Written By: Pavitra Sampath | Published : September 10, 2015 5:43 PM IST
I make it sound like a drug, don't I? Well, sugar could very well be drug. Not only is it about as addictive as cocaine or heroin, when you give it up you do go through withdrawal. Wondering if I'm high on some other drug? No, here's why you can't quit sugar.
How your brain reacts to sugar?
All our brains have what is known as the reward pathway. Sugar acts in the same way as other drugs and makes you dependent on it.
It does so by affecting your brain's reward centre. Your reward centre has a very simple way of working. When you do something that you are to be rewarded for, like eating sugar, a bundle of neurons in your brain (called the vetral tegmental area) uses dopamine (a neurotransmitter) to tell a part of your brain called nucleus accumbens that you have eaten something good. You may also like to read about these 9 food items that can make or break your health.
The nucleus accumbens then triggers your prefrontal cortex (the front part of your brain that also helps with movement) that then activates certain hormones. These hormones tell your brain that the food you have eaten is great and that it should remember this food.
What sugar does to your brain
All of this makes your brain almost immune to sugar and therefore you will now need more sugar to activate the reward pathways. In short, it makes your brain so used to this dopamine release (which makes you happy, makes you feel satisfied and gives you energy) that it keeps craving more to achieve the same sugar rush it got the first time you ate it. Just like drugs. You may like to read 9 things excess sugar does to your body.
Why you can't quit sugar
Sugar has the same effect on you that drugs have. Sugar withdrawal is real. Studies suggest that sugar withdrawal is as tough as giving up a drug habit and often needs a lot of will power (thanks to how your brain tricks you into eating sugar). Eventually the need to eat sugar will decrease.
During withdrawal studies [7] have found people to be more impulsive, depressed, irritable and even lacking in energy. You may also like to read 9 ways to beat sugar cravings.
Want to quit sugar? Here are 9 foods you can substitute it with.
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References:
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[7] Mangabeira V, Garcia-Mijares M, Silva MT. Sugar withdrawal and differential reinforcement of low rate (DRL) performance in rats. Physiol Behav. 2015 Feb;139:468-73. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2014.09.017. Epub 2014 Dec 5. PubMed PMID: 25484352.
