Le goût sucré, de l'enfance… à la dépendance ?

Can one talk about addiction to sugar? Sugar is an important part of our diet, and an important source of pleasure, as of a young age. The definition of addiction involves that addictive substances act on the reward circuit, and lead to two symptoms, withdrawal and tolerance. Is it the case with sugar? According to the literature, brain activations in regions involved in the reward circuit are observed in response to “sugar”, and they differ according to the type of sugar (caloric carbohydrates, sweet or not; sweeteners). Besides, withdrawal and tolerance symptoms are not well characterized: food cravings often concern sweet foods, but there is a decrease with age of the preference/liking for intensely sweet products. There is no clear relationship between weight status and liking for sugar. As any food, sugar is necessary for life, but the evidence enabling to assimilate sugar consumption and addiction is weak.