What you are bound to find when you do that search is a listing, from the Sugar Association to the American Diabetes Association to dietitians to nutritionists all claiming that there is a lot of misinformation about sugar out there.

Here is what they say are the sugar myths:

• Sugar doesn’t cause hyperactivity
• Sugar doesn’t cause you to gain weight
• There is no such thing as a “sugar crash” or a “sugar high”
• Sugar is not responsible for diabetes
• Sugar doesn’t change the mood of children who eat it
• Sugar is not addicting
• Sugar does not cause heart disease

When I read that all I can think is: Are They Kidding?

What do they think is causing our epidemic of obesity, heart disease and diabetes in this country? If you track the amount of sugar a typical person eats, you find that most people eat from ¼ to ½ pound of sugar a day. If you think that is a lot, it is! Only 100 years ago, most people only ate 1 pound of sugar a YEAR. So, we go from eating 1 pound of sugar a year to eating at least 1 pound every few days and there are no health consequences from that? There has got to be health consequences from that much sugar intake.

Diabetes, by the way, has seen a similar rise over the same time period. In 1900, less than 1 percent of the population had diabetes, now it is expected that one third of all people in the United States will have diabetes some time during their lives. If sugar isn’t to blame, what is?

What is remarkable about all of these so-called sugar myths is that we all know better. Of course sugar changes our moods and the moods of our children. Of course sugar is addicting, there are scientific studies that prove sugar is just as addicting as cigarettes and other drugs. We have all had sugar highs and sugar crashes. And the evidence from scientific studies is growing; sugar is related to diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

The true sugar myths are the ones saying sugar that sugar causes no harm; you and I know better. My hope is that soon the medical community will wake up to the facts about the true harm that sugar causes.

You would expect medical associations, those groups who are supposed to help us understand what is healthy and what is not, to have a stance on sugar. They actually do have a stance on sugar, but you are going to be surprised by what that stance is.

Before we get to medical associations, let’s stop by the sugar industry’s website (www.sugar.org) and see what they have to say about sugar:

Starting with its 1986 review of 1000 scientific papers, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Sugars Task Force in their report on “Evaluation of Health Aspects of Sugars contained in Carbohydrate Sweeteners” reported that “with the exception of dental caries, the scientific evidence clears sugars of links with other diseases including diabetes, hypertension, behavior and obesity.” <read more>

Do you believe that? According to the report cited by the Sugar Industry, sugar is not responsible for diabetes, high blood pressure, changes in behavior such as a “sugar high” or “sugar crash” and, sugar is not responsible for our growing obesity problem.

What is amazing is that many medical associations agree with the sugar industry. Look how the sugar industry quotes the American Diabetes Association:

According to the American Diabetes Association, sugar does not cause diabetes. Not only does sugar not cause diabetes but individuals with diabetes do not have to strictly avoid eating sugar according to the American Diabetes Association. <read more>

The reason why the sugar industry can quote medical associations is that they completely agree.

Let’s Look at the What the Medical Associations have to Say:

The American Dietetic Association, the association that trains and supports nutritional professionals and whose website is called www.eatright.org has this to say about sugar:

Although the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans don’t set a specific cap on sugar, if you consume foods in the proportions recommended for your particular calorie level, it’s tough to take in too much sugar… <read more>

Hmm… Tough to take in too much sugar?  Maybe another association has better advice.

The American Diabetes Association, the association that should be telling diabetics how to eat, has this to say about sugar:

In the past, people with diabetes were warned to completely avoid sugar. Experts thought that eating sugar would rapidly increase blood glucose, resulting in levels that were too high. Some people even thought that eating sugar caused diabetes, an idea that we now know isn’t true. Research has shown that the total amount of carbohydrate affects blood glucose levels the most. But, the type of carbohydrate (e.g. sugar vs. starch) can also affect blood glucose levels. Learn more about the types of carbohydrate and the glycemic index. Now experts agree you can eat foods with sugar as long as you work them into your meal plan as you would any other carb-containing food. The same guidelines apply to other sweeteners with calories, including brown sugar, honey, and molasses… <read more>

These associations are way off when it comes to what they are suggesting we should eat. When asked about if sugar is an addiction, they would shrug this notion off as if you were crazy. But, many people know sugar is an addiction for them.

What you might be surprised to learn is that there is medical research that supports the fact that sugar is addictive and harmful, but for some reason the American Dietetic Association and the American Diabetes Association and even the World Health Organization all seem to think there is not problem with the amount of sugar we eat.

Why these organizations haven’t recognized that sugar is a problem is a bit of a mystery, one I hope to unravel. Stay tuned and I will show you just how harmful sugar can be and what you can do about it.

• When rats have free access to sugar, they will eat a ton of it and will eat more sugar than any other food available to them. <see study>
• When sugar is removed from the diet of rats that have become used to it, they shake, tremble, are anxious, and their teeth chatter. They are also prone to aggression. Any addict or junkie will recognize these classic withdrawal symptoms. <see study>
• When sugar is removed from the diet of rats and when sugar is returned to their diet, rats will binge on the sugar. Similar to alcoholism and other addictions, this “deprivation-effect” is a phenomenon that explains what happens when the removal of a substance for a period of time results in an increased use of the substance and uncontrollable cravings upon its return. <see study>
• When under stress, rats will consume more sugar. <see study>
• When scientists look into the brains of rats, they find that there are physical changes along with increases in brain chemicals that are very similar to those of other addicts including alcoholics, smokers, and opioid users. <see study>
• One of the best ways to study if a substance you are taking is addictive is to inject what is called an opioid antagonist. When animals raised on excessive intake of sugar are given such a drug, they experience anxiety and other signs of withdrawal similar to morphine or nicotine withdrawal. When scientists give sugar to rats for a long period of time and give them a drug (Naloxone) that actually blocks the brain from experiencing brain chemicals associated with drug abuse, the rats experience all the symptoms of withdrawal. <see study>
• Cross-sensitization exists with sugar addiction. In other words, when someone is addicted to sugar, they have a greater risk of being addicted to alcohol, nicotine, and morphine-like drugs. <see study>

Why the medical community continues to treat sugar as if it is okay for anyone to eat and it is not addictive is one of the great mysteries of modern times. I, personally, wouldn’t turn to the medical communities for any advice on what to eat and what not to eat. Sugar is an addiction and it is harmful. My hope is that soon, the medical community wakes up and discovers how harmful sugar really is.

Almost everyone I know says that they are addicted to sugar, but is sugar addiction a real addiction? What I mean is: how does sugar addiction compare to other known addictions such as alcohol, cigarettes, or even drugs like morphine? Let’s take a look and you can decide for yourself.

While each addiction has its own unique features, they all share some things in common. It doesn’t matter if you are addicted to Jack Daniels, Marlboros or even heroin; once addicted, they are all very similar.

Let’s say you are addicted to any of the above substances and you decide to quit, here are the typical stages you will go through.

• The first stage is deciding to quit. This stage can go on for years. There are smokers who wake every morning for years determined not to have another cigarette, but then start smoking right after breakfast. The tipping point for change comes when the cost of the habit becomes more than the cost of continuing. For example, a smoker may begin coughing and become worried about cancer, a drinker may blank out or miss work, or a heroin addict may end up the emergency room. However it happens, the addict makes the decision to change their life and quit their addiction.

• Quitting: The second stage is actually quitting the addiction. Typically this is very difficult and many people experience withdrawal symptoms such as tremors, nervousness, paranoia, anxiety, sleeplessness and intense cravings for the drug of choice.

• Improvement: If the addict makes it past the quitting stage, which is generally a few days to a few weeks, they usually feel much better. Typically, they have more energy, sleep better, have a better outlook on life, and feel much better.

• Temptation: All addicts are tempted to return to their drug. It may be a week, month, or even years later, but they will all be tempted. Many people mistakenly begin to think that they have control over their addiction and can use just a small amount and not have any problems. This is usually a mistake because once someone tries their addiction again; they usually end up binging and taking even more. Binging when returning to an addiction is very common.

But is Sugar Really an addiction?

Read through the above, doesn’t that sound exactly like what happened the last time you went on a diet?

• Deciding to quit: First you decided to eat differently. You may have spent weeks thinking about it before you finally were able to make a commitment.

• Quitting: You took many sugary foods out of your diet, but it hurt. You might have had the shakes, changes in mood and intense cravings.

• Improvement: After a few days on the diet you began to feel much better.

• Temptation: You were pretty good following the diet, but then you decide to take a small taste of something sweet and soon, you have eaten more than you even thought you would. You continued binging until you now weighed more than you did when you started a diet.

Sugar is a real addiction and there are scientific studies to prove it (a later blog will review these), but most people recognize that sugar addicts behave exactly like all other addicts.