The Most Common Addiction in the World is Addiction to Sugar

The most common addiction in the world today, according to some researchers, is addiction to refined sugar. Almost every household in the world today, even amongst the most impoverished societies, has refined sugar on its daily menu, and feels that they cannot do without it, regardless of the problems that it causes them. Children who are just a few weeks old are fed on sugar (which is a major ingredient in most baby foods), and even as adults, they continue to consume it until the time of their death (In crystal form and in sugar based foods/ drinks). As a consequence, many people are addicted to sugar throughout their lives, without realizing it!

There are millions of people who are dependent on sugar, despite its negative consequences- those who are obese/overweight, diabetics/ hypertensives, those living on less than a dollar day (a Kilogram of sugar costs two dollars!), and those receiving medical treatment for any disease (sugar suppresses the immune system). Many of these people can be said to be sugar addicts.

Unlike naturally occurring sugars (for example those found in fruits), refined sugar has no single health benefit, is a drug/ chemical, and a poison. Refined sugar is either consumed in its crystal form as white sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, raw sugar, processed honey, or as a major ingredient in soft drinks and foods.
In 1998, Kathleen DesMaisons argued that sugar dependence is an addiction, stating that it followed the same track outlined in the DSM IV for other drugs of abuse. Bart Hoebel at Princeton was able to demonstrate that sugar can serve as a gate drug for other drugs. In 2008, research findings by Nicole Avena revealed that sugar affects opioids and dopamine in the brain, and as a result may have an addictive potential:

"Recent behavioral tests in rats further back the idea of an overlap between sweets and drugs. Drug addiction often includes three steps. A person will increase his intake of the drug, experience withdrawal symptoms when access to the drug is cut off and then face an urge to relapse back into drug use. Rats on sugar have similar experiences. Researchers withheld food for 12 hours and then gave rats food plus sugar water.
This created a cycle of binging where the animals increased their daily sugar intake until it doubled. When researchers either stopped the diet or administered an opioid blocker the rats showed signs common to drug withdrawal, such as teeth-chattering and the shakes. Early findings also indicate signs of relapse. Rats weaned off sugar repeatedly pressed a lever that previously dispensed the sweet solution." (Leah Ariniello, Brain Briefings, October 2003)


There are many other studies which support the argument that sugar can be just as addictive as any other drug . Addiction to sugar isn’t about how much or how often one consumes the product, but about why they consume it, and what happens to them when they do so. If I eat sugar because it eases the pain of depression or anxiety, or if I get problems in my life as a result of taking sugar, then I may be an addict. An addict is anyone who continues to consume a product despite the problems it causes them, or the negative consequences of so doing.
A sugar addict will be unable to give up eating sugar, and will frequently succumb to his desire for it and continue to eat it compulsively. Such a person will eventually develop a tolerance for sugar, and their sugar consumption must be increased to achieve the same experience. At some point, they will feel that they need to eat sugar just so as to function normally. When they abstain from sugar for any significant period of time, they will experience mild to severe symptoms, which will cease once they consume sugar again.
According to several studies compiled by Dr. Joseph Mercola, and Nancy Appleton, Ph.D (Author of the book Lick The Sugar Habit), sugar can cause the following diseases:

• It can suppress the immune system and impair the defenses against infectious disease
• It upsets the mineral relationships in the body: causes chromium and copper deficiencies and interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.
• It can cause can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline, hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children.
• It can produce a significant rise in total cholesterol, triglycerides and bad cholesterol and a decrease in good cholesterol.
• It causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function.
• It feeds cancer cells and has been connected with the development of cancer of the breast, ovaries, prostate, rectum, pancreas, biliary tract, lung, gallbladder and stomach.
• It can increase fasting levels of glucose and can cause reactive hypoglycemia.
• It can weaken eyesight.
• It can cause many problems with the gastrointestinal tract including: an acidic digestive tract, indigestion, malabsorption in patients with functional bowel disease, increased risk of Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis.
• It can cause premature aging.
• It can lead to alcoholism.
• It can cause the saliva to become acidic, tooth decay, and periodontal disease.
• It contributes to obesity.
• It can cause autoimmune diseases such as: arthritis, asthma, multiple sclerosis.
• It greatly assists the uncontrolled growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections)
• It can cause gallstones
• It can cause appendicitis.
• It can cause hemorrhoids.
• It can cause varicose veins.
• It can elevate glucose and insulin responses in oral contraceptive users
• It can contribute to osteoporosis.
• It can cause a decrease in the insulin sensitivity thereby causing an abnormally high insulin levels and eventually diabetes.
• It can lower the Vitamin E levels.
• It can increase the systolic blood pressure.
• It can cause drowsiness and decreased activity in children.
• High suagr intake increases advanced glycation end products (AGEs)(It molecules attaching to and thereby damaging proteins in the body).
• It can interfere with the absorption of protein.
• It causes food allergies.
• It can cause toxemia during pregnancy.
• It can contribute to eczema in children.
• It can cause atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.
• It can impair the structure of the DNA.
• It can change the structure of protein and cause a permanent alteration of the way the proteins act in the body.
• It can make the skin age by changing the structure of collagen.
• It can cause cataracts and nearsightedness.
• It can cause emphysema.
• High suagr intake can impair the physiological homeostasis of many systems in the body.
• It lowers the ability of enzymes to function.
• Sugar intake is higher in people with Parkinson's disease.
• It can increase the size of the liver by making the liver cells divide and it can increase the amount of liver fat.
• It can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney such as the formation of kidney stones.
• It can damage the pancreas.
• It can increase the body's fluid retention.
• It is enemy #1 of the bowel movement.
• It can compromise the lining of the capillaries.
• It can make the tendons more brittle.
• It can cause headaches, including migraines.
• It can reduce the learning capacity, adversely affect school children's grades and cause learning disorders.
• It can cause an increase in delta, alpha, and theta brain waves which can alter the mind's ability to think clearly.
• It can cause depression.
• It can increase the risk of gout.
• It can increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
• It can cause hormonal imbalances such as: increasing estrogen in men, exacerbating PMS, and decreasing growth hormone.
• It can lead to dizziness.
• Diets high in sugar will increase free radicals and oxidative stress.
• A high sucrose diet of subjects with peripheral vascular disease significantly increases platelet adhesion.
• High sugar consumption of pregnant adolescents can lead to substantial decrease in gestation duration and is associated with a twofold increased risk for delivering a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant.
• It is an addictive substance.
• It can be intoxicating, similar to alcohol.
• Sugar given to premature babies can affect the amount of carbon dioxide they produce.
• Decrease in sugar intake can increase emotional stability.
• The body changes sugar into 2 to 5 times more fat in the bloodstream than it does starch.
• The rapid absorption of sugar promotes excessive food intake in obese subjects.
• It can worsen the symptoms of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
• It adversely affects urinary electrolyte composition.
• It can slow down the ability of the adrenal glands to function.
• It has the potential of inducing abnormal metabolic processes in a normal healthy individual and to promote chronic degenerative diseases.
• I.V.s (intravenous feedings) of sugar water can cut off oxygen to the brain.
• It increases the risk of polio.
• High sugar intake can cause epileptic seizures.
• It causes high blood pressure in obese people.
• In intensive care units: Limiting sugar saves lives.7
• It may induce cell death.
• In juvenile rehabilitation camps, when children were put on a low sugar diet, there was a 44 percent drop in antisocial behavior.
• It dehydrates newborns.
• It can cause gum disease.


Despite the fact that sugar has been proven to cause addiction and disease, its consumption is on the rise worldwide. The Global Industry Analysts, Inc reported on 23 March 2010, that “The world market for Sugar is projected to exceed 177 million metric tons by the year 2015.” In fact, the demand for sugar is so high worldwide, such that the sugar producers have failed to satisfy it for the last two years. The Indian sugar Mills Association observed:

The world sugar economy is facing a second consecutive year of a significant gap between world consumption and production.

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