Sugar Can Be Addictive to Rats

New research from Princeton University (PU) proves that sugar is indeed addictive to small animals, such as rats and innocent lab mice. During the tests, PU scientist Bart Hoebel offered mice sugared water for weeks, and then analyzed the effects sugar deprivation had on the little creatures. He described their reactions as being similar to those of people “craving” after their drug of choice, but said that his study was not focused on humans, so all results applied to small mammals only.

"Bingeing on sugar can act on the brain in ways very similar to a drug abuse. These animals show signs of withdrawal and even long-lasting aftereffects that might resemble craving. What we discovered is this releases a surge of dopamine. It is in a part of the brain involved in motivation and reward, the nucleus accumbens," he said in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Wednesday, when he presented the study to the annual meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

"It's been known for a long time that drugs of abuse release or increase the levels of dopamine in that part of the brain. Here sugar is doing something drugs of abuse are famous for doing," the scientist added. "It's almost as if they are craving the sugar."

He also revealed that mice and rats who were deprived of sugar consumed a lot more of the substance once it was again fed to them than those who never received too much sugar in the first place. This reaction is similar to that exhibited by people who exit detox centers and start taking drugs again. Similarly, they take a very high first dose, as if to compensate for the period of abstinence.

The study also showed that mice who were “addicted” to sugar also exhibited a higher tendency of consuming alcohol, and in larger quantities than their “clean” counterparts. Representatives of the sugar industry, through Sugar Association spokeswoman Melanie Miller, said that there is no tangible evidence that sugar is addictive to humans. Hoebel says that this is true for now, but that further studies are required before science can tell for sure which version is true.