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Quake3
Total Carbohydrate




Registered: 08/31/06
Posts: 924
Loc: Relatively New York
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
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Sugar found to be more addictive than cocaine
#7395792 - 09/11/07 10:50 AM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchArticle.action?articleURI=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0000698 http://www.dosenation.com/listing.php?id=3118 http://www.slashfood.com/2007/08/27/sugar-found-to-be-more-addictive-than-cocaine/
The study is below. DoseNation link above has a summary.
Quote:
Intense Sweetness Surpasses Cocaine Reward
Refined sugars (e.g., sucrose, fructose) were absent in the diet of most people until very recently in human history. Today overconsumption of diets rich in sugars contributes together with other factors to drive the current obesity epidemic. Overconsumption of sugar-dense foods or beverages is initially motivated by the pleasure of sweet taste and is often compared to drug addiction. Though there are many biological commonalities between sweetened diets and drugs of abuse, the addictive potential of the former relative to the latter is currently unknown. Methodology/Principal findings
Here we report that when rats were allowed to choose mutually-exclusively between water sweetened with saccharin–an intense calorie-free sweetener–and intravenous cocaine–a highly addictive and harmful substance–the large majority of animals (94%) preferred the sweet taste of saccharin. The preference for saccharin was not attributable to its unnatural ability to induce sweetness without calories because the same preference was also observed with sucrose, a natural sugar. Finally, the preference for saccharin was not surmountable by increasing doses of cocaine and was observed despite either cocaine intoxication, sensitization or intake escalation–the latter being a hallmark of drug addiction. Conclusions
Our findings clearly demonstrate that intense sweetness can surpass cocaine reward, even in drug-sensitized and -addicted individuals. We speculate that the addictive potential of intense sweetness results from an inborn hypersensitivity to sweet tastants. In most mammals, including rats and humans, sweet receptors evolved in ancestral environments poor in sugars and are thus not adapted to high concentrations of sweet tastants. The supranormal stimulation of these receptors by sugar-rich diets, such as those now widely available in modern societies, would generate a supranormal reward signal in the brain, with the potential to override self-control mechanisms and thus to lead to addiction.
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daytripper05
Psychonaut




Registered: 10/30/06
Posts: 6,962
Loc: In my garden
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Re: Sugar found to be more addictive than cocaine [Re: Quake3]
#7395850 - 09/11/07 11:10 AM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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Interesting to read. But how can you use saccharin to prove sugar is addicting? If anything is shouls show people shouldn't use artificial sweeters. But tests like this show conclusive data in regards to rats, but nothing in terms of humans psychology.
EDIT: While I agree that sugar is addicting, I just think this test does a poor job of providing any evidence.
Edited by daytripper05 (09/11/07 11:12 AM)
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SamSara
Nobody
Registered: 07/17/07
Posts: 54
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Re: Sugar found to be more addictive than cocaine [Re: daytripper05]
#7396100 - 09/11/07 12:30 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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Neither of those are even close to as addictive as Dihydrogen Monoxide. The withdrawal symptoms are killer.
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badchad
Mad Scientist

Registered: 03/02/05
Posts: 13,372
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Re: Sugar found to be more addictive than cocaine [Re: SamSara]
#7396141 - 09/11/07 12:39 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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I'd like to see this experiment repeated with free-access to either condition. Then I'd like to see the same results while manipulating dose, and concentration of saccharin.
-------------------- ...the whole experience is (and is as) a profound piece of knowledge. It is an indellible experience; it is forever known. I have known myself in a way I doubt I would have ever occurred except as it did. Smith, P. Bull. Menninger Clinic (1959) 23:20-27; p. 27. ...most subjects find the experience valuable, some find it frightening, and many say that is it uniquely lovely. Osmond, H. Annals, NY Acad Science (1957) 66:418-434; p.436
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moon_glue
Orwell's Post9/11 Era



Registered: 01/20/07
Posts: 2,264
Loc: Earth, today...
Last seen: 8 years, 10 months
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Re: Sugar found to be more addictive than cocaine [Re: badchad]
#7396385 - 09/11/07 01:23 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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im addicted to well made deli sandwhiches
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Visionary Tools



Registered: 06/23/07
Posts: 7,953
Last seen: 1 year, 7 months
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Re: Sugar found to be more addictive than cocaine [Re: moon_glue]
#7396654 - 09/11/07 02:29 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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I'm sure i've read this before. But the setup is wrong, wrong, wrong! If someone gave me the choice between "Unknown pleasant substance A" which was in a tablet or liquid suspension or "Unknown pleasant substance B" which has to be jabbed into me, I'm going for the tablet.
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misterogerz


Registered: 06/07/02
Posts: 1,433
Loc: Gulf Coast
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Re: Sugar found to be more addictive than cocaine [Re: Visionary Tools]
#7398203 - 09/11/07 07:56 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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im addicted to habit-forming situations
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Locus



Registered: 03/11/04
Posts: 6,112
Last seen: 2 years, 9 months
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Re: Sugar found to be more addictive than cocaine [Re: Quake3]
#7398597 - 09/11/07 09:27 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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im addicted to sugar too, among other things.
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The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity. ~ Albert Einstein "Fear is the great barrier to human growth." ~ Dr. Robert Monroe ~~~*Dosis sola facit venenum*~~~ *Check my profile to listen to my music*
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DieCommie


Registered: 12/11/03
Posts: 29,258
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Re: Sugar found to be more addictive than cocaine [Re: Quake3]
#7398819 - 09/11/07 10:32 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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I never stole from my family for sugar...
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TurntableJunky
Ethno Grower



Registered: 04/26/07
Posts: 4,742
Loc: Sydney
Last seen: 15 years, 9 months
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Re: Sugar found to be more addictive than cocaine [Re: Quake3]
#7401446 - 09/12/07 05:07 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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If someone offered you a kilo of coke or a kilo of sugar which would you choose? I rest my case.
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MrKite1
Cosmo

Registered: 03/02/04
Posts: 1,384
Loc: AK
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Re: Sugar found to be more addictive than cocaine [Re: TurntableJunky]
#7401756 - 09/12/07 06:23 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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What if you could buy that kilo of cocaine at the local grocer but sugar was scarce?
Doesn't seem quite as simple as you put it now does it?
-------------------- When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
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Visionary Tools



Registered: 06/23/07
Posts: 7,953
Last seen: 1 year, 7 months
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Re: Sugar found to be more addictive than cocaine [Re: MrKite1]
#7404407 - 09/13/07 12:52 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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I know a good night of bud isin't complete without a few grams of good suger.
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