Week 13

Meditation is not something we do.

It is something we cease to do.

It is self-returning. Rupert Spira

Deepak Chopra:

A Meditation to Begin Your Day

Video

Jamie Oliver : Teach Every Child About Food

Is sugar a drug? Is Sugar a Drug?

“The experimental question is whether or not sugar can be a substance of abuse and lead to a natural form of addiction. “Food addiction”

seems plausible because brain pathways that evolved to respond to natural rewards are also activated by addictive drugs. Sugar is

noteworthy as a substance that releases opioids and dopamine and thus might be expected to have addictive potential. This review

summarizes evidence of sugar dependence in an animal model. Four components of addiction are analyzed. “Bingeing,” “withdrawal,”

“craving” and “cross-sensitization” are each given operational definitions and demonstrated behaviorally with sugar bingeing as the

reinforcer. These behaviors are then related to neurochemical changes in the brain that also occur with addictive drugs. Neural adaptations

include changes in dopamine and opioid receptor binding, enkephalin mRNA expression and dopamine and acetylcholine release in the

nucleus accumbens. The evidence supports the hypothesis that under certain circumstances rats can become sugar dependent. This may

translate to some human conditions as suggested by the literature on eating disorders and obesity.”