Books have been written about it.
Diets have been created around it.
Is there such a thing as a carb addiction?
Can you truly curb an insatiable taste for the sweet stuff or the starchy comfort foods that turn into sugar and energy for our bodies?
M. Yanina Pepino, a fellow at the Center for Human Nutrition at Washington University School of Medicine has studied and co-authored studies about child and adult preferences for cane sugar (sucrose) and factors influencing those preferences. She said our attraction to sweets and their accompanying calories is natural.
“In humans, there is no data showing that it is really an addiction; rather, I would say we know that it is an innate preference – so we are hard-wired; we are born liking it. We don’t have to learn to like the taste,” Pepino said.
“At least earlier in life – babies and we now know that in children, they feel good when they have sugar. Apparently it may be related with the release of endorphins because sugars can be analgesic, like a pain-killer, for babies and in children.”
Pepino said studies reveal that children prefer more sugar when they are younger, which starts to drop off during late adolescence.
“And we don’t know exactly why yet, but that has been found in many animals, not only in humans,” she said, adding that there are many factors that regulate the preference for sugar.
“We know that race has an affect. In fact, we know that persons of African descent – they like higher levels of sweeteners than white Caucasians; and we found that in all different ages,” Pepino said.
“And we know, for example, that people who have a family history of alcoholism, that’s where you make the link with addiction. When you live in a family with alcoholics, they also like higher levels of sugar, and we found that in both children and adults. Even those who don’t have a problem with alcohol themselves, they call for higher levels of sugar.”
Drinking sodas, sugary drinks and items containing high fructose corn syrup are targeted as major culprits in the rise of obesity in the U.S. Pepino said it’s not simply the sweet drinks or foods. Sweets plus fat equals a recipe for weight gain and obesity.
“We talk about a sweet tooth and obesity, but obesity is more related to increasing the consumption of fats more than sweets,” she explained. “There are more data that you can find that it is related to the increase in fat foods. What happens is most of these foods are not just fat –but they are fat and sweet.”
Carbohydrates are, however, an important food group and are categorized as simple or complex, depending on how long it takes the body to digest and process them. Carbs are broken down by the liver into glucose (blood sugar). The body uses this sugar for energy for your cells, tissues and organs. Simple carbs are found in fruits, milk products and in refined, or table sugar. Complex carbohydrates provide the body with vitamins, minerals and fiber and include whole grain breads and cereals, starchy vegetables and legumes.
The reason refined sugar (like table sugar and alcohol) should be limited in the diet is that it has little nutritional value (you get the calories but no vitamins, minerals or fiber). In the good carb-bad carb scheme of things, the body will process and use simple sugars first; storing the other as fat to use for energy at a later time. You’ve probably seen some of that storage – on the hips, thighs, butt, arms, love handles and anywhere else it can collect.
Think of it this way; without some intervening actions, i.e., a healthier diet and physical activity, there will be more storage, more fat, and more weight.
In addition to a family history of alcoholism, another of Pepino’s studies concludes that higher sugar preferences and the feel-good response after eating them may be a protective response to depression.
