Recent studies on rats have revealed a real addiction to refined sugars, with alterations in the reward circuit similar to those displayed by drug addicts (we refer to addiction in the medical sense of the word, as defined in the mental disorders diagnosis handbook DSM-IV-TR). Even more surprising: among the animals supplied with a choice between drinking sugared water and self-injecting cocaine, 90% chose sugared water! And this predilection remained even in rats already accustomed to cocaine for a long period of time. This means that sugar might be potentially more addictive than cocaine. Other lab rats also preferred sugar to nicotine. And this is not specific to rats as medical imaging has brought to light a genuine addiction to food (and probably also to sugar) in obese humans.
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