Eating Sugar

Sugar is one of the most addictive foods we can put into our bodies. In animals, it is actually more addictive than even cocaine, so sugar is pretty much probably the most consumed addictive substance around the world and it is wreaking havoc on our health,” cardiovascular researcher, James DiNicolantonio, a coauthor of the study, told the Guardian.
Research carried out by Nicole Avena, a behavioral neuroscientist, has gone a long way to proving that sugar affects certain chemicals in the brain (opioids and dopamine) in the same way that other addictive substances do. In short, her research suggests that a diet high in sugar results in cravings, withdrawal and bingeing - the classic symptoms of addiction.



Yes - not only do we get addicted to the neurotransmitters that are released by the consumption of sugar, which is a reaction very similar to the "high" of a drug addict, consuming sugar also causes our blood sugar levels to rise quickly and then plummet back down just as fast, resulting in a craving for more sugar.
In addition to promoting weight gain, sugar has been linked with a number of other health conditions, including fatty liver disease; TED insulin resistance - and the accompanying increased risk of metabolic syndrome and diabetes; cancer; and tooth decay.

We're all hard-wired to like foods that are sweet, but we want to make sure those foods are items that have natural sweetness (as opposed to added sugars) AND decent nutritional content such as fresh fruits, dried fruits, and some of the sweeter vegetables including carrots and beets.
The ingredients used to create Fruit Mentos are sugar, wheat glucose syrup, hydrogenated coconut oil, citric acid, rice starch, gum arabic, gellan gum, sucrose esters of fatty acids, natural and artificial flavors; carmine, paprika oleoresin, beta-carotene and beetroot red as colors; and carnauba wax and beeswax, as glazing agents.

And yet another effect of sugar that will interfere with your weight loss goals is its impact on blood sugar Straight sugar is immediately absorbed into your bloodstream, causing an immediate rush of energy — a " sugar high" Your blood sugar quickly drops, which can lead to a craving for more sugar.
Rats fed daily intermittent sugar and chow escalate their sugar intake and increase their intake during the first hour of daily access, which we define as a binge” ( Colantuoni et al., 2001 ). The animals with ad libitum access to a sugar solution tend to drink it throughout the day, including their inactive period.