Is sugar as addictive as drugs?

Let me preface this by saying that everyone has their own issues to work through when it comes to weight loss. Some people choose to completely eliminate something from their diet, while others choose to eat in moderation. You have to find what works for you. If treating sugar (or processed foods in general) as if they are drugs works for you and you're able to sustain that attitude in the long run, good for you! This post is for the skeptics like me who like to moderate my sugar intake.

Yes, there have been some studies that have said that sugar can be as addictive as cocaine in rats, BUT there is a lot of controversy over those studies. See the articles below for some points on why a lot of researchers do not support the claim that sugar is addictive in the same way as drugs such as cocaine and heroin.

• The rats only show addictive behaviors in the case of intermittent access to sugar. If rats are only given access to sugar for certain periods of time and then have it taken away they will show signs of addiction. If given total access to sugar they will self regulate. Humans do not have intermittent access to sugar (even if you have no sugar in your house you know that you can run to the store and buy a candy bar at any time). This same paper shows that the rats remain susceptible to devaluation (in other words if they put an additive in the sugar that will make the rats vomit they will no longer eat the sugar. Not true of heroine or cocaine).
• Different areas of the brain are activated by sugar than drugs such as cocaine and heroin - Source
• It's probably more accurate to say that there is an "eating addiction" than a "food addiction"
• It's more about whether or not a food is palatable than whether or not it has a high sugar concentration

The whole point of all of this is that the science isn't solid enough to support sugar being addictive or causing withdraws, but everyone has to find what works for them in the long term. If you cut carbs and/or sugar out and it causes you to "fall off the wagon" and binge for weeks on end, then you might not have found the program that works for you.

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