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Sugar is 'addictive and the most dangerous drug of the times'

23536

23536

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...and-the-most-dangerous-drug-of-the-times.html

Paul van der Velpen, the head of Amsterdam's health service, the Dutch capital city where the sale of cannabis is legalised, wants to see sugar tightly regulated.

"Just like alcohol and tobacco, sugar is actually a drug. There is an important role for government. The use of sugar should be discouraged. And users should be made aware of the dangers," he wrote on an official public health website.

"This may seem exaggerated and far-fetched, but sugar is the most dangerous drug of the times and can still be easily acquired everywhere."

Mr Van der Velpen cites research claiming that sugar, unlike fat or other foods, interferes with the body's appetite creating an insatiable desire to carry on eating, an effect he accuses the food industry of using to increase consumption of their products.

"Sugar upsets that mechanism. Whoever uses sugar wants more and more, even when they are no longer hungry. Give someone eggs and he'll stop eating at any given time. Give him cookies and he eats on even though his stomach is painful," he argued.

"Sugar is actually a form of addiction. It's just as hard to get rid of the urge for sweet foods as of smoking. Thereby diets only work temporarily. Addiction therapy is better."

The story continues: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...and-the-most-dangerous-drug-of-the-times.html
 
yeah try and regulate another product that the people love... prohibition and strict regulation is for fools.. how about we put all this effort into making our lives that much richer and more enjoyable and leave the responsibility for someones health and well being were it belongs.. their health and consumption should be their responsibility.. last thing i need is trouble getting a candy bar because some damn fatty has decided to not to put effort into their health... really its getting to thew point that we are pushing this its the governments responsibility to protect us all way to far... take responsibility for yourself folks.. way to much potential for reverse evolution going on here.
 
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neversickanymore said:
yeah try and regulate another product that the people love... prohibition and strict regulation is for fools.. how about we put all this effort into making our lives that much richer and more enjoyable and leave the responsibility for someones health and well being were it belongs.. their health and consumption should be their responsibility.. last thing i need is trouble getting a candy bar because some damn fatty has decided to not to put effort into their health... really its getting to thew point that we are pushing this its the governments responsibility to protect us all way to far... take responsibility for yourself folks.. way to much potential for reverse evolution going on here.
Click to expand...

This is my feeling toward all drugs. The inability of a few to practice moderation should never impinge on the rights of all people.
 
Thats why I think a license to use.. kinda like a driver's license, instead of drivers ed its drug ed.. and if you can't handle certain substances you are not allowed those substances.. I couldn't agree more 23536.
 
and the beat goes on... .. mmmmmmm mm sugar - fat.


Fatty foods may cause cocaine-like addiction . CNN Health
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/28/fatty.foods.brain/index.html


this article touches down right along with the above in addressing the addictive drive that is creatd by consuming these things and activating the "pleasure centers" of our brains. thus how these things can lead to compulsive behavior and more over addiction.

woOW. . ..

really intense overviews instead of open facts with direction. seems like scientific studies get into the hands of the media and it is spun into how, where, when, and this will effect your life. typically with some fear placed behind it in a drastic sense. leading us all to raw diets and sugarless gum. what comes next that smiling too much is not good because it increases others to smile leading to the release of these "pleasure sensors" which could lead to the addiction of happiness bring too many people "minds" together....(?) yikes.

straight open facts and education on how and what effects our body's leading to us making daily decesions on what we choose to do. i do not think it should look at as "sugar" or "fat" but more over the sources of food especially common "fast food" and what is being put out of throw out easy food places. that is where improvment and maoderation could be used as a large help in a bigger picture of the idea of consumption and control. we need to be aware of our own body's and how we need to take care of and love them, it is a personal resposability. not the goverments to have food regulations because people can and will not take care of them selves. just foolish. if some one has cancer they know they should not be eating sugar or red meats as they feed cancer cells. this i a basic example in regards to a common condition of being aware and pro-active at a very inherent level.

many common mind shifts or mindfulness that is talked about with in addiction... at the end of the article i posted they even were looking at the situation and the gravity of it to the treated as such;

"If we could develop therapeutics for drug addiction, those same drugs may be good for obesity as well,"

wooOw ok..... looking beyond the use of amps for "diet" control and such ehhhh now looking into using strong narcotics for a fat, fat, fat man that can not stop going to mac donald.... yeah.. i do not think this is a sound idea or even class it as a thought. kind of scary the things that pass through our press.

industries shaking shady hands?? ?!? eh.


well. . ..
best to every ones health and happiness !!!! !! <3:)
 
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Sugar is a very strong drug, and highly addictive.
Scientists are still trying to figure out what withdrawals are like, since almost nobody has ever quit...

I actually stopped all sugar cane products for about a decade, though I did eat honey at times, which isn't really so different.
It made my life nearly impossible to live in a normal way.
It would be easier to stop drinking alcohol or coffee, socially.
 
becoming a type one diabetic.. i cant refute the fact that not consuming sugar all the time hasn't had a positive impact on my life, it has.. but it was really easy for me to give up sugar..

I know a person who gave up drugs, drinking, sex, fatty foods, sugar, gambling, religion, and all dangerous activities.. they where absolutely healthy, top notch in fact, until the day they killed them self.. yeah everything in moderation, including moderation.
 
Cwest said:
sugars not a drug, whats your definition of a drug?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately the article doesn't have references. I also can't immediately find anything on the pharmacology of sucrose.
 
I actually heard someone say junk food should be banned because they could not say "no" to their kids. When I was a little kid my parents said I couldn't drink coke because it rots teeth and makes you fat. That was the rule and I sure as hell would not start screaming in public if my parents said no. Instead of a just say no campaign we need a campaign for parents to tell their kids no.
I am working on cutting sugar out of diet, coffee just doesn't taste same without it. It's not addictive like smoking though and kind of unfair to compare sugar to addictive drugs. I like taste but don't go thru withdrawl when I don't have any. Strongly against limiting my access because other people cant control themselves.
A better campaign would be to fight for real grocery stores in every neighbourhood. US studies in the inner city suggests that diabetes rates go up the farther a person is from a grocery store. Eating at 7-11 or your Korean corner store is not good for your health. Ask people who want to ban junk food why I need to take a 30 minute bus ride if I want fruits and veggies but junk food is everywhere. If you don't have a car, are elderly or have limited mobility these issues are very real and junk food gets eaten out of desperation. Before banning stuff lets start offering people real options, large grocery stores replaced city fruit markets and then pulled out for cheaper suburban rents leaving few local options for healthy eating.
I brought up all these issues to my health minister who was starting an expensive healthy eating advertising campaign, no response. If a farmer set up a stand on side of road selling organic food he would be arrested in an hour for lack of permit. If I start a community garden in a vacant lot I will get charged with trespassing.
The last thing we need is more government, they are really just in the way.
 
I kind of agree with the sentiment to a degree. I have been cutting back on the amount of sweets I eat, and it was pretty hard at first. Seems to be getting better. =D
 
Cwest said:
sugars not a drug, whats your definition of a drug?
Click to expand...

Good question.
A google search turns up these definitions among the first 4-5:

A drug is any chemical you take that affects the way your body works.
A drug is any substance that, when taken, has the ability to change the way a person thinks, feels, sees or behaves.
A drug is a substance which may have medicinal, intoxicating, performance enhancing or other effects when taken or put into a human body...
Click to expand...

Based on these definitions, sugar is most definitely a drug.
 
I just have flashbacks of when I was younger and pouring sugar onto my weetabix. The problem is, they add it to everything!
 
I hate this sort of equivalency- yes sugar is a 'drug' in the sense that it is a chemical that effects our physiology...but to compare it to drug drugs and make ridiculous statements like 'Sugar is the MOST DEADLY DRUG IN TEH WORRRRRLLLDDDDD!!!11oneoneone!' is absolutely idiotic in my opinion.

This is the sort of thinking that is going to result in being morbidly obese eventually being classified as a 'food addiction', it'll be put in the DSM-IX in 2025 or whatever, doctor will be forced to enrol their fatty patients in 'Mandatory Methamphetamine Therapy' (MMT- see what I did there? ;)) programmes to help 'treat their mental problem' so the state doesn't have to pay for foot-amputation surgery down the line.

This sort of ridiculous, overly emotional argument does nothing to actually help the 'obesity epidemic' (or Darwinism/Malthusianism in action?- obesity-related disease reducing life expectancy may be nothing more than a natural form of population correction within societies with access to advanced medical resources which distort population growth patterns i.e. 2/3 of the poor's children don't die before they're teenagers anymore, they die in their 50s of heart disease) and does nothing to promote an evidence-based understanding of 'real', medically recognised, addiction.
 
limonov said:
doctor will be forced to enrol their fatty patients in 'Mandatory Methamphetamine Therapy'
Click to expand...

I can get behind that.

I'm not fat, but I'd gain as much weight as required if it meant I'd get a methamphetamine license.
 
Anyone who's worked with or had kids knows that sugar is indeed a psychoactive drug. I agree with van der Velpen on this point, it's just one of those things that's overlooked because sugar has been around forever, so nobody thought twice about putting tons of it in food.

In adults the effecs of sugar are less pronounced, but if you have it every day with every meal then over time it can have powerful effects on people.

That's not to say ANY ammount of sugar is bad for you, like so so many things, a little bit of sugar is probably better than none at all, but too much can eventually kill you. The reason why sugar is so dangerous (at least, in America) is that huge numbers of people eat sickening quantities of sugar without even knowing it. Even worse, a few people are making colossal stacks of money because of it- and that makes it really hard to change the situation.

I'm hopeful that the current trends in America will lead to people getting over the false dichotomy between "food" and "drugs," because pretty much everything we put in our bodies has some effect beyond just making us feel full.
 
Drug or no drug sugar is still in the realms of cafine, ephedrine, and such... just apparently cant tip my world to a point where i even need to concentrate or let alone worry about tipping it back.
 
Not sure whether I'd classify sugar as a drug, however, I do find it can be quite addictive.

If I've been eating sugary snacks for a while and then suddenly stop, I begin to get some pretty severe cravings. They tend to last up to about a week, after which the thought of eating (for example) a Twinkie actually grosses me out. True story.
 
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