"Food can be just like a drug to certain people who have a certain disposition to addiction," notes Elissa Epel from the Center for Obesity Assessment, Study and Treatment, University of California, San Francisco in the 7-part video series called “The Skinny on Obesity” (Episode 4).
Read the entire article | Email this article

"No one chooses obesity, obesity chooses them," notes Robert Lustig, MD, pediatric endocrinoligist from the University of California, San Francisco in the 7-part video series called “The Skinny on Obesity” (Episode 4).
Read the entire article | Email this article

"Developing compulsive eating and maybe food addiction reflects some real changes in the wiring of our brain, and that's a scary thought, that becoming obese has changed us forever," notes Elissa Epel from the Center for Obesity Assessment, Study and Treatment, University of California, San Francisco in the 7-part video series called “The Skinny on Obesity” (Episode 4).
Read the entire article | Email this article

"This data has come out in... the last 5 years, [that] sugar specifically down regulates [reduces the number of receptors] the same [dopamine] receptors... in the reward center [of the brain] as does all of these other addictive, abusive compounds [including heroin, cocaine, morphine, nicotine, alcohol and cannabis -- every single drug of abuse -- and it occurs with sugar, too.,]" notes Robert Lustig, MD, pediatric endocrinoligist from the University of California, San Francisco in the 7-part video series called “The Skinny on Obesity” (Episode 4).

This causes you to develop a tolerance to feeling good when eating it, and then feelings of withdrawal when you stop eating it.

Lustig notes that this takes about 3 weeks to occur.

Read the entire article | Email this article

Dr. Sanjay Gupta: So far be it for people to realize this 'cause sugar is everywhere, but you're saying this is one of the most addictive substances possibly that we have?

Eric Stice, PhD: It certainly is very good at firing the reward regions in our brain.

Eric Stice says by scanning hundreds of volunteers, he's learned that people who frequently drink sodas or eat ice cream or other sweet foods may be building up a tolerance, much like drug users do. As strange as it sounds, that means the more you eat, the less you feel the reward. The result: you eat more than ever.

Eric Stice: If you overeat these on a regular basis it causes changes in the brain that basically it blunts your reward region response to the food, so then you eat more and more to achieve the same satisfaction you felt originally. Read the entire article | Email this article

Sugar can be addictive notes Princeton professor Bart Hoebel and his team from the Department of Psychology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute in Princeton, New Jersey, USA.

Until now, they have found that rats given sugar show a pattern of increased intake and signs of withdrawal. New experiments show cravings and relapse.

"Craving and relapse are critical components of addiction, and we have been able to demonstrate these behaviors in sugar-bingeing rats in a number of ways," Hoebel said.

"We have the first set of comprehensive studies showing the strong suggestion of sugar addiction in rats and a mechanism that might underlie it." Read the entire article | Email this article

Rats that had been taught to binge on sugar, had an increased sensitivity to amphetamine according to research from Princeton professor Bart Hoebel and his team from the Department of Psychology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute in Princeton, New Jersey, USA.

"This is a long-lasting brain effect that can be a component of addiction," Hoebel noted.

Hoebel has been on the "Princeton faculty since 1963, he has pioneered studies into the mental rewards of eating." Read the entire article | Email this article

Rats that had been taught to binge on sugar, show "neurochemical changes in the brain that appear to mimic those produced by substances of abuse, including cocaine, morphine and nicotine" according to research from Princeton professor Bart Hoebel and his team from the Department of Psychology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute in Princeton, New Jersey, USA.

"Hoebel and his team also have found that a chemical known as dopamine is released in a region of the brain known as the nucleus accumbens when hungry rats drink a sugar solution," notes the press release related to this study. Read the entire article | Email this article

Rats taught to binge on sugar, show signs of addiction and withdrawal according to research from Princeton professor Bart Hoebel and his team from the Department of Psychology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute in Princeton, New Jersey, USA.

"It seems possible that the brain adaptations and behavioral signs seen in rats may occur in some individuals with binge-eating disorder or bulimia," Hoebel said. Read the entire article | Email this article

"Our work provides links between the traditionally defined substance-use disorders, such as drug addiction, and the development of abnormal desires for natural substances," notes Princeton professor Bart Hoebel and his team from the Department of Psychology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute in Princeton, New Jersey, USA.

"This knowledge might help us to devise new ways of diagnosing and treating addictions in people." Read the entire article | Email this article

Rats taught to binge on sugar, show signs of withdrawal when the sugar is taken away according to research from Princeton professor Bart Hoebel and his team from the Department of Psychology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute in Princeton, New Jersey, USA. Read the entire article | Email this article

"[S]ugar-bingeing causes long-lasting effects in the brain and increases the inclination to take other drugs of abuse, such as alcohol," according to research from Princeton professor Bart Hoebel and his team from the Department of Psychology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute in Princeton, New Jersey, USA. Read the entire article | Email this article

Rats that had been taught to binge on sugar, drank more alcohol when sugar was denied notes Princeton professor Bart Hoebel and his team from the Department of Psychology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute in Princeton, New Jersey, USA.

"These functions served as 'gateways' to other paths of destructive behavior, such as increased alcohol intake," Hoebel noted. Read the entire article | Email this article

"I have seen transformations [out of depression] faster than almost anything else we do "[ by eliminating foods that people are allergic to. ]" notes Joan Mathews Larson, PhD in this video clip. Read the entire article | Email this article