Sugar Is A Drug

If you just can’t control sugar cravings and feel like you don’t have any will power, check out this experiment. You will realize that  you are caught in an addictive cycle, fueled by the food industry’s desire to get more market share at the expense of your health and well-being.

David Ludwig, M.D. and his colleagues at Harvard University proved that foods with more sugar trigger a special region in the brain called the nucleus accumbens, the pleasure center that when activated makes us feel good and drives us to repeat the experience.

They gave 12 overweight or obese men, ages 18-35, a low-sugar, low-glycemic index milk shake. Several weeks later they gave them high-sugar, high-glycemic milk shakes. Both shakes had the same number of calories, and the same amount of fat, protein, and carbs.

The high-sugar milkshakes caused a much greater spike in blood-sugar and insulin levels, and caused more hunger and cravings four hours after consumption. For all participants, the high-sugar shakes lit up the nucleus accumbens “like a Christmas tree”. There was no such response in the nucleus accumbens with the low-sugar shakes. “This study proved conclusively that foods that spike blood sugar affect the brain in the same way that drugs like cocaine and heroin do and, so, might also be biologically addictive.”  (Mark Hyman, M.D., Experience Life, March 2014).