersFan


So what's the alternative? Aspartame or some other artificial crap? No thank you.

If you are clued up on natural alternatives, please educate me. Genuine question btw.

Wide-Eyes
So what's the alternative? Aspartame or some other artificial crap? No thank you.

I'm anti-chemical. So no ... those are not alternatives.
Here's the question ... why have anything at all?
People don't need candy, or frosted cakes, or sugar in tea/coffee/drinks.
Humanity survived for hundreds of thousands of years without sugar.
We can live without it.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Starred. You make a fair point, I guess I'm conditioned to think of sugar as a necessity. I would sure miss it if I stopped eating/drinking it. Kudos for maintaining the willpower to avoid it.

reply to post by FlyersFan
Looking back I went through school in the early years in a sugar induced stupor. By my Jr year of high school I had full blow sever hypoglycemia my pancreas had become so confused. A lack of protein in my diet sure helped this problem as well.

I later joined the service and got on a major diet reversal with plenty of protein. It took years to get my pancreas straitened out.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Thank you for starting this post!

I too, cannot consume sugar in any form because of my leukemia (CLL - stage 2). The sugar feeds the cancer. I have successfully avoided chemotherapy for several years because I went on a self imposed Mediterranean diet. Also carbs turn into sugar so I avoid those as well.

BTW which kind of autoimmune disease are you suffering from ... if I may ask?

reply to post by FlyersFan


I'm a big coffee addict and I use what people would say is quite a lot of sugar in my coffee. I tried to put myself in your shoes for just a second and imagine myself without ever using sugar in anything I consume and I must say the thought rattled me because like you mentioned, everything we consume nowadays DOES IN FACT have sugar in it. . . I applaud you though on working yourself off it completely.

~Sovereign

Sugar overdose


About sugar highs, the following..

One of the first effects most people notice upon consuming too much sugar is the feeling of a sugar "high," which involves a buzzing, caffeinated feeling combined with shaking of the hands or tremors in some individuals.

...and there is also the sugar crash that involves a pancreatic overreaction, as the above member reported.

reply to post by FlyersFan


This reminded me of an interview I heard on forum. Robert Lustig was interviewed by Michael Krasny. He says that it meets the criteria of an addictive substance just as alcohol and tobacco do. Interesting stuff.

www.kqed.org...

Sugar is not a nutrient. It's not needed for proper metabolic function.

You need micro and macro nutrients. It's debatable just how much carbs someone needs per day, but what we know for sure is that the vast majority of people in the US consume far too many calories and carbs than their bodies require.

If everyone simply stopped drinking sugary drinks, or eating processed foods that are sugar laden, we'd get our obesity issue under control within a year. Not to say there wouldn't be obese people, but their numbers would shrink drastically.

Sugar is most definitely addicting. It causes spikes and subsequent declines in blood glucose levels rather rapidly. Just like any other drug addict, we're left insanely chasing the dragon. The trick to beat the addiction is to stabilize your blood sugar through better eating habits, and learn to take awareness of your peace and ease with life from staying off the junk.

Most people are simply not strong enough to beat their addictions. I'm dealing with an old friend on deferred felony probation, screwing up UAs, while she's got two kids, teeth black/fallen out... and she can't quit trickin' .. just because she can't reason her way through the addiction.

All of that being said, I think she's equally addicted to the legal drug (sugar) as she is for the other category. She's hypoglycemic and must have at least a few sodas each day else she'll go into meltdowns.

I, on the other hand, rarely take in "sugar". I don't drink my calories, unless it's in the form of a home-made smoothie. Unsweet green tea has kept me in shape and without illness for many years now!

reply to post by FlyersFan


There is an article in the August 2013 addition of National Geographic dedicated to sugar called "Sugar: Why we can't resist it." It also make the case for sugar as a drug, but also as a poison. The article states that sugar injected into the blood stream mimics the effects of heroine and coc aine.

Delving into the biological effects of sugar and the body's ability and inability to process fructose, the health risks of too much sugar, and the benefits of the food industry adding obscene amounts of sugar to everything, it covers everything from the evolution of sugar both biologically and commercially.

The article also talks about the evolution of sugar and how our early ancestors (primates) began eating (naturally) sugary foods to help body storages during winter, extended period of ice/cold, and times of famine. At some point there was likely a gene mutation, for survival, for the body to store this sugar for the future (a kind of hibernation effect) during these times and the use and storage of sugar.

I can't find the article yet online (the NG archives end at July 2013, so it might be another month), but this article, National Geographic’s August feature on sugar has a summary.

As for me, I do eat sugar, but not a lot of sugar (except occasionally). One thing I have noticed, though the sweetness in many processed foods, which I don't like. I like sweet in, well, sweets like cake (special occasions), chocolate, and ice cream, cookies, but not in other things.I generally don't eat dessert, or snack on sugar snacks. I don't drink much soda except for a caffeine kick on set. A relative bought some blackbean salsa from the store, and when I tried it i hated it because it was sweet. A reason I don't like ketchup: it's too sweet.

Sugar is added to foods that don't need them to (help preserve AND) GET PEOPLE HOOKED. T hat was people buy more...and more...because they gotta have the sugar.

The industry is fueling the addiction, in part because sugar is cheap as hell, and partly, once again, to get people hooked.

Happy to see someone posting this. I know people who make tuna or chicken salad and add table sugar to it. What's the point of that? That would taste horrible to me. If even adding it to meats there must be an addiction. I suppose that includes BBQ and some other sauces. It's in everything it seems but seeing someone adding tablespoons to everything always alarms me.

When I eat low carb and no sugar I feel amazing - more mental and physical energy. Once off sugar if I eat something like a donut I feel the difference. In fact - it tastes fake or empty to me. The hard part is - finding foods without sugar added. It is added to just about everything to market products maybe.

MANY doctors have urged me to NOT quit smoking as any weight gain would be worse for my health than the ultra-lights I smoke. Diabetes is a killer.

That said, and my agreement that sugar is harmful should be counter-balanced by the fact that we actually NEED sugars to avoid dementia.

forum.endowmentmed.org...

So, how would they balance the need vs. the substance abuse with legislation?

Tough subject; but, important.

Parents and grandparents, aunties and uncles who give candy to children are POISONING them in my never been humble opinion.

reply to post by FlyersFan


My apologies, I must add this





Something can be said about the constant bombardment of advertising to disseminate this addictive substance.

reply to post by Trexter Ziam


If I'm not mistaken cigarettes have sugar in them. Anything in moderation is ok but I know even coke had real coc aine in it at one time. Anything addictive means people unwittingly succumb to that addiction. The argument from legislation would be - you can get it from fruits or the body naturally makes glucose out of foods you eat. I can't see the sugar industry allowing legislation. A warning wouldn't be bad though. Most people assume if they are selling it to me it must be safe.

reply to post by Trexter Ziam


Wait, a doctor told you not to quit smoking? That weigh gain (which you *could* get rid of via diet/exercise) is worse than potentially getting cancer, which you likely won't be able to get rid of you and will likely kill you??

I'm confused. That makes NO sense.

Unless your have some other condition going on where weigh gain is exceptionally debilitating or fatal, those doctors don't sound like any I would every visit.

Monosaccharides people! Honey!

But then again, we were never meant to eat the amount we are eating.

How often caveman come across a pot of sugar?

i think it's the yeast colonies in our blood and organs that cause the cravings for sugar. they require sugar to populate and propagate. they convert sugar into an alcohol. one way to combat it, is to consume lactobacillus acidophilus.

one cause may be the amount of antibiotics in milk and meat products. the antibiotics kill natural flora in our intestinal tracks, both upper and lower. the yeast population increases and thus the craving for sugar and starches, increase.

restoring the acidophilus culture helps to combat this.

essentially, you're getting a low level and sustained alcohol fix, when you eat sugar and starches because of this yeast conversion thing.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Stevia is an all natural alternative.

A lot of fruits and so forth have natural sugars in them. It's nearly impossible to avoid sugars, our bodies need them. However, we can avoid foods that are fortified with sugar.