MAYBE that tokhang campaign of President Duterte and Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Ronald dela Rosa might have a point after all, especially here in Negros Occidental.
The province is awash with that white powdery substance that contains dopaminergic, cholinergic and opioid effects that are similar to psychostimulants and opiates, albeit smaller in magnitude. The overall effect of these neurochemical adaptations is mild, but well-defined addiction.
But it’s still addiction nonetheless. According to the United States National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine (NIH/NLM), “evidence for sugar addiction: Behavioral and neurochemical effects of intermittent, excessive sugar intake.”
And here we are rightly putting to task a multi-national beverage company high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) for endangering the health of Negrense consumers. Instead, that company should mix…refined sugar in the brew.
CNN’s doctor Sanjay Gupta might have something to say to that. The Indian-American doctor offered his brain as a test on the toxic effects of sugar.
His conclusions? Having sips of Coca Cola (gasp! I let the cat out of the bag) increased the blood flow to certain regions of the brain – the same areas stimulated by a dose of cocaine or heroin.
And just like an addict, you need more and more of that substance to get the same rush, which is why Americans are addicted to sugar. The legal white powder, sugar, is causing more deaths in the American population than the illegal substance, drugs.
That’s an alternative to HFCS? And lots of that deadly stuff here in Negros Occidental.
And here’s another scientific article from Psychology Today entitled Sugar Addiction in Your Body, Not Just Your Mind.
If a substance would normally trigger a flood of serotonin, your brain may adapt by reducing receptors for this neurotransmitter, or producing less serotonin. And when your brain expects that you are going to take the substance, it may swing in the opposite direction (reduced availability of serotonin) to counteract the expected effects of the drug. This anticipatory drop can create powerful cravings for the substance. (Much like methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” or cocaine).
Through this process of adaptation, the addiction cycle is strengthened, and the addict needs the drug just to feel normal. Now it looks like the same process may be happening – at some level – with sugar.
A 2007 Yale University study linked soda consumption to a decrease in calcium, higher risks of Type II diabetes, higher caloric intake and body weight.
Sweeteners pa more?
(bqsanc@yahoo.com)
