Treating Sugar Addiction Like Drug Abuse

[redlight]

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160407111828.htm

 

[Entropy]

Oh god.

 

[redlight]

Can you counter what is stated in the article?

 

[redlight]

A friend sent me the link.. I don't know enough on how to counter him figured others could chime in.

 

[Such_Saturation]

 

[sladerunner69]

I have an admission to make. I too, must confess, I consume large cuantities of the white and deeadly sweet stuff, and consider it full blow addiction. In fact, sometimes I will dose every hour or so throughout the day, in many different forms.

I am also considering the possibility I may also be deeply addicted to liquids (h20, namely), vitamins, sleeping, social interaction, big toothy grins and even gulping down every unattended glass of something at the bar after I have blown through all my mula for the week on rum.

Please help me.

 

[DrJ]

Well, drugs are one way people cope with stress, and a lot of research shows that drug addiction is driven by a response to stress. But sugar powerfully blunts the stress response so maybe I can see why sugar is being compared to drug addiction. It's just that sugar is so much better for you once you get your metabolism in line and are not taking a lot of PUFA or other fats in general.

I eat ridiculous amounts of sugar in gelatin gummies with not ill effects, and no weight gain. Plus feel awesome while doing it. I always find it amusing when people demonize sugar when the brain runs on glucose and the liver is better able to replenish glycogen stores with fructose. Such a poison! Oh my!

 

[Tenacity]

I feel like part of the confusion about sugar is a language problem. When the media writes 'sugar' it is usually solely referring to sucrose (which is not without drawbacks). When we write about 'sugar', we usually refer to glucose, sucrose, fructose, lactose and other sugars as a whole, and each one has its physiological niche. I see sucrose as a problem when it is added to foods that are already low in nutrients, or when it is consumed as a sole food (like most candy), and even then it is only an issue if the rest of the diet is not nutrient dense. But institutions and the media even demonise fruit juice, despite the fact that the sugars are chemically the same in a whole orange. When the public is better informed about each type of sugar, and of the physiological effects of each type of sugar, they can make better choices.

 

[stargazer1111]

Well, drugs are one way people cope with stress, and a lot of research shows that drug addiction is driven by a response to stress. But sugar powerfully blunts the stress response so maybe I can see why sugar is being compared to drug addiction. It's just that sugar is so much better for you once you get your metabolism in line and are not taking a lot of PUFA or other fats in general.

I eat ridiculous amounts of sugar in gelatin gummies with not ill effects, and no weight gain. Plus feel awesome while doing it. I always find it amusing when people demonize sugar when the brain runs on glucose and the liver is better able to replenish glycogen stores with fructose. Such a poison! Oh my!

Maybe drug addictions are really caused by a deficiency in sugar. I noticed after starting the Peat way of eating that I have zero interest in alcohol anymore and I am a former severe alcoholic.

Maybe these people are really craving sugar and just don't know it.

 

[Ahanu]

If we are addicted to sugar why then we dilute it with other stuff so much. We would just take the pure stuff like we prefer to do with cocain, heroin etz..

 

[xiaohua]

Just throwing this out there for discussion, not sure if my logic here is watertight:

If sugar addiction was really a thing, wouldn't addicts go for the purest, most concentrated source of the stuff, and just shove straight sugar cubes into their mouths? People don't generally do that, they go for foods and drinks that contain sugar instead, because they taste good and are satiating. Thoughts?

EDIT: Just realised Ahanu said basically the same thing above. D'oh!

 

[stargazer1111]

Even with pure white sucrose, my body tells me when to stop. I know there are individuals with genetic mutations that mess with their feedback systems so that they don't know when to stop. But, for most people, I think even white sugar will initiate the satiety signals in the brain once the insulin is high enough.

I can tell because the thought of sugar will nauseate me if I have had enough.

 

[Ella]

I have been doing high sugar and fruit for a long time now and it has served me well when dealing with the enormous stress I was under. I was addicted to it. Any demanding occasion (Christmas, my daughter's 21st) that required stamina, I would make sure I had a bottle of coke and my pregnenolone and I coped beautifully without crashing after.

I have made big changes to my lifestyle to remove as much of the stress triggering things in my life. I find that my body does not want sweet, sugar and fruit any longer where earlier I needed it to cope with all the demands placed on me. I still have my OJ but not every day, only if I feel I need a little boost. I have a little before meals to prevent endotoxins but not relying on it for energy.

It may be that my liver is better at storing glycogen - I don't know. I think sugar is a nice little tool to have in your tool box when the cells are starved of their energy supply and under stress levels. I think if you have liver and shellfish in the diet and lots of fruit and sugar then there should not be any issues. I found I needed to eat more liver and oysters on a high sugar/fruit diet. Also, even though I was having plenty milk my phosphate levels got too low. Peat says you can afford to have a higher phosphate level if you are eating lots of fructose.

 

[GutFeeling]

Meanwhile...

 

[DavidGardner]

The article is talking about using varenicline (Chantix) to treat sugar addiction. It is the drug for nicotine withdrawal and is a partial agonist at the nicotinic receptors. It indirectly increases dopamine, so it probably suppresses appetite the same way cigarettes do. The problem is they’re confusing sugar addiction with food addiction. Sugar is considered the culprit, but people who overeat tend to overeat everything, not just sugar.

You could also use amphetamine to treat “sugar addiction” because of its appetite suppressing effects. This used to be common, when women used “diet pills” to stay slim.

Varenicline will probably have a mild stimulant effect like cigarettes and thus increase metabolism also. People might find it easier to lose weight, but they will be running more on cortisol and adrenaline with fewer calories. I think most people here know enough of Peat’s work to understand what can happen then.