Appears in
Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets

By Darra Goldstein

Published 2015

  • About

addiction, in relation to sweets, refers to the hypothesis that sugar (in certain forms) may be capable of triggering an addictive-like process in vulnerable individuals. Changes in the food environment and the manner in which sugar is incorporated into food may be related to neurobiological and behavioral changes in our eating that resemble addiction. If sugar can be addictive, this may speak to why our relationship with food is so difficult to change, and why sugary products are a major contributor to the obesity epidemic.