Is sugar a drug – that’s the question. The chemical name for sugar is saccharose, and its chemical formula is C12H22O11.
It consists of 12 carbon atoms, 22 hydrogen atoms, 11 oxygen atoms, and absolutely nothing else to offer.
The Chemical formula for cocaine is C17H21NO4. Sugar’s formula again is C12H22O11. As a matter of fact, the only difference is that the formula for sugar is missing N, nitrogen atom.
Dr David Reuben, the author of the book “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Nutrition,” writes, “…white refined sugar is not a food. It is a pure chemical extracted from plant sources, purer in fact than cocaine, which it resembles in many ways.”
Washington, December 11th. Sugar may affect the brain in a similar way, according to a lot of parameters, to taking drugs. The scientist of Princeton University (USA) who studied the influence of sugar in experiments with laboratory rats came to such conclusion, RIA Novosty inform.
Professor Bart Hoebel and his colleagues detected signs of drug dependence on sugar, in particular, the reaction to the cessation of taking sugar, that was similar to abstinence syndrome of drug addicts, the development of strong cravings for this substance.
“If excessive consumption of sugar is really a form of dependence, it is supposed to cause permanent changes in the brain of those who suffer from it. Morbid attraction and a tendency for breakdowns are the most important components of dependence, and we can demonstrate such behaviour in rats,” stated Hoebel.
In Hoebel’s experiment laboratory animals were accustomed to sugar consumption, and then deprived of it for a long time. When after a break the rats were given sugar again, they ate it more than they had previously, which is typical of drug addicts’ behaviour.
Apart from this, the rats, accustomed to sugar and then deprived of it, consumed more alcohol than animals from the control group, which shows the changes in the brain, similar to the changes that take place in drug addicts.
The deprivation of sugar, which rats were accustomed to, caused in them the lowering of dopamine levels, and they showed the signs of anxiety, worry, fear which are characteristic of abstinence syndrome. They refused to go out to an open area, they lost the instinct that made them investigate the vicinity.
Refined sugar is often called a drug because in the process of refining sugar is deprived of everything that represents some food value, and only mere carbohydrates remain – calories, deprived of vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats, ferments or any other elements that constitute food.
A lot of specialists in the sphere of nutrition state that white sugar is very dangerous, possibly, as dangerous as drugs, especially in quantities which are used nowadays.
If you have some doubts concerning the danger of sugar (saccharose), try to exclude it from your diet for a few weeks and see if there is some difference! You will notice that dependence has formed and will feel abstinence syndrome.
Investigations show that sugar causes addiction quite as much as any drug; its consumption and abuse is our national calamity number one. It is no wonder, taking into account that all the products that contain sugar we consume every day! On the average, the healthy intestinal system can digest from two to four teaspoons daily – usually without noticeable problems (in the case if damage is not already present).
12 ounces of Cola, aside from caffeine, contain 11 teaspoons of sugar. When we drink Cola, it is the sugar that gives us quick energy, but only for a short time due to the rise of the blood sugar level. But the body quickly ceases insulin emission, and sugar level immediately falls, which leads to a significant drop of energy and endurance.
