Why You Are Addicted to Sugar

Heroin. Cocaine. Cigarettes. Sugar? In 2002, scientists at Princeton University concluded that sugar is an addictive opiod. Although not all medical and health professionals agree of the conclusiveness of this research, increasing studies show that dramatic changes in the brain occur when rats consumed large quantities of sugar in irregular intervals.

So, you're not a lab rat. And you think you don't have a problem. But consider this: According to the American Diabetes Association (and the USDA), Americans consume 150 pounds of sugar every year. This is four times the recommended amount as established by the World health Organization, and could account for the dramatic rise in diabetes and obesity in this country.

The Princeton study used to examine sugar's effects on rats found that the rodents who were deprived of food for 12 hours, then given food and sugar water, went on a sugar bender! The rats showed signs of "opiod withdrawal" which correlates with the withdrawal symptoms of morphine and nicotine users.

This effect on the central nervous system is said to be similar to that of humans - who, at least in this country, tend to binge on Big Gulps and Sodas while neglecting nutrition in their "main" diet (can you say "and a large fries with that"?). The rise of high fructose corn syrup could be partially to blame for this epidemic, as it is hidden in foods that the too-busy-to-read populace chows down on without a second thought.

Because high fructose corn syrup is highly refined - stripped of all of its nutrients and processed in much the same way heroine is made - the body metabolizes it differently. The fake sugar appears to increase bad cholesterol in the liver which then travels in the bloodstream up to the heart and contributes to the increase in heart disease. It also impairs insulin levels, increases dangerous subcutaneous belly fat, imbalances your adrenal glands, taxes your nerves, and causes high blood pressure.

And you thought work was making you sick!

Think about your seemingly innocuous little soda habit. That soda contains about 40 grams of high fructose corn syrup - almost your entire daily allowance of sugar. And it's not even sugar you need!

Now, the American Diabetes Association recommends that people use aspartame instead. But this is just another form of the same evil. Aside from anecdotal claims of maladies arising from this drug-sugar, and the medical documents that link this and similar products to cancers and diseases, the real malevolence here is in the fact that the ADA receives large monetary contributions from Monsanto - aspartame's manufacturer.

The only solution to this problem is to be responsible for your own body. It is not up to the ADA or the USDA to coddle you and your dietary malaise; you are in control of what you consume and have the power to change it.

Instead of reaching for that soda or snickers bar and stressing out that stomach (and your entire system), drink water. Eat an apple. Novel, eh? But Americans do not consume enough of the good stuff - instead corrupting their body with a dose of one of the most potent and perhaps deadliest drugs - sugar. Too much of a good thing is too much period.