Quote:
Originally Posted by Boeing Guy
A drug is described as:
A substance that has a physiological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body, in particular.
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OK sugar isn't a drug? but it's certainly not benign - this sounds a bit like a drug to me:
A 2008 study noted that sugar affects
opioids and
dopamine in the brain, and thus might be expected to have addictive potential. It referenced
bingeing, withdrawal,
craving and
cross-sensitization, and gave each of them operational definitions in order to demonstrate behaviorally that sugar bingeing is a reinforcer. These behaviors were said to be related to neurochemical changes in the brain that also occur during addiction to drugs.
Neural adaptations included changes in dopamine and opioid receptor binding,
enkephalin mRNA expression and dopamine and
acetylcholine release in the nucleus accumbens.
Avena NM, Rada P, Hoebel BG. Evidence for sugar addiction: behavioral and neurochemical effects of intermittent, excessive sugar intake. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2008;32(1):20-39. Epub 2007 May 18.