Levers? Brain Chem? What’s the Real Stimulus? by Joan Kent, PhD

A woman whose knowledge and expertise I greatly respect was interviewed a few years ago on a podcast about sugar addiction.

 

At some point, the interviewer asked:  What makes some people more “addictable” to sugar?

 

I’m paraphrasing the expert’s answer, but she said animal studies have shown that “addictable” rats develop greater attachment to the cue for food (sugar) delivery than non-addictable rats. Addictable rats nuzzled the lever that signaled the food delivery, for example, as opposed to simply waiting for the food, as non-addictable rats did.

 

Clearly, Something Was Missing

 

Our expert never answered the question of what makes some people more addictable to sugar.

 

Attachment to the cue (lever) is behavioral and doesn’t get to the underlying facts in sugar addiction. What made these rats develop the attachment in the first place?

 

I wanted the brain chem piece.

 

To my knowledge, here it is.  It’s based partly on work by the brilliant Christina Gianoulakis, PhD, at McGill University.

 

Alcoholics have a genetic trait that spans several generations. They have low levels of certain brain chemicals, so they feel ‘less good’ on a day-to-day basis than non-addicts. And when they consume alcohol or sugar, they show an exaggerated release of those same chemicals.

 

This makes sugar and alcohol super-reinforcing for addictable types. They feel lousy without sugar and Greater-Than-Great with it.

 

So What About the Rats?

 

I submit that the lever-nuzzling of the addictable rats in the study was based on this genetic trait.

 

For clarity, every addiction involves release of the brain chemical dopamine.  In the study, a lever appeared in the cage and signaled the arrival of food (sugar). The sugar delivery was both consistent and quick (within seconds).

 

That created 2 events that need to occur for dopamine to be released in large quantities:

1) anticipation of a pleasurable experience.

2) a realistic chance that the experience will occur.

 

The lever was event #1. The consistent, quick delivery was event #2. Result: big dopamine.

 

Yet There’s Even More Here

 

Scientists now call dopamine the “anticipation molecule” because research shows it’s released in large quantities when those 2 events occur. So all of the rats probably got a big dopamine hit when the lever appeared.

 

But what made some rats (the addictable ones) nuzzle the lever – even to the point of sometimes missing the food delivery?

 

I would offer as explanation the genetic trait uncovered by Dr. Gianoulakis.

 

My take on the rats-and-lever experiment is that what made the addictable rats nuzzle the lever was their lower-than-normal level of dopamine, plus their exaggerated dopamine release when the lever appeared. (Also, of course, when they consumed the sugar.)

 

The lever-nuzzlers became as addicted to the anticipation as to the sugar. Or even more so – and that can happen with foods and with people. Because of the brain chemical similarities between alcoholism and sugar addiction, I’ve connected the dots here. (Blast me if you must.)

 

Bottom line, the genetic dopamine story answers the question the expert was asked on the podcast but never answered:  What makes some people more addictable to sugar?

 

I love the neurochemical explanation of addiction because it removes all the blame from us. It makes no more sense to blame your brain for its response to sugar than to blame your eyes for their color. We got what we got. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to stop there.

 

For help with sugar addiction, food addictions, and other food issues, just visit LastResortNutrition.com and request your free “It’s Not Your Fault” consult. Discover how easy it can be to free yourself from the effects of these “addictable” substances and start feeling fantastic. Yes, you can do this!

 

Brought to you by Dr. Joan Kent, best-selling author of Stronger Than Sugar.