What if one of the most addictive drugs was one that you could buy at every store, theatre, event and it was even sold in hospitals and at schools? What if one of the most addictive drugs is so easy to obtain that even 2-year-olds are becoming addicted?
Can you guess what drug this may be? That’s right, it’s Sugar!
There have been many studies that show sugar is more addictive than cocaine. Even though people do not typically show the common withdrawal symptoms like cold sweats and vomiting from sugar, biochemical signs of withdrawal are noted in the brain. Not only that, people tend to experience headaches, fatigue, and cravings when they did not have immediate access to their sugary food “fix”.
Eating sugar releases an excess amount of a key brain neurotransmitter called Dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical that when released, creates a pleasurable feeling of being “high”. When the reward center in your brain is repeatedly triggered from the dopamine, you can get hooked on the sugar and sugary foods. Such compulsivity is problematic as people would rather consume sugar than be concerned with negative outcomes like weight gain, cancer, diabetes, headaches, skin conditions, etc.. As a matter of fact, eating too much sugar can actually be considered as substance abuse.