Does A Food/Sugar Addiction Exist?

Iraber

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We often hear in many fad diet communities that there is such a thing as addiction to food, especially when the carnivores talk about addiction to sugar and vegans talk about addiction to animal products. Does anyone on here have a logically consistent claim that food or sugar is addicting? If so, can you explain how that addiction can hurt us?
 

Hans

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We often hear in many fad diet communities that there is such a thing as addiction to food, especially when the carnivores talk about addiction to sugar and vegans talk about addiction to animal products. Does anyone on here have a logically consistent claim that food or sugar is addicting? If so, can you explain how that addiction can hurt us?
Sugar is not addictive else people would be pouring packets of sugar down their throat the whole time.

It's when sugar is combined with fat that the food becomes hyperpalatable.
Overeating can then happen especially if someone eats low protein as well.
 

TheSir

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Well first we have to consider what an addiction is. In my view, an addiction is 1) physiological means of compensating for disrupted energy production 2) psychological means of compensating for unmet human needs. Now, both points feedback each other, as emotional unfulfillment causes metabolic disruption and vice versa. An object of addiction is then any object that can temporarily compensate for malfunctions in the aforementioned feedback loop.

Sugar has the ability to support energy production, directly by forcing glucose into cells, and indirectly by reducing stress. As such, given that the underlying psychological-metabolic issues remain unsolved, sugar can certainly become a crutch, and thus in a sense, an addiction.
 
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Iraber

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Well first we have to consider what an addiction is. In my view, an addiction is 1) physiological means of compensating for disrupted energy production 2) psychological means of compensating for unmet human needs. Now, both points feedback each other, as emotional unfulfillment causes metabolic disruption and vice versa. An object of addiction is then any object that can temporarily compensate for malfunctions in the aforementioned feedback loop.

Sugar has the ability to support energy production, directly by forcing glucose into cells, and indirectly by reducing stress. As such, given that the underlying psychological-metabolic issues remain unsolved, sugar can certainly become a crutch, and thus in a sense, an addiction.
Since the hole is energy production, and sugar provides energy, how can you say that it is addicting?
 
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Iraber

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Sugar is not addictive else people would be pouring packets of sugar down their throat the whole time.

It's when sugar is combined with fat that the food becomes hyperpalatable.
Overeating can then happen especially if someone eats low protein as well.

Dont you think there is a reason the food tastes so good? As if we needed foods like that? we would die without sugar, cholesterol, and saturated fat within a matter of days. all the best foods are a combination of those nutrients. milk, ice cream, pizza.
 
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Dont you think there is a reason the food tastes so good? As if we needed foods like that? we would die without sugar, cholesterol, and saturated fat within a matter of days. all the best foods are a combination of those nutrients. milk, ice cream, pizza.

Ice Cream and Pizza is Junkfood, sorry. The truth is that we invented Foods which are tastier than the non-engineered natural choices. Some day, we will invent Foods which are also more healthy than the natural counterparts.
 

boris

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I remember Peat said something about coffee addiction in an interview. When he was hypothyroid, coffee was always the first thing he thought about when he woke up in the morning. When he started supplementing thyroid, that feeling in the morning vanished (coffee has thyroid-like effects). His conclusion was sometimes an "addiction" to a food can be because it is something you actually need.
 
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Ice Cream and Pizza is Junkfood, sorry. The truth is that we invented Foods which are tastier than the non-engineered natural choices. Some day, we will invent Foods which are also more healthy than the natural counterparts.

I hope you are not counting authentic made in Italy pizza?, the American pizza (often frozen) is a different matter, and is eaten far to often. The Italian's also get the ingredient ratios right, my 2c.

Also the fact that a lot of people can't control their portions is not the manufacturers fault.
 

Jessie

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My personal opinion I think the whole sugar "addiction" thing is mostly hogwash. I do think people can crave sugar, but when they do it's likely due to 1 or 2 thing. 1) they have a stress response, and the body intrinsically understands something sugary and salty can instantly break this stress response. 2) It is plausible to assume a bacterial overgrowth can cause food cravings, including sugar cravings. I believe that when someone new to fasting experiences intense hunger, it could be from the bacteria screaming for food. It's very well known that the gut and brain are connected. However this has little to nothing to do with sugar in and of itself. Besides, there's been research done showing bacteria in the gut is actually metabolically flexible, and can burn fat just as well as sugar. Paul Jaminet (perfect health diet) did some writings about this.
 

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