Asklemmy @lemmy.ml Ganesh Venugopal @lemmy.ml 1 yr. ago

Is Sugar really as addictive as Cocaine/drugs in general?

Modified post. Read the edit at the buttom.

Now, call me crazy, I don't think so! I have been an addict and I know how it is to be an addict, but I don't think sugar is as addictive as cocaine. And I really am frustrated with people who say such things.

This notion that it's as addictive drives me crazy! I mean, imagine someone gullible who says, well, "I can control my addiction to ice cream, heck I can go without ice cream for months, if it's as addictive as cocaine, why not give cocaine a chance? It's not like it's gonna destroy me or something?" Yeah, I have once been this gullible (when I was younger) and I hate this.

I do crave sugar and I do occasionally (once per week and sometimes twice a month) buy sugary treats/lays packet (5 Indian Rupees, smallest one) to quench that craving, but I refuse to believe that it is as addictive as cocaine or any other drugs. PS: My last lays packet was 45 ago and I am fine, and this is the most addictive substance I have consumed.

I am pretty some people here have been addicted to cocaine (truly no judgement, I hope you are sober now), so what say you?

PS: If you haven't been addicted to anything drastic as drugs, you are still welcome to chip in.

edit: thank you all for adding greater context.

I realize now that when they talk about sugar, they are not just talking abt lays and ice creams, but sugar in general. I get the studies now. But media is doing a terrible job of reporting on studies.

Also, the media depiction of scientific studies is really the worst. I mean, they make claims which garbage and/or incomplete data or publish articles on studies which make more alarming claims. Also, maybe wait for a consensus before you publish anything, i.e., don't publish anything which isn't peer reviewed and replicated multiple times. Yes, your readers might miss out on the latest and greatest, but it isn't really helpful if the latest and greatest studies in science aren't peer reviewed and backed up well by data.

I feel like a headline "SUGAR IS AS ADDICTIVE AS COCAINE" can and will be life destroying if you don't give enough information. I feel like there should be an ethical responsibility to not sensationalize studies, maybe instead of "SUGAR IS AS ADDICTIVE AS COCAINE" give a headline like "Sugar and Addiction, what science says."

also, https://i.imgur.com/VrBgrjA.png ss of bing chat gpt answering the question.

some articles: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/25/is-sugar-really-as-addictive-as-cocaine-scientists-row-over-effect-on-body-and-brain

https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/experts-is-sugar-addictive-drug

https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/cravings/202209/is-sugar-addictive

https://brainmd.com/blog/what-do-sugar-and-cocaine-have-in-common/

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I've yet to see someone blowing people in a parking lot for caster sugar, so I can't see how it's as addictive as hard drugs.
- Have you ever seen a TV show about a 600+ lbs woman? If cocaine was available in Walmart you wouldn't see people doing sexual favors for it.
- It's also significantly easier to get ahold of.
- you dont see huge bags of cocaine on grocery store shelves either.
  
  Make sugar as rare as coke and you will see way worse shit than some simple street head.
  
  Granny may take your head for a cup of sugar, deary
  
  If the studies are true, Granny is basically a drug dealer
- Price...
  
  If pure sugar/corn syrup cost the same as cocaine, then some people probably would.
  
  If cocaine was legal, it would be cheap as fuck and comparable. Hell, it was legal once and relatively cheap, people weren't giving blowies for it back then. But it was still just as addictive
- I've seen people with diabetes unable to quit sugar even though it's killing them, and THAT sounds like hard drugs to me.
- You can buy a pound of castor sugar in any store. Plus it’s about $19,000 cheaper.
- Well sugar is way cheaper and easier to access so that’s not a good comparison. I wonder if sugar suddenly became a black market item and jumped to comparable prices if people would resort to sucking dick for it?
  
  I mean… the kind of people who would for sugar probably aren’t the same people you’d want sucking your dick tho.
  
  When sugar became a rare commodity in Jewish ghettos in Nazi-controlled territory, people would literally trade diamonds to get it.
  
  Oh people were definitely sucking dick for sugar there man.

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