No Scientific Evidence that Sugar is Addictive and Leads to Weight Gain, Finds Study

31 Mar 2017 --- A study conducted by researchers at Maastricht University has found “no scientific evidence to support the general assumption that sugar is addictive and leads to weight gain.” The research comes at a time when high sugar content in food products is being penalized due to previous associations with obesity and ill health.

Instead, the researchers found that weight gain is more likely when food dependence is combined with a high-calorie diet, meaning that sugar is not the main culprit.

The Maastricht researchers presented their findings last week in the scientific journal Appetite. 

The researchers say that while there is certainly a link between the consumption of palatable products like sugar and dopamine production in the brain, that link has no bearing on “addiction,” contradicting the widely acknowledged idea food is addictive.

Given the common acknowledgement that food – and sugar in particular – can be addictive, neuropsychologist and Professor Rob Markus was interested in studying the phenomenon of food dependence. 

In doing so, he expanded the standard international measurement tool for food addiction – the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) – by adding four product categories. He then administered his adapted survey to 1,500 healthy young adults and invited them to his lab for weight measurements. 

Professor Markus wanted to answer two questions in particular: which product category is most likely to trigger food dependence and which type of product dependence is most strongly correlated with weight gain.

He divided his product categories as follows: low-calorie foods (rice crackers, crackers, vegetables), sugary foods (sweets, soft drinks, dried fruits), a combination of high-fat and sugary foods (pastries, cakes) and finally, a combination of high-fat, protein-rich foods (cheese, fried foods, sausage). 

Of the people who indicated that they sometimes struggle to avoid certain foods, nearly 30% had a tendency to consume the combination of high-calorie, high-fat protein-rich foods. 

For sugary foods, that figure was 5%. 

The relationship between food dependence and weight gain was only evident in relation to combined foods.

The study also found that overweight participants struggled more with combined foods (high-calorie, sugary foods and high-calorie protein-rich foods) compared to sugary foods.

The findings aren’t the only to contradict the negative reputation that sugar is known for. Previously, Dr. Alison Boyd, Director of Sugar Nutrition UK, disputed that sugar as a standalone ingredient has a direct impact on developing illnesses, telling NutritionInsight: “Current scientific evidence does not support the theory that consumption of sugars is a specific cause of a wide range of diseases.”

She continued, “In 2015, the UK’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) published a comprehensive report, Carbohydrates and Health. It stated: “there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that fructose intake, at levels consumed in the normal UK diet, leads to adverse health outcomes independent of any effects related to its presence as a component of total and free sugars.’”

However, many heath advocators and charities are still keen to highlight the dangers of too much sugar. Andrew Langford, Chief Executive of the British Liver Trust told NutritionInsight, “One in five of us are already likely to have the early stages of fatty non-alcohol liver disease, and being overweight is the chief risk factor.”

“We know that too much sugar in the diet is a major reason for many people being overweight.”

However, Professor Markus says that the problem with weight gain is that, “We tend to consume more than we expend - what we eat doesn't really matter.” 

He also stresses that his study results demonstrate that the use of the term, “food addiction” is not appropriate.

“Perhaps we need to change the term "food addiction" into "eating dependence",” he says.

“This term does more justice to the unique and individual experience of eating food than ascribing addictive qualities to products like sugar.”

by Hannah Gardiner