Connection Between Appetite and Addiction and Why Sugar Can Be a Drug

It seems that there’s a genetic connection with the FTO enzyme and its abnormal variation and a dopamine receptor variation. This connection shows that when you have both, you are more likely to not only be overweight but also be predisposed to addictive behaviors. I have always said that when people give up a drug of dependence they pick up others like sex, nicotine, and especially sugar. Dopamine is the connection here and people with certain genetics need more. Sugar is a very quick fix and, like other drugs of addiction, needs constant replenishment. Try taking sugar out of your diet and you’ll have many signs and symptoms of sugar “withdrawal.” It’s not imaginary, but a very real thing.  

I highly recommend limiting sugar intake, as it leads to fatty liver, diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and many more diseases of chronic inflammation. But you ask how to do this for such an addictive substance? I recommend dopamine support with things like L-Tyrosine, Rhodiola Rosea, and DopaPlus. These have been a godsend when it comes to my own sugar cravings and inability to focus at times (dopamine is the key in ADD/ADHD). These supplements will help with other addictions too (does golf count?).