Our modern love affair with sugar can be traced back to the 7th and 8th centuries in the Arab world. In Baghdad, newly established as a cultural and culinary center, locals indulged in syrup-drenched pastries, sherbets, and candies made with honey or sugar — setting in motion a craving that would travel across continents.
The word “sugar” itself derives from the Arabic term “sukkar”, brought to Europe after the Crusades in the 11th century, along with the habit of consuming sweets for a boost of energy or a soothing treat. At the time, sugary foods were rare indulgences. Now, they are nearly impossible to avoid.
Today, over 60% of food and beverage items on American supermarket shelves include added sugar. It’s found not just in desserts or sodas, but also in processed products that market themselves as healthy, like salad dressings, energy bars, soups, and cereals.
Reading nutrition labels can be shocking: a can of Coca-Cola contains about 10 grams of sugar, and even something as benign as tomato soup might contain 7 to 8 teaspoons of sugar. These hidden sugars help explain why the average North American consumes around 17 teaspoons of added sugar every single day.
This widespread presence of added sugars represents one of the most radical transformations of the human diet in recent history. Medical experts increasingly cite excessive sugar consumption as a major contributor to the global rise in obesity, diabetes, and related health problems. But sugar is not only dangerous for the body — it may also impact the brain in ways that mirror substance addiction.
Many individuals describe their sugar consumption in ways similar to substance dependency: sudden cravings, binges, mood crashes, and persistent fatigue. These behaviors mimic the patterns seen in addictive behavior and raise an important question — is sugar addictive?
Neuroscientific research suggests that chronic sugar intake does have a neurological impact. It alters dopamine transmission and stress pathways in the brain — mechanisms involved in addictive behavior. According to Nicole Avena, an expert in food addiction at Mount Sinai Morningside hospital in New York, “These brain changes resemble those found in individuals with substance use disorders and may explain the cycle of craving and overconsumption.”
Still, sugar’s role in addiction isn’t as straightforward as that of drugs like nicotine or cocaine. Sugar does not directly act on the brain’s dopamine reward system in the same way. Some scientists argue that the brain’s response is more tied to the pleasurable taste of sweet foods than to sugar’s actual chemical properties.
Octavian Vasiliu, a psychiatrist from Carol Davila University in Romania, believes that the pleasure triggered by sugar’s taste is what drives the behavior, rather than sugar being inherently addictive. This leads to a classification of sugar addiction as a behavioral addiction, not a substance addiction — similar to addictions to gambling or screen time.
So what causes people to fall into this pattern of overconsumption?
Neuroscientists Selena Bartlett and Kerri Gillespie from the Queensland University of Technology emphasize the role of stress and early life experiences. In an email to DW, they noted that sugar affects the brain in ways that can lead to compulsive behavior, particularly in people who’ve experienced trauma or emotional hardship.
Their research supports the idea that sugar consumption is tightly bound to emotional self-regulation. Stress, anxiety, and depression can all trigger cravings for sweet foods. Over time, this pattern can develop into a cycle of emotional eating that resembles addiction.
“Early life stress can prime the brain to seek highly palatable foods like sugar,” they explained, highlighting a neurodevelopmental vulnerability that predisposes individuals to compulsive sugar intake.
Regardless of whether sugar is addictive in the technical sense, its impact on human health is undeniable. Addictions are only dangerous when they cause harm — and long-term sugar consumption clearly does.
There is a wealth of scientific evidence linking excessive sugar intake — defined as more than six teaspoons daily for women and nine for men — with a range of serious health problems: tooth decay, chronic fatigue, insulin resistance, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular conditions, and even certain cancers and neurological diseases.
Studies have also found a connection between high-sugar diets and mental health issues. One study noted that people who consumed four or more soft drinks per week were twice as likely to suffer from depression compared to those who drank fewer than one.
So how do people break free from this sweet dependency?
Overcoming sugar addiction requires a multi-layered approach. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to be effective by helping individuals identify the thoughts and emotions that trigger compulsive eating and develop healthier coping strategies.
Nutritional interventions are also essential. Gradually cutting back on added sugars helps reduce withdrawal-like symptoms, while increasing dietary fiber and protein supports stable blood sugar levels and reduces cravings. Structured meal plans can help people develop consistency and awareness around their eating habits.
Yet, many find that personal willpower alone is not enough. Like tobacco in past decades, sugar is deeply embedded in food systems and heavily marketed by large corporations. Vasiliu stresses the role of policy, stating that governments should improve access to nutritious food and reduce the promotion of ultra-processed, high-sugar products.
Some countries have already implemented sugar taxes to curb consumption. In four U.S. states, a 33% increase in the price of sugary beverages led to a corresponding 33% drop in soft drink sales. However, such policies have limitations. In Mexico, for example, consumers switched from taxed sodas to untaxed fruit juices — which still contain high levels of sugar.
The UK took a different approach with a two-tiered sugar tax in 2018, which taxed products according to their sugar content. This led to reformulations by manufacturers and reduced overall sugar intake from beverages.
Health professionals believe sugar taxes could be even more effective if they were higher and extended to a broader range of products, not just sodas.
Ultimately, curbing sugar overconsumption requires both personal and systemic change — not only awareness and behavioral shifts at the individual level, but strong policy, regulation, and public health initiatives at the national and international levels.
