Is type 2 diabetes an addiction?

[Guest guest]

This article originally posted December 16, 2008 and appeared in

Issue 447

Type 2 Diabetes An Addiction?

Sugar as addictive as cocaine, heroin, studies suggest. Start your day with

protein.

It's one addiction that won't land you in court or an inpatient rehab. But

sugar - as anyone who mainlines sweets can attest - can be just as

habit-forming

as cocaine.

Researchers at

Princeton University

studying bingeing and dependency in rats have found that when the animals

ingest large amounts of sugar, their brains undergo changes similar to the

changes

in the brains of people who abuse illegal drugs like cocaine and heroin.

" Our evidence from an animal model suggests that bingeing on sugar can act

in the brain in ways very similar to drugs of abuse, " says lead researcher

and

Princeton psychology professor Bart Hoebel.

In the studies, he explains, animals that drank large amounts of sugar water

when hungry experienced behavioral changes, too, along with signs of

withdrawal

and even long-lasting effects that resemble cravings.

Some people experience powerful cravings for sweets - internal messages

telling them to eat sugar even though they know it's bad for them - says Dr.

Louis

Aronne, director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at N.Y.

Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. " These people get strong

urges

to consume sweets, and these cravings border on addiction, " he says. " When

they eat sugar, just like when someone ingests cocaine, some people get that

feeling of well-being, a rush that makes them feel good for a period of

time. When the sweets are taken away, the people just don't feel right. "

In the animals studied at Princeton, bingeing released a surge of the

neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain. " It's been known that drugs of abuse

release

or increase the levels of dopamine in that part of the brain, " Hoebel said.

After the rats' sugar supply was withdrawn, they became anxious. Their teeth

chattered and they grew unwilling to venture into the open arm of their

maze.

Instead, they stayed in the tunnel of the maze.

Deprived of their sugar, the rats displayed signs of withdrawal similar to

the symptoms seen in people when they stop smoking, drinking alcohol, or

using

drugs.

Just as not everyone has the tendency to become an alcoholic or a drug

addict, so not everyone is hard wired to be a sugar-holic, Aronne says. And

there

is certainly effective treatment for a sweet addiction, though it's not

likely to go down easily among those who like their candy and cookies.

" If people eat starch and sugar in the morning, it's very difficult to get

their behavior in control and they'll be craving sweets all day, " Aronne

says.

" So we have people start out their day by eating protein and vegetables in

the morning, like a broccoli omelet for breakfast.