Sugar addiction ‘should be treated as a form of drug abuse’

Withdrawal from chronic sugar consumption would be similar to going ‘cold turkey’ from drugs, say Australian scientists

Chronic exposure to sucrose can cause eating disorders and change the behaviour of individuals FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI/AFP/Getty Images

It is widely thought to affect the brain in a similar way to cocaine, and now a new study has suggested people addicted to sugar should be treated in the same way as other drug abusers.

According to researchers from Queensland University ofTechnology (QUT), excessive sugar consumption increases the dopamine levels in a similar way to other drugs such as cocaine.

The study found that long-term consumption of sugar will eventually cause a reduction in dopamine levels. That means, they say, people need to consume higher and higher levels of sugar in order;to reach the same reward levels and avoid mild states of depression.

The researchers also found in a separate study that chronic exposure to sucrose can cause eating disorders and change the behaviour of individuals.

Professor Selena Bartlett, a neuroscientist from the university’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, says the research indicates that drugs used to treat nicotine addiction could be used to treat addiction to sugar.

•  “Excess sugar consumption has been proven to contribute directly to weight gain,” she said. It has also been shown to repeatedly elevate dopamine levels which control the brain’s reward and pleas pleasure centers in a way that is similar to many drugs of abuse including tobacco, cocaine
• cocaine and morphine.

“We have also found that as well as an increased risk of weight gain, animals that maintain high sugar consumption and binge eating into adulthood may also face neurological and psychiatric consequences affecting mood and motivation.”

The amounts of sugar in food and drink

Professor Bartlett added: “Our study found that Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drugs like varenicline, a prescription medication trading as Champix which treats nicotine addiction, can work the same way when it comes to sugar cravings.”

“Like other drugs of abuse, withdrawal from chronic sucrose exposure can result in an imbalance in dopamine levels and be as difficult as going ‘cold turkey’ from them.”

The findings are at odds to previous research such as a 2014 Edinburgh University study which stated sugar addiction was not a biochemical dependency but a psychological one similar to gambling.

Scientists, writing in the Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, said they could find no evidence that people could become addicted to substances in foods.

Dr John Menzies, research fellow in Edinburgh University’s centre for integrative physiology, told the BBC: “People try to find rational explanations for being over-weight and it is easy to blame food.

“More avenues for treatment may open up if we think about this condition as a behavioural addiction rather than a substance-based addiction.”

However, in 2015, Dr James DiNicolantonio published a review into the dangers of sugar, telling told Here & Now: “When you look at animal studies comparing sugar to cocaine, even when you get the rats hooked on IV cocaine, once you introduce sugar, almost all of them switch to the sugar.”

       FOODS WHICH CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE

 Dr. Larry Sosna N.D. PhD HHP

When we look at the delicious fruits below must be with the understanding that they contain life saving antioxidants. Remember when your parents used to say “An apple a day will keep the doctor away.” The reason behind such wisdom is they contained centuries of applied truth to them.

Apples contain an almost perfect set of natural organic biochemistry leading to excellent health. Here are a few other foods which give life sustaining benefits to us all. Taken together these stellar 6 foods will have an anti-aging effect and lead to perfected states of good health.

WILD MEDICAL GRADE OREGANO 

Reduces bacterial and viral activity in the body significantly within 15 minutes of use, according to the Pasture Institute in France. Wild Medical Grade Oregano can only be found in abundance in the Mediterranean part of Turkey. All the other countries that onced had this high quality Wild Oregano…picked the plants to extinction centuries ago.

The old wise Medicine men and women in the cultures of Italy, Greece and Turkey realized thousands of years ago, that of all the plants, only the Wild Oregano plants leafs never blighted or became dried shrivelled up remnants….They always stayed a rich beautiful green leaf which led the medical thinkers thousands of years ago to conclude… rightly so, the substance inside the Wild Oregano leafs must be able to fight off everything in nature that kills all the other green leaves from all other plants. In ancient times the Emperors of China paid more for Wild Medical Grade Oregano oil per ounce, then for an ounce of gold.

Medical Grade, Wild Oregano oil has 29 broad spectrum antivirals, over 300 anti-bacterials…even stronger then Vancomycin yet very compatible with the friendly immune enhancing bacteria of the gut. How you say? Because, our human ancestors ate Wild Oregano millions of years ago to make food taste better, long before fire and cooking food became available. Thus, over such a long period of time, humans developed a synergistic relationship with Wild Oregano due to evolution. We simply evolved, over vast periods of time to have Wild Medical Grade Oregano become a life saving medicine with virtually no bad side effects for human beings. It is also anti-fungal, anti-parasitic, and is over 100 times stronger an anti-inflammatory agent than cortisone or prednisone both of which can have lethal side effects if taken for too many years.

CLOVES

Cloves are very rich in a naturally occurring substance called Eugenol. Eugenol has been proven to fight against the horrific effects of thousands of environmental poisons. It also is excellent at reducing inflammation. Many research studies show cloves highly concentrated into a liquid or oil can kill cancer of the colon type cells. it triggers a natural programmed death of these type of cancer cells. While not inexpensive it is a better mosquito repellent then anything else, including the toxic Deet people use on their skin to prevent mosquito bites. One only has to have a toothache to know nothing gets rid of oral pain better then 100% pure oil of clove.

ROSEMARY

Rosemary, a relative of mint, is used to stimulate the immune system, improve digestion, increase circulation, boost memory and act as an effective anti-inflammatory agent. Studies show it can reduce depression and help mood, while improving type 1 diabetes. It can even prevent weight gain from a high fat diet…. please do not eat a high fat diet as it is extremely bad for the body as a whole. In a new study Rosemary showed it can protect the eyes against age related macular-degeneration.

Cinnamon Balances Blood Sugar   

Cinnamon normalizes blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetics by improving the body’s ability to respond to insulin. It works by slowing the rate at which the stomach empties after eating. In one study a group of people adding 6 grams of cinnamon to their diet daily(about 2 level teaspoons) reduced blood sugar by a amazing 29% The red to rusty color in cinnamon is a powerful antioxidant which protects cells from damage caused by cellular mutation. Cell mutation is known to cause many diseases including cancers so eat plenty of cinnamon.

Garlic.. According to medical research done at Penn State University, Garlic, can decrease the risk of having a heart attack by 38% it is a natural anti-inflammatory agent with potent anti-bacterial qualities.  Studies from the University of Tokyo suggest aged garlic can even reverse coronary blocked arteries. Best of all aged garlic leaves no bad odor on your breath. Best dose to reverse clogged arteries or prevent this from occurring is 1000 to 7200 mg per day.

Cold Water Fish Oil is one of the most powerfully healing natural bio-organic substances known to medical science as well as naturopathic medicine. I have personally worked with groups of people who’s both parents died of blocked arteries in their very early 40’s. None of the over 306 people who had such parents have ever had blocked artery troubles once I placed them on cold water fish oil in the proper dosage.

Consider a point of fact even much more dramatic yet scientifically true…. of the 5 million Inuit and Eskimos who eat seal blubber and whale blubber and who have cholesterol counts over 2000 thousand…NONE has ever died of a heart attack in the last 60 years medical scientists have studied this group. WHY? Because they also eat cold water salmon fished through an ice hole. COLD WATER FISH OIL is like an organic natural Teflon, which coats the artery linings thus stopping cholesterol from aggregating along the artery walls. The Omega 3 fatty acids are so powerful a high density lipid, they can virtually melt hard fats like cholesterol from sticking to each other. Imagine how shocked the scientists have been and still are today to have never upon autopsy of this ethnic group ever found even one case of clogged arteries of the heart.

There are 2 types of Omega HDL’s from cold water fish DHA or Docosahexaenoic Acid and EPA or Eicosapentaenoic Acid. These are essential fatty acids which means you cannot live without including them in your diet. Many folks who feel ill actually feel sick because they get almost no essential fatty acids in their diet on a daily basis. The fish oil you buy in the stores have been looked at extensively by scientists and found 98.3% of them are already rancid oils which can cause mutation damage to your DNA. Thus if you want ISO certified fish oil and there are only 5 Labs in the USA that have ISO certification please call me at 760-481-8800 where an ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure.