It is known that excess sugar is harmful to us, it can lead to obesity and many diseases. Sugar addiction is dangerous, but on the other hand, giving up sugar can also have unpleasant consequences. What symptoms may occur?
Addiction to sugar
UK sugar consumption has been steadily declining over the past decade. It is influenced by lifestyle changes or the popularity of low-carbohydrate diets. Reducing sugar consumption has clear health benefits, but people sometimes report negative side effects when they choose to eat less sugar. Among the most common are headaches, fatigue, or mood swings, which are usually temporary. The cause of these symptoms is poorly known. Scientists suspect that they are related to the brain’s response to sweet foods and the biological ‘reward’ mechanism.
As mass production of food is the norm, sucrose and other sugars are now added to it to improve taste. However, it is important to remember that it is not only about the taste. Sugar has a profound effect on our brain.
Sucrose activates sweet taste receptors in the mouth, eventually releasing a chemical called dopamine in the brain. The latter, in turn, is a neurotransmitter, which means that it transmits information between the cranial nerves in the brain. When we receive stimuli that are pleasing to us, the brain reacts with the release of dopamine – which is why this process is often called a “reward” mechanism. And as you know, the desire to achieve reward governs our behavior, which means that we strive to repeat behaviors that trigger the release of dopamine. Dopamine can make us look for food, including unhealthy food.
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Weaning from sugar
Animal and human experiments have shown how deeply sugar activates these “reward” mechanisms. The intense sweetness surpasses even … the effects of cocaine. Studies in mice show that sugar is able to activate the ‘reward pathways’ in the brain, whether it is tasted in the mouth or injected into the bloodstream. This means that its effects are independent of the sweet taste.
In rats, there is strong evidence to suggest that sucrose ingestion can actually alter the structures in the brain that dopamine activates, as well as alter emotional processing and behavior in both animals and humans.
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Both mental and physical symptoms – including depression – have been reported in the early stages of discontinuation of sugar, anxiety, brain fog and hunger, as well as headaches, fatigue and dizziness. This means that giving up sugar can be unpleasant, both mentally and physically, which can make it difficult for some to follow the dietary change. In addition to being involved in reward, dopamine also regulates hormone control, nausea, and feelings of anxiety. As sugar is removed from the diet, it rapidly diminishes the effects of dopamine in the brain causing a lot of disruption to our body.
Although the idea of sugar addiction is controversial for scientists, evidence in rats has shown that, like other addictive substances, sugar can induce overeating, hunger and withdrawal anxiety. Other studies have confirmed that the effects of sugar addiction are similar to those of drugs.
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However, most of the research done in this area concerns animals, so it is currently difficult to say whether these conclusions can be fully applied to humans. On the other hand, the “reward pathways” in the human brain have remained unchanged through evolution, and this means that the biological effects of sugar withdrawal seen in animals are likely to occur to some extent in humans as well.
The number of adolescents with diabetes is increasing
In turn, the situation in the United States, according to the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth study covering the years 2001-2017, indicates a doubling of the number of young people with diabetes. Scientists have shown that the percentage of people aged 10 to 19 with type 2 diabetes increased by 95%. in 16 years. The estimated percentage of adolescents under the age of 20 with type 1 diabetes increased by 45%. “The rise in diabetes, particularly preventable type 2 diabetes, has the potential to create a cascade of health complications,” said Dr. Giuseppina Imperatore of the government agency’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Type 1 diabetes is more common among white adolescents. According to a study published in JAMA, a greater increase in the incidence of type 2 diabetes was found among young African Americans or Hispanics. There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic hit people with diabetes particularly hard, including those who were not infected. Deaths from diabetes increased by 17% last year, according to Reuters. to over 100
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