Bloxham
DLaina Bloxham
Inst: Nick Gorrell
ENGL 2010-016
Aug 4, 2016
Sugar an Addiction
Introduction
Are you addicted to sugar? To answer that let us look at what an addiction actually is.
According to Dr. Wideman and his colleagues they define addiction as a compulsive need for
use of a habit-forming substance (1). So, can sugar be considered a habit-forming substance?
The use of sugar has become so main-stream. It is used in the majority of our food and therefore
has become an epidemic, causing obesity and others risks. With the research that I conduct for
this paper I will argue that sugar is a habit-forming substance and we, Americans as a collective
whole, have become addicted to sugar.
Sugar Addiction
In a controlled study at John Carroll University Drs. Wideman, Nadzam, and Murphy,
took a group of rats to study the effects that sugar had on them. Some rats were used as control
and some they introduced glucose as a primary source of intake. They studied the behavior as
they introduced the sugar, took it away, and then reintroduced it. The behavior witnessed was
that the rats given the sugar ate sparingly the other healthy food that was offered with the
glucose. When the sugar was taken away the rats showed the irritable signs of withdrawal. The
rats would gnaw on the bars, try to bite the handlers, their bodies would shake, and their teeth
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would chatter. Although the rats showed withdrawal symptoms they didnt stop behaviors and
relapsed when glucose was reintroduced (Wideman, 31). They compared this to a human dieter
who relapses when sugary foods are readily available. If sugary foods are an addictive
substance then it is understandable how dieting for humans is so difficult to maintain
(Wideman, 31).
Another study compares the addictive qualities of sugar vs. cocaine. When rats are given
access to sugar and cocaine, a lot of the rats will actually prefer the sugar, suggesting that
theres an even stronger association with the sugar than with something as addictive as cocaine
illustrates Dr. Morton Kringelbach of Oxford University (Sugar). Also it has been scientifically
proven that drinking and smoking can be addictive but it is much more controversial to suggest
that sugar might have the same effect, (Sugar). The controversy stems from lobbyists working
with food companies to dissuade the evidence that sugar is addictive and cannot be the only
problem (Clemmett). Sugar isnt the only problem but it is one of the big ones.
In his study Dr. Kringelbach takes a look at how addictions work in the brain. He
maintains that we have pleasure zones in the brain which tells us that we want something and
transmits to another part of the brain that says that we like it as we satisfy that need. The more
we do the things that are addictive the want receptor keeps triggering that we need it but the
like receptor gets blocked and to satisfy the need we become addicted. Sugar just like alcohol,
nicotine and cocaine all react the same way in our brains (Sugar).
It is the pleasurable effects sugar gives our bodies that make us easier to become
addicted. When we take it away we experience withdrawals. When we start eating it again we
can backslide while increasing consumption. The addictive nature of sugar makes human
dieting problematic (Wideman, 33).
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According to another study done at California State University, Dr. Jeffrey Fortuna looks
at the obesity rates from 1959 and 2010. In 2010, 35.7% of adult Americans were obese with a
BMI of 30 or higher. In sharp contrast, only 4.8% of adults were obese in 1959. In addition to the
obese, another 34.2% are overweight. More generally, () as a country we have gone from only
as 13% of our population being overweight or obese in 1959 to 69.9% being overweight or obese
in 2010. This is more than a fivefold increase in the last fifty years (Fortuna, 2). Fortuna says
that with the introduction of fast-food restaurants, easily accessible foods that are high in sugar
and fat have contributed to the obesity epidemic (Fortuna).
Should Sugar Intake be Regulated
One of the biggest culprits of high sugar, high calorie foods that we consume are soft
drinks. A 12oz can of soda contains 44 grams of sugar. Four grams is equal to a teaspoon, which
means that there are 11 teaspoons in one can of soda (Fortuna). Soda is a staple at fast-food
restaurants and in schools, a lot of times in quantities of greater than 12ozs. Americans have
more than doubled their intake of sodas or sugary drinks (Sugar). Here is one of the
controversies in the United States; does the government have the authority to limit how many
ounces a public place can sell to one person? According to the CQ Researcher in the article
Sugar Controversies New York has done this exact thing. As of March 2013 New York passed a
law where restaurants are not able to serve any sugary drinks bigger than 16oz (Clemmitt). In
addition the Los Angeles school district, the second largest school district in the nation, has
stopped selling soda altogether in their schools. That means no vending machines in the hallways
or soda fountains in the cafeterias (USA Today).
In the documentary Sugar: Addicted to Pleasure Dr. Tony Goldstone, from the Imperial
College London, claims that high-calorie foods are all around us and therefore, were hard-
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wired to like these sugary foods. Theyre much more readily available. They are cheap. So we
consume them in ever increasing quantities (Sugar). Goldstone goes on to say that our bodies
are hard-wired to want the sugary foods to maintain our bodyweight. Every time we diet or try
to cut out those high-calorie, high sugary foods to lose weight or watch our health our bodies
are conspiring against us, sometimes not necessarily consciously, we may not even be aware of
it (Sugar).
One of the counter arguments to this controversy states that if the government restricts
businesses to serve greater than 16oz of soda then consumers will just find other ways to get
their fill of sugary drinks from other places, like purchasing larger amounts at the grocery store.
They are adamant that this is not a place that the government should meddle. They argue that the
American people should be able to choose what they can put in their own bodies. We are smart
enough to make our own decisions about what to eat and drink Liz Bowman of the New Yorkers
for Beverage Choices argues (Clemmitt, 4). But are we? The increasing obesity rates throughout
the country speak to a different story. According to USA Today, about a decade ago, teenagers
were already being monitored for their sugar consumption and they were already showing that
the overweight adolescents had doubled in the two decades prior to the article (USA Today). In
the decade since, it has tripled (Fortuna).
Another argument is that sugar cant be the only thing to blame (Clemmitt). This is true it
is not the only thing to blame for the unhealthy problem of obesity. It is only one portion of the
pie. As I look at both of these arguments I am of the opinion that we need to start somewhere.
Obesity is an epidemic and when there is an epidemic the government has an obligation to step
in and stop it. Sugar is not the only cause of obesity but it is a start. If sugar isnt as readily
available and healthier options are it might be a step in the right direction.
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Conclusion
There will always be those who think that sugar is not the problem. Lobbyists will be
there to fight for the food companies and until we decide for ourselves that we are stronger than
the sugar problem it wont get better. People will become even more obese or even worse health
ailments will become more and more common. Sugar is the easy way to eat but not the healthiest
and with huge willpower we can retrain our taste buds and overcome our hard-wired cravings if
we choose (Sugar).
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Works Cited
Clemmitt, Marcia. "Sugar Controversies." CQ Researcher 30 Nov. 2012: 1013-36. Web. 26 Jul.
2016.
Fortuna, Jeffrey L. "The Obesity Epidemic And Food Addiction: Clinical Similarities To Drug
Dependence." Journal Of Psychoactive Drugs 44.1 (2012): 56-63. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 28 Jul. 2016.
N.A. "Give Soda Machines The Can." USA Today (n.d.): Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Aug.
2016.
Sugar: Addicted to Pleasure. Films On Demand. Films Media Group, 2012. Web. 26 Jul. 2016.
<http://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=102595&xtid=57412>.
Wideman, C. H., G. R. Nadzam, and H. M. Murphy. "Implications Of An Animal Model Of
Sugar
Addiction,
Withdrawal
And
Relapse
For
Human
Health." Nutritional
Neuroscience 8.5/6 (2005): 269-276.Academic Search Premier. Web. 28 Jul. 2016.
