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Fitness & Health

21st Mar 2015

It turns out sugar is more addictive than cocaine

No wonder those doughnuts are so irresistible...

Ben Kenyon

We always wondered why sugary food was so moreish. And now we know.

JOE did a little Googling on what made us crave chocolate, sweets and fizzy drinks so much when hitting our summer diet.

Well, it turns out that those sweet little crystals are more addictive that cocaine.

Yup, the stuff your gran keeps in lumps in a bowl on the kitchen table is higher grade sh*t than Colombia’s finest.

We have literally been sprinkling the culinary equivalent of crack on our Shreddies.

Scientists have been looking at sugar addiction for a while – so we’re late to the party – but now waking up at 3am and eating a full packet of chocolate biscuits all makes sense.

If you don’t believe us then you really need to watch the documentary.

Research carried out on 50 cocaine-addicted rats showed that 48 of the rodents ditched the drugs when they were given the chance to get their claws on sugar water. Presumably the other two went to an all-night rave.

Food addiction is looked upon with skepticism by some, but scientists have shown that eating sugar releases ‘rewards’ like opioids and dopamine – just like a drug response.

Once your body has a whiff of sugar it is hooked – and like the chaps in Trainspotting it just won’t let you out of its saccharine grip.

I’m getting the sugar itch just thinking about it.

Research shows that – just like drugs – we binge, we withdraw, we crave and we relapse. An endless cycle.

Eating disorders and obesity are becoming all too common. More than 65% of men in the UK are overweight or obese. Still, we’re not as bad as Iceland or Malta.