Carbohydrates are Addictive like Cigarettes, Scientist says

Carbohydrates are Addictive like Cigarettes, Scientist says.

Could it really be that sweets and chocolate are as addictive as cigarettes? That's the controversial conclusion from a study by New Zealand scientists who found that foods made largely from refined sugar and flour have the same addictive qualities as tobacco.

'Heavily processed carbohydrates such as cornflakes, sweets and croissants quickly raise the amount of sugar in your blood,' explains lead researcher Dr Simon Thornley, a Lecturer at University of Auckland. 'This rush of sugar stimulates the same areas of the brain that are involved with addiction to nicotine and other drugs.' In other words, some of us may be piling on the pounds not just because we are greedy but because we are addicted.

If Dr Thornley's claim is supported, that would open up new ways of dealing with the obesity crisis, including a food version of the nicotine patch used to help smokers quit. 'Drug addicts have to keep taking larger amounts of their chemical of choice. They find it difficult to stop, they keep doing it despite negative consequences and they feel depressed if they do stop,' says Thornley, whose paper was published in the journal Medical Hypotheses. 'People do all those things around refined carbohydrates.'

Just how big a contribution this could be making to the obesity crisis isn't yet clear, 'We need more research,' says Thornley, 'but the evidence for refined carbs being potentially addictive is growing fast. There's a good case for treating highly refined foods as we do cigarettes - banning TV ads, taxing them and even insisting on pack health warnings.'

Studies of brain scans suggest that people who put on a lot of weight could be doing it to improve their mood; the same reason addicts take drugs.

This research shows that people with a high Body Mass Index (BMI) have fewer receptors in the part of their brains that generate pleasurable feelings. The same pattern is evident in people addicted to cocaine and alcohol.

These findings are backed by scientists at Princeton University in America, who have been turning rats into sugar addicts. The rats not only suffer cravings when sugar is taken away from them but they then binge on it when it becomes available again.

Auckland Cereal manufacturer Smartfoods Ltd, the producer of the Vogel’s range of breakfast cereals, has followed Dr Thornley’s research and is introducing a range of healthier low sugar cereals using the natural South American plant-based sweetener Stevia. Vogel’s Café-style Light Luxury Nuts & Seeds is the first cereal in NZ to use Stevia.

The new Vogel’s Café-style Light Luxury Nuts & Seeds has been launched with a very low seven percent sugar. Smartfoods Ltd is very aware of the potential health dangers of excessive sugar consumption in NZ and is committed to developing a range of healthy products that also taste great.
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