Sugar: Eight times more addictive than cocaine - learn how to break the habit now

 ”The $1 trillion industrial food system is the biggest drug dealer around, responsible for contributing to tens of millions of deaths every year and siphoning trillions of dollars from our global economy through the loss of human and natural capital,” asserted Dr. Mark Hyman in the article “Sweet poison: How sugar, not cocaine, is one of the most addictive and dangerous substances.”

Hyman has plenty of experience in the field, with 20 years as a practicing physician. He’s also chairman of the Institute for Functional Medicine, as well as founder and director of the Ultra Wellness Center in Massachusetts.

Hyman isn’t simply on a campaign against sugar; he’s on a mission to rein in our current health crisis of obesity, autoimmune disease, high blood pressure, inflammation, hormonal imbalance, depression, anxiety and sleep disorders. A monumental task, since he considers the sweet stuff to be as powerfully addictive as alcohol, cocaine or even heroin.

A health disaster

Secreted within a majority of processed and packaged food, sugar is a hidden health destroyer. Americans alone consume a staggering 152 pounds each year. According to Hyman, it’s eight times more addictive than cocaine. As a nation, we are sugar addicts — true junkies in the clutches of an industrial food system.

And it doesn’t matter the type — white, brown or high-fructose corn syrup — it all contributes to cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity. Research indicates that when an overabundance of sugar is consumed, the liver converts it to fat, which can lead to plaque in the arteries and tumor growth. As it turns out, certain tumors have insulin receptors that feed on glucose.

Since the 1970s, food manufacturers began stripping products of fat because it was believed to be unhealthy. But the food turned tasteless, so sugar was the go-to replacement. Now, the substance is in everything from Starbucks coffee drinks to salad dressings and bread. Continue >>