Sugar… the food addicts cocaine.

This may sound a little drastic, but according to a few magazines, books and websites I have found that sugar is the food addicts equivilent to cocaine! I can see the resemblance, white powder substances and I definately get a high from eating sugar… followed closely by a low!

But what scientific facts do we have that proves this? According to a study in 2003, sugar provides the same symptoms as a drug user – a desire for more, withdrawal symptoms and relapsing when clean. I’m not saying sugar is as dangerous as hard drugs, but the effects that it does have on our body can be very harmful.
“Recent behavioral tests in rats further back the idea of an overlap between sweets and drugs. Drug addiction often includes three steps. A person will increase his intake of the drug, experience withdrawal symptoms when access to the drug is cut off and then face an urge to relapse back into drug use. Rats on sugar have similar experiences. Researchers withheld food for 12 hours and then gave rats food plus sugar water. This created a cycle of binging where the animals increased their daily sugar intake until it doubled. When researchers either stopped the diet or administered an opioid blocker the rats showed signs common to drug withdrawal, such as teeth-chattering and the shakes. Early findings also indicate signs of relapse. Rats weaned off sugar repeatedly pressed a lever that previously dispensed the sweet solution.” (Leah Ariniello, Brain Briefings, October 2003)
Before you start to think i’m some sort of anti-sugar person, i’m not. I eat it just like the rest of you. I’m very interested in reading up on various diets, eating plans, exercise regimes. I guess you could say i’m a little obsessed but there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be healthy And there are plenty of reasons why sugar is evil. Pure evil. Diabeties, headaches and obesity are just a few of the side effects of gorging on the sweet stuff. I know first hand, i’m considered “clinically” obese.

Psycologically, I have always been told being fat is wrong. My sister is completely anti fat. I think she thinks were are hideous creatures who are too damn lazy to get off our asses and do something about it. If only it were that easy. My sister is a size 8. She has been supportive in my weight loss attempts but also a little insensitive at times. She once bought me diet pills for a christmas present, which in hindsight I guess she was only trying to help but I felt so low and as if I wasn’t losing weight fast enough for her. Sometimes I think I repulse her and I wish it wasn’t that way. On the other hand she once told me about a fantastic insult to get back at my bullies. Admittedly, it’s probably not the best way to deal with a bully but at the time and even now I think it’s a great phrase for all fat people to remember…

…Yes I’m fat, but I can diet… you can’t do anything about your face!