Considering sugar as a drug can help with weight loss
Obesity is a global scourge. To combat it, researchers from all walks of life are conducting various experiments. Drugs are already being tested. Mecamylaine and Cytisine are interesting molecules that regulate neuronal receptors related to addiction.
But why talk aboutfood addiction? Simply because the mode of operation related to the sweet taste is absolutely identical to that of any other addictive substance.
Finding
Overconsumption of sugar contributes to weight gain by regularly elevating levelsofdopamine, the neurotransmitter that manages the brain’s reward and pleasure centers.
“This mode of operation is the same for many so-called addictive substances such as tobacco, morphine or cocaine,” explain the authors of the study in question. It is published in a specialized medical journal “PLoS ONE”(1) and, in these pages, denounces that the addiction of sweet taste must be treated like all others, that is to say with seriousness, long-term follow-up and professionalism.
Globally, the number of obese people reaches more than two billion people. This so-called disease of civilization is the cause of more than three million deaths. Of course it greatly reduces life expectancy according to the World Health Organization (WHO) which wants adults and children to reduce their sugar consumption by 10% of their ordinary consumption pattern.
And according to the normal process of addictions, the regular absorption of sweet nutrients, like that of all other addictive substances, leads to a gradual reduction in dopamine levels, which promotes, in this way, the need for greater consumption to achieve the same level of reward. It is then a vicious circle that is established.
It is an undeniable fact that white, industrial and refined sugar is a poison for the state of health. Overweight people should simply consider it a drug and eliminate it from their diet entirely. However, this does not mean that we should remove the sweet taste from our meals. So how do you do it?
A quick overview
There are foods with a sweet taste that harm the bodyand others that are beneficial to it. Refined sugar is bad for heart and artery health, but fructose is a good fuel. This sugar, it must be remembered, isthe sugar contained in the fruits. But that’s not all.
There are much more useful dietary intakes in terms of carbohydrates (the appropriate and appropriate name for sugar): pasta, wheat, rice, if possible whole, remain the best nutrients. Just don’t overadd butter, cheese, oil… Just a little tomato sauce, lightened in fat, will be perfect with some black olives.
Overweight people must understand that it is enough to re-educate their taste system and reclaim the right behaviors and habits in terms of nutrition. Often they salt and eat too much. Sweet taste has become a drug and it is time to change these bad attitudes to replace them with healthier ones: listen to the “stop” signal, replace fast sugars with slow sugars, do not overadd fat and heavy substances.
It is at this price that the weight of form will return.
With the publication of scientific studies, overweight subjects become aware of their acquired bad behavior. Perhaps this will help them to take charge of themselves better,to regain lost confidence and to relearn the “good gestures” of nutrition?
Stephen Paul is the lead author and founder of My Health Sponsor. Holder of a diploma in health and well-being coaching with more than 200 articles in the field of health, he makes it a point of honor to offer advice based on reliable information, based on scientific research, and verified by health professionals.