Pg. 277 "There's no doubt that we eat more than we used to. But why? We have a negative feedback system in our brains called leptin, which, until fifty years ago, told us that we had enough energy to burn, and therefore prevented us from overeating. However, insulin blocks leptin signaling (leptin resistance) as the hypothalamus, mimicking brain starvation, which causes us to overeat in an attempt to drive the leptin level higher. That being said, if insulin and leptin were the only problems, then we would overeat all types of foods--but we don't usually overconsume fruits, vegetables, or beans/legumes. No, the foods we overeat are all found as components of fast food."
Pg. 282 "Other than caffeine, the foodstuff with the highest score on the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) is sugar. In fact, adding a soda to a fast food meal increases the sugar content tenfold. Sugar has also been used for its analgesic effect in neonatal circumcision, suggesting a link between sugar and opioid tone in the brain's reward center. Human imaging studies also support the contention that sugar, and specifically the fructose molecule, is addictive."
Pg. 283 "Animal studies also show that sugar is addictive. Sugar administration induces behavioral alterations consistent with dependence (i.e., bingeing, withdrawal, craving, and cross-sensitization to other drugs of abuse, consistent with addiction). Indeed, sweetness surpasses cocaine as a reward in rats. In fact, addicting rats to opioids makes them binge on fructose instead, because of alterations in the reward center, and especially in adolescent rats. All in all, while sugar doesn't exhibit the DSM-IV standards of tolerance and withdrawal, it meets the DSM-5 standards of tolerance and dependence. So, whatever criteria you decide to use, it's now obvious--sugar is addictive and many of us are junkies."
Pg. 284 "The hedonic nature of sugar is also revealed by examining its economics. For instance, coffee is price-inelastic, i.e., increasing price doesn't reduce consumption. For example, when prices jumped in 2014 due to decreased supply, Starbucks sales didn't budge an inch. As consumables go, soft drinks are the second most price inelastic, just below fast food. Raise the price 10 percent (e.g., with taxes), and consumption drops only 7.6 percent, mostly among the poor."
Pg. 285 "The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines 'food' as a 'material consisting essentially of protein, carbohydrate, and fat used in the body of an organism to sustain growth, repair, and vital processes and to furnish energy.' Fructose supplies energy, so that makes it a food, right? But can you name an energy source that isn't nutrition by any dietician's estimation, for which there is no biochemical reaction in the human body that requires it, and that causes disease when consumed chronically and at high dose implying addiction? Answer--alcohol. It has calories (7 kcal/gm), but it's clearly not nutrition. When consumed chronically and in high doses, alcohol is toxic, unrelated to its calories or effects on weight. Not everyone who is exposed gets addicted, but enough do to warrant public health interventions. Clearly, alcohol is not a food. Similarly, sugar isn't a food, as it's also not essential for animal life, causes damage in chronically high dosage, and a sizable percentage of the population is addicted."
"It's true that certain foods are necessary for survival--while others aren't. We need essential nutrients that our body can't make out of other nutrients, but there are only five classes: 1) essential amino acids (nine out of the possible twenty found in proteins); 2) essential fatty acids (such as omega-3s and linoleic acid); 3) vitamins; 4) minerals; and 5) fiber. Furthermore, none of these essential nutrients are remotely addictive. Of the hedonic substances found in food, only alcohol, caffeine, and sugar are addictive, and these are food additives, not foods in themselves."
Pg. 282 "Other than caffeine, the foodstuff with the highest score on the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) is sugar. In fact, adding a soda to a fast food meal increases the sugar content tenfold. Sugar has also been used for its analgesic effect in neonatal circumcision, suggesting a link between sugar and opioid tone in the brain's reward center. Human imaging studies also support the contention that sugar, and specifically the fructose molecule, is addictive."
Pg. 283 "Animal studies also show that sugar is addictive. Sugar administration induces behavioral alterations consistent with dependence (i.e., bingeing, withdrawal, craving, and cross-sensitization to other drugs of abuse, consistent with addiction). Indeed, sweetness surpasses cocaine as a reward in rats. In fact, addicting rats to opioids makes them binge on fructose instead, because of alterations in the reward center, and especially in adolescent rats. All in all, while sugar doesn't exhibit the DSM-IV standards of tolerance and withdrawal, it meets the DSM-5 standards of tolerance and dependence. So, whatever criteria you decide to use, it's now obvious--sugar is addictive and many of us are junkies."
Pg. 284 "The hedonic nature of sugar is also revealed by examining its economics. For instance, coffee is price-inelastic, i.e., increasing price doesn't reduce consumption. For example, when prices jumped in 2014 due to decreased supply, Starbucks sales didn't budge an inch. As consumables go, soft drinks are the second most price inelastic, just below fast food. Raise the price 10 percent (e.g., with taxes), and consumption drops only 7.6 percent, mostly among the poor."
Pg. 285 "The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines 'food' as a 'material consisting essentially of protein, carbohydrate, and fat used in the body of an organism to sustain growth, repair, and vital processes and to furnish energy.' Fructose supplies energy, so that makes it a food, right? But can you name an energy source that isn't nutrition by any dietician's estimation, for which there is no biochemical reaction in the human body that requires it, and that causes disease when consumed chronically and at high dose implying addiction? Answer--alcohol. It has calories (7 kcal/gm), but it's clearly not nutrition. When consumed chronically and in high doses, alcohol is toxic, unrelated to its calories or effects on weight. Not everyone who is exposed gets addicted, but enough do to warrant public health interventions. Clearly, alcohol is not a food. Similarly, sugar isn't a food, as it's also not essential for animal life, causes damage in chronically high dosage, and a sizable percentage of the population is addicted."
"It's true that certain foods are necessary for survival--while others aren't. We need essential nutrients that our body can't make out of other nutrients, but there are only five classes: 1) essential amino acids (nine out of the possible twenty found in proteins); 2) essential fatty acids (such as omega-3s and linoleic acid); 3) vitamins; 4) minerals; and 5) fiber. Furthermore, none of these essential nutrients are remotely addictive. Of the hedonic substances found in food, only alcohol, caffeine, and sugar are addictive, and these are food additives, not foods in themselves."