Sugar triggers addiction response in brain, research shows
The reward system in the brain that produces dopamine, which results in feelings of pleasure, can be overridden by substances such as alcohol and food that contains sugar.When this occurs, the feelings of reward are so intense that people can develop reliance on sugar-filled food or alcohol and addiction can occur, according to researchers at Uppsala University.
Asa Mackenzie, leader of the study, said: "Our data indicate that the brain becomes hypersensitive to rewards ... lower doses than normal are enough to increase the propensity to ingest the substance, and this is true of both sugar and cocaine."
Mr Mackenzie said that while the research was "extremely interesting", further research was needed to see how the study could be used to develop drugs for addiction.
In a 2008 interview with The Sunday Times, Delia Smith suggested that the nation was addicted to sugar as a result of eating too much junk food.
She suggested that addiction to sugar is the root cause of obesity and said that people should omit it from their diet for six weeks to overcome their reliance on it.
