Research Paper

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The dictionary defines the word “addiction” as “Habitual psychological and physiological dependence on a substance or practice beyond one's voluntary control.” When most people think of addiction, they think about people who are addicted to illegal drugs or cigarettes. When people are addicted to drugs, they all have some things in common. For example, addicts often experience the same withdrawal symptoms. Some of these symptoms include irritability, fatigue, insomnia, headache, and difficulty concentrating. Many people do not realize, however, that addictive substances expand far beyond illegal drugs and nicotine. Sucrose, more commonly known as table sugar, is a sweet tasting substance that many people are familiar with because of its large role in food. What many people are not familiar with, however, is how addictive sugar really is. Sugar is a highly addictive drug and is as harmful on the body and brain as benzoylmethylecgonine, more commonly referred to as cocaine. Sugar is an addictive substance because of the nerve pathways the brain takes when sugar is consumed, the withdrawal symptoms associated with people who eat sugar often and then stop eating it all together, and because of how it is chemically produced.
Before there is any research to prove whether sugar is addictive or not, addiction must be defined. This is a very difficult task because many scholars do not agree on what defines addiction. As the reader can see above, the dictionary defines addiction by having some sort of dependence on a substance beyond one’s voluntary control. However, addiction takes many different forms. People can be addicted to things such as sex and gambling. Even though this is true, the form of addiction that is associated with coca...

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...f the examples they use relates back to the idea of bingeing. The researchers talk about a study that was done that stated that when cocaine was given to humans and laboratory animals with unlimited access, they both will administer the drug in repetitive episodes of “bingeing.” Avena, Rada, and Hoebel discovered that this was quite similar to sugar intake in their studies (25). What this is saying is that both groups would increase their overall intake. Behavioral depression was also found in the intermittent sugar-fed rats. Because of all of these factors, it can be argued that sugar is as addictive as cocaine based on the brain circuitry that is activated when it is consumed.
It is generally agreed that sugar is not healthy for the body. However, many people do not realize how harmful it actually is. Our bodies are designed to break down complex carbohydrates.

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