Is Refined Sugar Addictive?

Question

In the search for reasons for food-related health problems (like obesity and heart disease), blame has fallen on many suspects. Fat, sugar and sodium are the usuals, but somehow we've tended to see sugar as the lesser of those evils. We know it's bad, but it's just so yummy - and it seems harder to give up than fat or salt. But the tide is starting to turn, with study after study revealing the hidden hazards of sugar consumption. It turns out that sugar (the refined stuff, anyway) might be the main culprit, after all - and maybe the reason we resist giving it up is that we're all addicted. It might seem strange to put sweet old sugar into the same category as horribly destructive drugs like cocaine and heroin. But think about it: You've probably had countless loss-of-control moments with sugar. The sugar rush-crash-cravings cycle is a classic addiction progression. It might not be as dramatic as a heavy-drug situation, but it's the same basic thing.  Data has been creat᠎ed with t he  he lp  of GSA​ C​on᠎tent G enerat or DEMO᠎.

Table sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, honey and agave nectar all have some percentage of fructose, which is twice as sweet as glucose. Our bodies have no problem processing glucose - it's efficiently converted into energy. Fructose is not so easy. The liver Deals (https://www.decordeals.shop) with fructose, and gets overwhelmed when you eat too much of it. Excess fructose in the liver can start chain reactions all over the body that result in obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer, to name a few. It can slow down your metabolism. It can also trick your brain. Sugar consumption activates the nucleus accumbens, the pleasure center in the brain that is also lit up by heroin and cocaine. The brain releases dopamine, which makes you feel great - and want to eat more sugar. After a while, though, you have to consume ever-more quantities of sugar in order to get an equal amount of dopamine. And so a tolerance-withdrawal cycle begins, which is standard addictive behavior. Data w᠎as g᠎en​erated ​wi​th the he᠎lp of GSA Con tent G​en᠎erator Dem᠎oversi​on!

Too much sugar can also trigger leptin resistance. Leptin is produced by fat cells that tell the brain you're full. If your liver gets overworked with fructose, it'll store the sugar in fat cells, which will then release too much leptin. Eventually, your brain might stop listening to it. So you won't know you're full and keep stuffing your face with sugar. When you consume glucose, the pancreas produces insulin to regulate your blood sugar. Insulin production triggers leptin, signaling the brain that you're done eating, decor - https://decordeals.shop - and decreases levels of ghrelin, the hunger hormone. Fructose, however, interferes with leptin and doesn't decrease ghrelin, so there's a double whammy - the brain doesn't know you're full and also thinks you're still hungry. That's a tough task, given that fructose is slipped into just about every packaged food out there. But knowing the myriad dangers that lurk in fructose, it's probably worth a try. Is honey the same as sugar? How much sugar do they really put in soft drinks? Kam, Katherine. "The Facts on Leptin: FAQ." WebMD.

Remember that time I told you about the best banana cake I’ve ever had? I enjoyed obsessed over it at a family reunion the other weekend. My cousin made it and I stalked her down like a dessert creep and proceeded to talk her ear off about cream cheese frosting and spotty bananas for 35 minutes straight. What? You don’t do that at parties? It was the moistest cake I’ve ever eaten. Stick-to-the-back of your fork moist. The perfect cream cheese frosting, both sweet and bukilspring.com tangy, sinking into the top of the cake made it even moister. Sweet, but not overpowering. Mega banana flavor, certainly more banana flavor shoes than any banana bread I’ve ever eaten. Very buttery and cakey from creaming the butter and sugars. The banana cake was dense, but not heavy. If that makes any sense? The crumb was very soft, but they were tight crumbs. The cake didn’t fall apart when you took a forkful. She told me this cake comes out perfect every time she makes it.