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  • Hey there and welcome to Life Noggin.

  • Oh?

  • Everything is candy!

  • Sweet!

  • I don't know about you, but I really love sugar.

  • Anything sweet really.

  • And kind.

  • And smart.

  • And super tough... and oh geez, I'm doing it again!

  • Uh, back on topic, Blocko.

  • So yeah, sugar, it's pretty awesome, right!

  • Some people even say they're addicted to the stuff.

  • but is it actually possible to get /addicted/ to sugar like you can with certain drugs?

  • Well, first off, if we're going to try and compare the two, just what is a drug addiction?

  • According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, addiction is a chronic brain disease

  • characterized by a person's compulsion to seek out and use drugs, despite there being

  • harmful consequences.

  • Drugs can alter your brainboth in how it works and its actual structureand

  • those changes can be long-lasting, leading to harmful behaviors.

  • Sometimes even self-destructive ones.

  • So can the same type of thing happen with sugar?

  • Unfortunately, people can't really seem to agree one way or the other.

  • Now, there are certainly supporters that back the idea of sugar addiction.

  • A good example is an article put out just last year in the British Journal of Sports

  • Medicine.

  • After looking at a bunch of data, both with animals and humans, researchers said that

  • there are substantial parallels between sugar and drugs of abuse, from both a behavioral

  • standpoint and one of brain neurochemistry.

  • They even brought up how certain animal studies have shown that the reward for sugar can surpass

  • that of cocaine!

  • So it's a pretty good case for sugar addiction being real.

  • But a recent 2016 study argues the opposite.

  • The researchers started off by looking at the literature on sugar and food addictions.

  • Then they examined if sugar could be addictive by pitting any evidence from the animal and

  • human neuroscience literature on drug and sugar addiction against each other.

  • In the end, they found little evidence to support that humans could be addicted to sugar.

  • They also said that findings from animal cases suggest that their addiction-like behaviors

  • happened only when they had intermittent access to sugar, believing those behaviors to come

  • from the intermittent access, not the actual neurochemical effects of sugar.

  • Though, on another note, one thing that potentially points to sugar cravings as being similar

  • to addiction is that drugs designed to help people quit smoking might also help you curb

  • a bit of your sweet tooth.

  • Looking at a study using rats, research suggests that varenicline, an FDA-approved drug used

  • to help people with nicotine cravings, could also be used to reduce your desire to eat

  • sugary foods.

  • In the study, rats were given the choice to either drink from a bottle containing only

  • water, or one that had been sweetened with sucrose.

  • While our little furry friends used varenicline, researchers found that the rats consumed significantly

  • less sucrose.

  • Interesting!

  • But this all means that we don't really have a clear answer on whether or not you

  • can actually be addicted to sugar.

  • But either way, sugar can have an affect on your life and sometimes people want to cut

  • it out.

  • Specifically added sugars, which are are sugars and syrups that are added to what you eat

  • or drink when it's prepared or processed.

  • So that just means getting rid of things like candies and soda, right?!

  • Apparently not.

  • Added sugar is in a bunch ofhealthieroptions too.

  • You can find decent amounts of added sugar in everything from granola bars and yogurt,

  • to canned fruits and even spaghetti sauce!

  • Wow, there's so many sugary things up there!

  • If you want to get any sweet foods down here in the Life Noggin world, you have to visit

  • one of those websites that remembers some of your data.

  • Uh?

  • Of course I'll enable cookies!

  • Bring em here!

  • Gimmie!

  • Give me the cookies!

  • Gimmie!

  • So do you think you're addicted to sugar?

  • What's your favorite sugary treat to eat?

  • Let me know in the comment section below.

  • Wanna learn more about a rare syndrome that essentially turns you to stone?

  • Check out this video!

  • Imagine one day you find a huge lump on your rib cage, and even after getting it x-rayed,

  • you still don't know what's going on.

  • As always, my name is Blocko, this has been Life Noggin, don't forget to Keep On Thinking!

Hey there and welcome to Life Noggin.

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