spini4
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2003
- Messages
- 795
A smoker for many years, my friend Ron found himself a bit cranky while going "cold turkey" and listening to a smoking cessation tape.
As soothing male and female voices alternately directed the listener through what was supposed to be a positive guided visualization, I caught him grumbling back to the presenters, "Yeah, yeah that's easy for you to say. You're probably both sitting there smoking!"
Ultimately, Ron did stop smoking but swore that it was much more difficult to do than it had been for him, as a recovered alcoholic, to stop drinking. He found, though, that once he had given up smoking, he craved sweets and consequently gained weight, which he's been battling ever since.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that when nicotine enters the bloodstream, it immediately stimulates the adrenal glands to release the hormone epinephrine (adrenaline). This triggers the central nervous system into the "fight or flight" mode, increasing heart rate, respirations and blood pressure. Next, glucose is released into the bloodstream, while the nicotine suppresses the insulin output of the pancreas, causing smokers to have chronically elevated blood sugar levels.
Until recently, the main source of sugar we consumed was what was found naturally in foods with small quantities of concentrated sweets as an occasional treat. Today, over a third of our caloric intake comes from sugar or white flour (which is highly refined and behaves just like sugar does in our bodies). There is an initial "high" followed by a "crash" and then the craving for more with these series of highs and lows extremely detrimental to the adrenal glands as well as causing anxiety, moodiness and eventual exhaustion.
A diet high in sugar is associated with many problems, including heart disease, diabetes, decreased immunity, chronic fatigue, ADD, candida, irritable bowel syndrome and autoimmune diseases. Sugar stimulates the pancreas' insulin causing the liver to produce triglycerides, which are linked to stroke, heart disease and obesity.
In his study, Princeton University's Bart Hoebel, Ph.D., learned that rats (which metabolize sugar much like we do) that binged on sugar developed signs of addiction that included bingeing, sensitization, withdrawal and craving-like behavior. Sugar prompts the production of opioids.
"We think that is a key to the addiction process," Hoebel explained. "The brain is getting addicted to its own opioids as it would to morphine or heroin. Drugs give a bigger effect, but it is essentially the same process."
Another study from France presented at the 2007 annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience revealed that when rats were given a choice between sugar water and cocaine, they overwhelmingly choose the sugar water. Even the rats that were already addicted to cocaine switched to the sweetened water when given the choice!
Read more at: http://www.ctpost.com/health/article/Mood-altering-drugs-cocaine-alcohol-nicotine-839772.php
As soothing male and female voices alternately directed the listener through what was supposed to be a positive guided visualization, I caught him grumbling back to the presenters, "Yeah, yeah that's easy for you to say. You're probably both sitting there smoking!"
Ultimately, Ron did stop smoking but swore that it was much more difficult to do than it had been for him, as a recovered alcoholic, to stop drinking. He found, though, that once he had given up smoking, he craved sweets and consequently gained weight, which he's been battling ever since.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that when nicotine enters the bloodstream, it immediately stimulates the adrenal glands to release the hormone epinephrine (adrenaline). This triggers the central nervous system into the "fight or flight" mode, increasing heart rate, respirations and blood pressure. Next, glucose is released into the bloodstream, while the nicotine suppresses the insulin output of the pancreas, causing smokers to have chronically elevated blood sugar levels.
Until recently, the main source of sugar we consumed was what was found naturally in foods with small quantities of concentrated sweets as an occasional treat. Today, over a third of our caloric intake comes from sugar or white flour (which is highly refined and behaves just like sugar does in our bodies). There is an initial "high" followed by a "crash" and then the craving for more with these series of highs and lows extremely detrimental to the adrenal glands as well as causing anxiety, moodiness and eventual exhaustion.
A diet high in sugar is associated with many problems, including heart disease, diabetes, decreased immunity, chronic fatigue, ADD, candida, irritable bowel syndrome and autoimmune diseases. Sugar stimulates the pancreas' insulin causing the liver to produce triglycerides, which are linked to stroke, heart disease and obesity.
In his study, Princeton University's Bart Hoebel, Ph.D., learned that rats (which metabolize sugar much like we do) that binged on sugar developed signs of addiction that included bingeing, sensitization, withdrawal and craving-like behavior. Sugar prompts the production of opioids.
"We think that is a key to the addiction process," Hoebel explained. "The brain is getting addicted to its own opioids as it would to morphine or heroin. Drugs give a bigger effect, but it is essentially the same process."
Another study from France presented at the 2007 annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience revealed that when rats were given a choice between sugar water and cocaine, they overwhelmingly choose the sugar water. Even the rats that were already addicted to cocaine switched to the sweetened water when given the choice!
Read more at: http://www.ctpost.com/health/article/Mood-altering-drugs-cocaine-alcohol-nicotine-839772.php
