An addiction to sugar means it is challenging to control your consumption of sugar in your diet. The consumption of sweets may in fact become like an addiction. Addictions to many substances or behaviors have been documented, but we typically think of addiction to alcohol or drugs. Refined sugar actually looks like cocaine, and it behaves like heroin upon hitting the brain.
Interestingly, sugar activates the beta endorphin receptors of the brain which are the same sites stimulated by morphine and heroin. This was documented in a study that was published in the Journal of Nutrition by Nicole Avena and colleagues in 2009. Earlier Kathleen DesMaisons noted that sugar dependency followed the same development pattern as other drugs that are commonly abused.
