Sugar is the Legal Narcotic?
Our life can be full of paradoxes, sometimes representing our collective way of turning our back on problems and our approach to sugar addiction is one such area. We place a considerable amount of time, effort and resource (and rightly so) in the war against illegal drugs and in a battle to try and get people to turn away from smoking. Smoking is surely the biggest single addiction in our society, we are told and is directly linked, quite vocally so, to many serious illnesses. However, when it comes to sugar very little is said in the mainstream about its ability to create a significant addiction, ticking away in the background of our lives and causing its problems over time.
What is a Sugar Rush?
As part of a sugar addiction, some people refer to a sugar rush or a sugar high as if it were a psychological reaction to a drug and one linked to exhibited feelings of euphoria and pleasure. The actual sensation is less like a chemical reaction, but more like a reaction to elevated levels of energy provided by the ingredient. The energy may be short-lived, however, and will lead to an opposite reaction and can also leave behind headaches and other significant side effects, which we ignore over time at our peril.
Symptoms of Sugar Dependence
If you don’t believe that sugar addiction is a realistic and potentially very harmful problem facing society today, you probably don’t even need to conduct additional research or look at other people to find out the truth, as you may be suffering from this most prevalent and most significant challenge yourself. It is estimated that the majority of people who partake in a typical Western diet eat far in excess of a sensible amount of sugar in any one day and many people still discount the negative primary effects and side effects that this product can deliver.
Sugar and National Obesity
Sugar addiction is responsible for one of the scourges of modern society and a significant problem in the United States among other countries. While a general predisposition toward “fast food culture” and a collective psyche that suggests adequate food preparation time to be inefficient may be a big part of the problem, many experts point towards sugared beverages and sodas.
Sugar and Aging
Scientists suggest that our sugar addiction can contribute to our bodies changing much faster than they should. It has been suggested that “cross-linking” takes place when sugar molecules attach to protein molecules, causing the linked molecules to alter their function. Some of these molecules accumulate in specific soft tissues which then stiffen over time and become less functional. This can occur in arteries, tendons, cartilage and can result in failure or deterioration.
