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Is Sugar as Addictive as Cocaine?
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Jun 25, 2025
Tune in to "Reluctant Low Carb Life" with Anita, where we explore the fascinating connections between cocaine addiction and sugar addiction. These findings emphasize the importance of closely examining our diets and being mindful of hidden sugars in our foods. Sugar’s addictive properties, coupled with its widespread presence in ultra-processed foods, make it a significant challenge for those trying to maintain a healthy diet. Understanding the impact of sugar and making conscious choices about what we eat are crucial steps toward achieving better health and well-being. Read more about Cocaine Addiction And Sugar Addiction Explored by clicking here (https://reluctantlowcarblife.com/cocaine-addiction-and-sugar-addiction-explored/) . #ReluctantLowCarbLife #SugarAddiction #HealthyEating #DietAwareness #MindfulEating #WellnessJourney #HealthAndWellbeing #NutritionFacts Support the show (https://www.buzzsprout.com/2029615/support)
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0:00
[Music]
0:07
hi this is Anita from reluctant low carb
0:10
life I have some bad news for you and it
0:14
really is quite bad news especially if
0:16
you have a sweet tooth the bad news is
0:19
is that
0:20
sugar has been known to be as addictive
0:23
as cocaine let me repeat that again
0:26
sugar has been known to be as addictive
0:30
as
0:31
cocaine recent Studies have highlighted
0:35
the highly addictive nature of sugar
0:37
explaining why many people find so
0:40
difficult to overcome a sugar addiction
0:43
I find that this is fascinating because
0:44
anyone who you know struggles with sugar
0:47
addiction understands that you know
0:48
sugar addiction can be a really real
0:51
thing and it can be something that can
0:54
pull you and and suck you in and that
0:56
recently have found that sugar addiction
1:00
you know and cocaine addiction are very
1:02
similar in many ways let me kind of
1:05
explain a little bit more there was a
1:08
study that was made that Drew a parallel
1:11
between sugar and cocaine and how they
1:14
impact the brain when mice were exposed
1:16
to both substances there was a notable
1:19
activity in the brain region that
1:21
typically responded to rewards
1:23
interestingly the patterns of activation
1:25
for sugar and cocaine were strikingly
1:28
similar so this is interesting
1:29
interesting so you could see that
1:30
already from the very beginning
1:33
basically the mice that their their
1:35
brains would light up the same way when
1:37
they were when they had cocaine and when
1:39
they had sugar they both lit up the same
1:43
way in the recent study was shown by
1:45
group of scientists in France that rats
1:48
were given choice between cocaine and
1:49
sugar preferred sugar that is where the
1:52
bad news comes in because the rats when
1:55
they were given a choice between having
1:57
cocaine or having sugar began to prefer
2:01
sugar over the
2:03
cocaine here's what it said rats given a
2:06
choice between highly sweetened water
2:09
and intravenous Co cocaine
2:12
overwhelmingly favored the
2:14
tasty
2:16
beverage their preferences were just as
2:20
intense whether the drink was sweetened
2:23
with saccharine or sugar the bigger
2:26
surprise with the preferences in the
2:28
experiment that the rats that were
2:30
already experienced cocaine users they
2:33
had learned to self-administer cocaine
2:35
still opted for sweetened work sh water
2:38
over the drug so in other words even if
2:40
these you know these rats are already
2:42
cocaine addicts they've already learned
2:43
how to you know administer themselves
2:46
cocaine and they already considered to
2:48
be addicted on cocaine when they had
2:52
placed before them sugar and cocaine
2:55
they began to prefer the sugar over the
2:58
cocaine this shows how highly addictive
3:01
sugar is and how sugar can truly be
3:06
something which can be quite difficult
3:08
to overcome you there's several
3:11
Advocates out there and there's several
3:13
ways that people advocate for this type
3:15
of sugar addiction and maybe I could
3:18
talk a little bit about some of them one
3:20
way is there's a group of people out
3:22
there and I I know several of them and
3:24
I've listened to many of their things is
3:26
basically all about you know that we
3:28
should you know B basically that people
3:30
should totally give up all sugar out of
3:33
their life every single bit of sugar
3:35
they should give up out of their
3:37
life that I think is really hard and
3:40
unrealistic in the world we live in
3:43
today you know because sugar is so much
3:45
a part of us who we are socially and
3:49
other things like that and I really do
3:50
take my hands off to these people who
3:52
won't touch any ounce of sugar haven't
3:55
touched any ounce of sugar for such a
3:56
long time I you know very very brave
3:59
soul in in my book that's not the way I
4:02
sort of advocate that because I feel
4:04
like that's kind of a little bit too
4:07
harsh for most people to be able to live
4:09
on longterm yes there are people out
4:12
there who are really able to do it for a
4:15
long-term period of time most people I
4:18
know may do it for a certain amount of
4:19
time and then they go back to somehow
4:22
eating sugar
4:23
again my Approach instead is one of
4:26
balance I am a great believer in balance
4:30
balance in all things whether it's
4:32
balance in your food balance in your
4:33
life and balance in your sugar intake
4:36
but the only way that this balance
4:38
approach works if if you follow the
4:42
trifecta of Health that I've been
4:44
talking about with reluctant low carb
4:45
life and I've you know drilled on to
4:47
many times here in these podcasts
4:49
basically eating Fresh Foods because if
4:51
you eat Fresh Foods if you you know even
4:54
if you're going to have cookies you're
4:55
going to bake your own you know how much
4:56
Sugar's in there when you eat Alti
4:59
processed food you eat packaged Foods
5:01
you really have no idea how much sugar
5:03
is in there and one of the truths is
5:05
with ultied Foods is that they will put
5:09
a lot of sugar in the food sugar and
5:11
salt why because those two things are
5:13
highly addictive and that's really what
5:16
is shown in this study with these rats
5:18
and that is exactly what the Alti
5:21
processed food companies know and
5:23
understand they understand that they can
5:27
get you addicted to sugar
5:30
you know they may not be able to get to
5:32
you know addicted to the food that
5:34
they're making but they can get to
5:35
addicted to the sugar and the salt in
5:38
the food because that becomes sort of
5:40
like the addicted substance and
5:42
consequently that's why you'll eat their
5:45
food or their prepackaged food so if
5:50
you're going to take the second approach
5:53
then you need to really understand what
5:55
you're eating how much sugar you're
5:57
eating most Americans and most people in
6:00
other developed nations are eating three
6:02
or four times per day the amount of
6:04
sugar that's recommended for them and
6:07
the reason is not because they're just
6:09
chewing down sugar or they're putting
6:12
you know sugar in their coffee they're
6:13
putting sugar in their drinks that is
6:15
not the reason at all the reason is
6:17
because the sugar is so high and all the
6:20
Alti processed foods so if you want to
6:23
really cut sugar out of your life one
6:25
thing you can do now is by eating fresh
6:28
food by starting to eat fresh as you eat
6:31
fresh the sugar then will start to go
6:34
away because of the fact that you just
6:36
won't have it in the prepackaged
6:38
Foods so that's why I'm an advocate and
6:41
a belief for for that but getting back
6:44
now to the cocaine and sugar you know
6:47
sugar has become a ingredients in food
6:49
and drinks that we consume you know
6:52
sugar is you know as I was saying before
6:54
is part of all of our diets it prorates
6:56
all of our all of our different um diets
6:59
you know from morning cereals to
7:01
flavored yogurt to evening desserts you
7:03
know those all have sugars sugars in
7:05
them that's what's really so interesting
7:07
like you know all these flavored yogurts
7:09
or people think that they're healthy
7:11
because they've got flavors in them
7:13
actually are not because they've got a
7:14
lot of sugar in them you know so there
7:17
again if you're looking to eat fresh get
7:19
yourself a you know plain yogurt and put
7:22
some fresh fruit in it that is far
7:25
better than getting a flavored yogurt
7:27
and you know you know you know get
7:28
yourself a flavor you know getting your
7:30
sweet and flavored yogurt which
7:32
basically is like a
7:35
dessert sugar has a lot of consequences
7:37
in it you particularly recent Studies
7:39
have shown Sugar's effect on the brain
7:41
could be um compared to cocaine you know
7:45
the brain's reward system is the heart
7:47
of the sugar Co cocaine connection an
7:50
intricate Network that includes you
7:53
includes all these different areas of
7:54
our brain and this system you know you
7:57
know has to motivate us and motivate our
8:00
behaviors you know crucial for our
8:01
survival of seeking food or for things
8:04
like seeking a mate that's all sort of
8:06
up there in our brain so when we consume
8:08
something pleasurable these transmitters
8:11
or the dopamine is released giving a
8:13
sense of satisfaction and pleasure so
8:15
sugar essentially gives us the dopamine
8:19
H you know hit that's why you know you
8:21
hear people jokingly say stuff like oh
8:24
I'm so angry I have to eat a chocolate
8:26
bar why because they eat the chocolate
8:28
bar the chocolate bar gives them this
8:29
sort of dopamine this pleasure and sort
8:32
of like this this hit for for a while
8:35
until it comes crashing down and then if
8:37
they need it again they have to eat
8:38
another chocolate bar another chocolate
8:40
bar to keep that sort of like hit going
8:42
that becomes where it becomes like a
8:44
sugar addiction that's essentially what
8:46
these mice are doing these mice are you
8:49
know eating the sugary water and they
8:50
get sort of this dopamine hit and then
8:53
they want the hit again so they go back
8:54
again for more sugary water and keep
8:56
going back again for so some more sugary
8:58
water they are very similar to us as
9:01
human beings and that's what makes us so
9:03
frightening and so scary that we as a a
9:08
country or
9:10
individuals are essentially this way
9:12
that we basically are wired in such a
9:15
way to be able to want to get this
9:17
dopamine or this hit or this pleasure
9:20
hit in our food and in our eating and
9:22
that's also what the fast food companies
9:26
and the ultied food companies also
9:28
understand they're extremely aware of
9:30
this psychology and you can bet that
9:33
they have done their research on all
9:35
this they know about this research about
9:37
the rats you know preferring sugar over
9:40
cocaine and they know that if they can
9:41
just put a little bit more sugar in your
9:44
food you're going to become a little bit
9:46
more addicted to it and you'll eat more
9:48
of it and because you're eating more of
9:50
it they will make more profits now who
9:54
loses in all of this you do you've just
9:57
lost shoot food companies
10:01
gained your brains probably gained some
10:03
dopamine but you have lost your health
10:06
that's basically what they're saying is
10:08
that you know certain substances like
10:11
addictive drugs like cocaine can hijack
10:13
this reward system and sugar is one of
10:17
the things that can hijack this reward
10:19
system and it can give us a dopamine and
10:22
you know that's much higher than a
10:24
natural reward leading to increased
10:26
cravings and addiction you know that
10:28
that's why maybe when you go to a you go
10:30
out driving and you're not planning to
10:32
stop anywhere you're not planning to get
10:34
any you know ice cream or anything and
10:36
suddenly you stop and you get it and
10:38
you're like why did I do that you know
10:41
this is like I I grew up in Wisconsin
10:44
and Wisconsin's really famous for um
10:46
Frozen Custard you know there's several
10:48
places there there's a place called cops
10:50
and there's a place called cover that
10:52
have these you these Frozen um you know
10:54
custard stands and what they do every
10:57
day is you drive past and they Flash
10:59
their what their flavor of the day is
11:01
and they'll send you text messages to
11:03
tell you what the flavor of the day is
11:05
and they will you know you can look up
11:07
the flavor of the day and then you know
11:08
for a place like cops a lot of times
11:10
people stand in line and they wait for
11:12
their favorite flavor of the day or
11:14
covers you drive through and you get
11:16
your flavor of the day you know that's
11:17
all sort of like you know reward system
11:19
there you know like you know you're
11:20
going out maybe shopping or doing
11:22
something else and you're not planning
11:24
on buying the ice cream but suddenly you
11:28
and this has happened to me many times I
11:30
drive past I'm like oh my goodness
11:32
they've got my peacon caramel blah blah
11:34
blah blah I just have to have that and
11:36
suddenly before I know it the car is
11:38
turning around I'm going through their
11:40
drive-thru and I'm getting their waffle
11:43
cone with their with the flavor of the
11:46
day on it that is sort of that dopamine
11:49
that Reward Center type of response
11:52
where you know we we sometimes as human
11:55
beings can be wired for that that is
11:57
sort of like the form of addiction
11:59
so you know is is a solution not to eat
12:02
any of it maybe or is a solution maybe
12:04
to eat a little bit of it and you know
12:07
and and you know sort of like you know
12:09
but then eat other fresh things and eat
12:12
well other ways and so you're not eating
12:15
so much sugar every
12:16
day I think that's something that each
12:19
individual need to decide I'm not a
12:20
psychiatrist I am not a dietitian I am
12:24
just as I've mentioned here many times I
12:25
am just a human being for me personally
12:28
I think we need to be able to find a
12:29
balance in life and sometimes yes we as
12:32
human beings are going to fail sometimes
12:34
that sign is going to flash of what the
12:36
flavor of the day is and I'm going to be
12:38
able to drive right past it and if if
12:41
you know nine out of 10 times I can
12:42
drive past it and if one time I stop in
12:46
that's probably okay you know but if I
12:48
stop in nine times and only drive past
12:50
it one time then maybe there's a problem
12:53
there so you really have to be able to
12:55
weigh it yourself but we have to be able
12:57
to still live this Balanced Life
12:59
but if you can understand the fact that
13:02
how sugar is working in your brain and
13:04
in your system and in this research with
13:06
these rats that basically preferred
13:09
sugar over cocaine it does give you a
13:12
whole new insight into the dangers of
13:15
sugar and why we can each try to
13:18
eliminate sugar in our life as much as
13:21
possible this is really was quite a
13:23
ground baking study and it you know it
13:25
points to this overlap in how our brains
13:28
processing substances so what does this
13:31
really mean for us you know what does
13:32
this really mean for us as
13:34
individuals sugar can have addictive
13:37
properties not to slima to cocaine
13:39
that's probably the first thing that you
13:41
need to understand is that Sugar can be
13:44
addictive and even though sugar of
13:47
course is less extreme than cocaine
13:50
addiction nobody should be addicted on
13:52
cocaine nobody wants to be addicted on
13:55
cocaine I have not I have never taken
13:57
drugs but can imagine those people that
14:00
struggle with these type of drug abuse
14:03
it is a very hard and difficult thing
14:05
and a downward spiral that can you know
14:08
ruin lives and ruin families and uh
14:10
destroy individuals so nobody nobody you
14:13
know I'm not saying you know be addicted
14:15
on cocaine versus sugar no that's not
14:17
what I'm saying here what I am saying is
14:19
to understand the effects that Sugar can
14:21
have you know on you that the that the
14:25
mechanisms the basic mechanisms of
14:27
addiction between sugar and cocaine can
14:30
be very much the same and those basic
14:33
mechanisms are the craving the
14:35
consumption the reward you know so if
14:38
you can understand those those things
14:40
the craving that you know you're going
14:42
to have some Cravings of sugar and if
14:43
you can find a way to get rid of those
14:45
cravings and say maybe instead of eating
14:48
this ice cream I'm going to walk around
14:49
the block ones and then see if I really
14:51
want that ice cream after that you know
14:53
if you could find some way to deal with
14:55
your cravings and then your consumption
14:58
and then you know or find find other
14:59
ways to reward yourself maybe you know
15:01
maybe just by walking around the block
15:03
getting some fresh air that could be the
15:05
reward and you start feeling better and
15:07
you feel you know better about yourself
15:09
you're like oh I don't need it after all
15:12
you know this can also explain the
15:13
phenomenal of the Sugar Rush or
15:15
consequent the sugar crash you know if
15:17
you understand what it's doing on your
15:19
brain then you can understand both the
15:20
Sugar Rush and the sugar crash and how
15:23
you know these two interplay with each
15:24
other that when you you know you eat the
15:26
sugar you first of all you feel good you
15:28
get this rush you get this dopamine rush
15:31
and then all a sudden you get this crash
15:33
where you just crash right down and if
15:36
you can understand what's exactly
15:37
happening you see that with children you
15:40
know when it comes like with um
15:41
Halloween candy you know they eat and
15:43
eat and eat all this candy and then
15:45
maybe all of a sudden before you know it
15:47
the kids throwing a tantrum and crying
15:48
and the sugar crashes come right down
15:50
yeah that's how like the sugar can give
15:52
you the surge of energy that's almost is
15:54
a Euphoria and then you can follow by
15:57
you can be feeling a bit Le argic and
16:00
you know have a cravings for more sugar
16:03
you know so all of this can be happening
16:05
to you too you know at the same time so
16:07
you can start understanding that and if
16:09
you can just understand what's going on
16:11
with your body and your system then it
16:13
can help you to be able to deal with
16:14
this even better with these different
16:16
highs and lows if you can see that um
16:19
understand what you're experiencing and
16:20
find a way to be able to deal with
16:24
it you know like I mentioned before I've
16:26
never been addicted to drugs or alcohol
16:28
but I've known people who have and I've
16:31
seen firsthand the immense struggle they
16:34
face to remove these addictive
16:35
substances from their life however I do
16:38
know that I do struggle with sugar
16:40
addiction so I have some understanding
16:42
of what it means to be addicted to a
16:44
substance that's why I find this
16:46
research on sugar and cocaine so
16:48
compelling in my life and I believe you
16:51
know because unlike if you're you know
16:53
addicted to alcohol or if you're
16:55
addicted to you know to cocaine or other
16:58
things you of course say abstinence
16:59
abstinence abstinence sugar is kind of
17:02
you know food and it's in a lot of the
17:03
foods that we eat that's why I really
17:05
believe very much in a Balan approach if
17:08
you can find a way to start getting
17:09
sugar out of your life and out of your
17:11
taste buds then I find that when you do
17:14
that your entire taste buds and your
17:16
reward systems begin to change and as
17:19
they begin to change you don't crave it
17:20
quite as much sugar I believe is one of
17:23
those Cravings that is fed with the more
17:25
you eat it the more you crave it and it
17:27
becomes like this cyc or like this
17:29
hamster wheel you get on where you keep
17:32
going around and around and around and
17:36
around so you know it's not that
17:38
everyone who has enjoy a a sweet tooth
17:40
or has a sweet tooth is necessarily on
17:43
the path to addiction and that's not
17:45
what I'm saying here is that not
17:47
everyone who has a sweet tooth is
17:48
necessarily on the path to addiction
17:50
instead it serves as a reminder of the
17:52
power of our brain's reward system and
17:55
the importance of understanding the
17:57
substances we introduce to our body so
17:59
in other words this is more about
18:01
understanding all the reward systems
18:03
what um substances we introduce into our
18:05
bodies and then um and the links between
18:08
sugar and various health concerns such
18:10
as obesity diabetes and heart disease
18:14
are well document so as we begin to
18:16
learn more about its potentially
18:18
addictive properties and its impact on
18:21
our brains it might be time to
18:22
reevaluate our relationship with sugar
18:24
so as we begin to sort of like
18:26
re-evaluate our relationship with sugar
18:27
we can find that it's going to be you
18:29
know more you know it's you know if we
18:32
can start to be able to see that and
18:34
understand that it can help us to really
18:37
re-evaluate sugar and why you know why
18:40
we are kind of this way with sugar you
18:43
know may also be time to examine our
18:45
Foods mainly processed foods or Alti
18:48
processed foods if you can just start
18:51
evaluating your Alti processed foods
18:54
that you're eating and to find the
18:56
hidden sugars and start eliminating
18:58
those in your Di diet then you would
18:59
have already gone a long way to be able
19:02
to getting over your sugar addiction and
19:04
that right there will cut out a lot of
19:06
sugar in your life if you just eat the
19:09
way that we've been saying to eat which
19:10
is eat fresh eat foods that help you
19:13
feel full and to do Fitness a trifect of
19:16
Health which we have been talking
19:18
about that's why we believe very much so
19:21
in this balance approach to eating you
19:23
know one way to get over sugar addiction
19:25
is to start you know instead of eating a
19:27
doughnut eat some fresh fruit have an
19:30
apple with some uh peanut butter on it
19:34
you know eat a strawberry even make
19:36
yourself a you know I I sometimes really
19:39
enjoy making myself a smoothie which has
19:41
some almond milk in it has some yogurt
19:43
in it strawberries and some fruits and
19:45
and you know make it kind of thick and
19:47
that sort of can help me satisfy a
19:49
little bit of the sweet tooth that I
19:50
might be feeling or the sweet urge that
19:53
I might have so you know that actually
19:55
is really if you use Greek yogurt and
19:56
use almond milk and um some berri's got
19:59
a pretty high satiety rating to it too
20:01
so you're going to feel full longer than
20:03
if you go for that ice cream bar or if
20:06
you go for the you know the chocolate
20:08
bar that's going to help you feel full
20:10
longer so find some way in your life to
20:13
be able to deal with these cravings and
20:15
to understand that these are real and I
20:18
think that's one of the main things why
20:19
I found this study so interesting is for
20:23
you to for us to really understand how
20:25
real these sugar Cravings are that when
20:29
you know you you feel something you feel
20:31
that craving it's real it's you know and
20:34
then understand that it's real and find
20:36
a way to be able to overcome it and find
20:39
a way to substitute for it or find
20:41
something that you enjoy something that
20:44
like like I said for me you know it's
20:45
that smoothie I like that you know fruit
20:47
smoothie it makes me feel satisfied you
20:50
can put a little bit of vanilla in it
20:52
and if you really want to have a little
20:53
bit of more sweetener there's a great um
20:55
sugar that I've used quite a bit it's
20:57
called monk fruit sugar suar which
20:59
doesn't raise your you know your blood
21:01
sugar level like some of the other
21:03
sugars you can put a little bit of that
21:04
in and you can make yourself sort of the
21:06
sweet treat and if you can find you know
21:09
be satisfied by that then you'll be far
21:11
healthier and far better off than by
21:14
reaching for some kind of ulti processed
21:16
food or some junk food throughout the
21:18
process I'm going to leave a link in our
21:21
description for cocaine addiction and
21:23
sugar addiction explored so that if
21:25
you'd like to be able to read more and
21:26
understand more about cocaine and sugar
21:29
addiction you can go on there and you
21:31
can read more about this and maybe get
21:32
some more ideas for you and for your for
21:35
your own life if we can um just learn to
21:38
recognize these parallels between these
21:40
two I think that's really the first
21:42
start in all of this this is Anita from
21:44
reluctant low carb life thank you so
21:46
much for listening we really do
21:47
appreciate you our listeners
21:50
[Music]
#Food & Drink
#Nutrition
#Special & Restricted Diets