Recent study sugar addiction comparable in effect as a drug addiction

Sugar addiction is similar in magnitude to drug addiction, including withdrawal symptoms
Many people like to eat sweet food and use a lot of sugar. It is not uncommon for people to be addicted to sugar. Scientists now declare that sugar addiction should be treated similarly to drug addiction.

When people are addicted to sugar, they develop health problems and gain weight. Often sufferers are only laughed at and their disease is played down. Scientists from Australia's Queensland University (QUT) have now found in an investigation that a sugar addiction is quite comparable to a drug addiction. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal "PLOS ONE".

People who are addicted to sugar, can experience withdrawal symptoms, a sugar addiction is similar to other drug addictions. (Image: krmk / fotolia.com)

Medicines for nicotine addiction could also help with sugar addiction
The Australian scientists found in their study that sugar addiction should be treated like drug addiction. Medicines that are commonly used to treat nicotine addiction could be used to treat the addiction to sugar, the researchers explain. The physicians at Queensland University compared the effect of sugar with the effects of cocaine. As with other drugs, withdrawal may lead to an imbalance in dopamine levels. As a result, sufferers could even suffer from withdrawal symptoms. Drugs that are normally used in nicotine addiction may be used to treat sugar in animals, explains Professor Selena Bartlett of QUT.

Sugar affects the reward and pleasure center in our brain
The latest figures from the World Health Organization showed that about 1.9 billion people worldwide are overweight and about 600 million people suffer from obesity. Extreme sugar consumption contributes to rapid weight gain. In addition, the level of dopamine is raised again and again. This affects the reward and pleasure center in our brain, much like many drugs do, such as tobacco, cocaine and morphine, says Prof. Bartlett. Long-term consumption leads to an opposite effect, a reduction in dopamine levels. Thus, sufferers must consume more and more sugar in order to receive the same degree of reward. In animals, we also found that not only did they gain weight faster as the animals maintained their increased sugar intake until adulthood, it also had neurological and psychiatric consequences that affected the mood and motivation of the animals, explains Prof. Bartlett.

Sweetener produces similar effects as sugar
Interestingly, our study also found that artificial sweeteners such as saccharin can produce similar effects to normal table sugar, say the experts. As with other drugs, withdrawal from chronic sucrose exposure may lead to an imbalance in dopamine levels, which is quite similar to a cold withdrawal. Further studies are needed, but our findings suggest that nicotine-seeking drugs could be a novel treatment strategy to fight the worldwide obesity epidemic, the doctors add. (As)