To think that caffeine & sugar are drugs?

I think putting them in the category of ‘drug’ along with drugs like heroin and meth and comparing sugar and caffeine to them will make it look as though high class drugs are not as harmful as they actually are. If you get brought up being told that you consume sugar, you’re consuming drugs… you’re going to grow up and think why would the other drugs hurt consuming them too.

I also think it’s scaremongering, instead why not focus on educating on how alcohol is a drug but is the most ‘normal’ in everyone’s life but has the most harmful effects. But no, apparently people want to focus on how sugar and caffeine are so harmful and addictive

Has anyone, who has caffeine in the morning to start their day, ever tried not having it?

There’s no doubt some people are more sensitive to it and the withdrawal is pretty bad!

I don't mind the description of caffeine as a drug, same for alcohol. The most commonly used drug in the world. It crosses the blood+brain barrier and interacts with our neurotransmitter receptors blocking the ability of our neurotransmitters.

But sugar is an essential part of our metabolic processes so it's a different category. It's not doing anything like what I've described above for caffeine. It might well have negative properties and it's absolutely important to reduce the quantity of UPFs we eat, but it's not a drug in the way caffeine and alcohol are.

Significant withdrawal symptoms or use of the drug to relieve or avoid withdrawal are also characteristics of the condition.

https://www.verywellmind.com/caffeine-addiction-4157287 gives basic summary.

It’s in Y6. Good job too as parents clearly don’t understand (see this thread). So it’s all drugs and their impacts on the body. Prescription, illegal, alcohol, caffeine etc. Just as they go to secondary school so they can make informed choices in the face of peer pressure. High doses of caffeine can be dangerous in younger people hence the restrictions in many countries with energy drinks. It is a stimulant, has a physiological impact and impacts the nervous system. Scientifically it’s a drug.

Caffeine is a drug, sugar is not, fact

I think it may be your wording, but if you start to talk to children about sugar and caffeine being drugs

1. You run the risk of labelling food that is perfectly fine in moderation as “bad”. Better to educate around healthy eating etc.
2. You run the risk of confusion when it comes to actual drugs (the ones bought via dealers). While there are sections of MN who seeM to think that having a slice of cake is akin to taking heroin this isn’t really the case.

I agree with you.
They are both addictive and hard to give up. So many people are overweight because of a sugar addiction and many people can't function without their coffee or Diet Coke all day.
Some research scientists have claimed that sugar is more addictive than cocaine.
We don't need either of them in our diet. People are doing fine being caffeine free or on keto diets. Maybe doing better than they have before.

Yes we talk about the effects of caffeine and sugar.

Interesting episode on diary of a ceo about sugar.

Let’s go through life without any lows or highs, let’s not do anything that might give us joy; a good laugh with a friend, a delicious meal, belting out your favourite power ballad in the shower, or cause us grief; making friends or falling in love, having a pet, watching a sad film.

Food, particularly, must be carefully policed and monitored to be nutritionally balanced at all times and nothing should ever be eaten in excess.

I've just given up 'sugar' and caffeine for the past 19 days. It wasn't that hard at all despite eating / drinking excessively. If I had that much alcohol, it would be a lot harder to stop.

However 'sugar' is misleading. Fruit contains sugar, not to mention how your body reacts to carbohydrates. So, the glucose spike (ie how it affects your body/ mood) of a chunk of white baguette and chocolate bar are not dissimilar. I think it's silly to isolate 'sugar' as a baddie apart from dental health. There's also many things which help to reduce the sugar spike (eg. Combining sugar with fat) so if you really want to learn about the effects of 'sugar' and educate people, you need to learn a lot more about nutrition.

Personally, I'll leave it as long as my kids are eating a pretty healthy balanced diet, sugar and caffeine are OK. It's better to be relaxed about food (for your mental health) unless you have a medical issue, rather than giving children an idea that some foods are really 'bad'.

I don’t know why people are so unaware that scientifically caffeine is a drug. Explains why it’s on the National Curriculum I suppose because parents can’t be trusted to not buy restricted, highly caffeinated drinks for their children. Primary school science and PSHE - the impacts of substances on the body.

It is a stimulant and impacts the central nervous system and has a physiological impact on the body. Hence why it is a drug.

I stopped caffeine dead and suffered 2days of severe headaches. I never normally get headaches so that presumably was the withdrawal.

Sugar is not essential for us. Our body doesn't need any added sugar. That's what is making people fat.

This does not say it is addictive, it states vaffeine use disorder is theoretically possible
Clutch at those straws

I don’t know why people say you’re ridiculous. Scientifically sugar is not a drug and essential to human function. Caffeine is indeed a drug and does have a physiological impact. For example: heart rate. Hence why there are restrictions on heavily caffeinated energy drinks. These facts are taught as part of the National Curriculum in primary school.

Caffeine is a drug imo, and it's definitely addictive. If you think it's not, try giving it up!

Sugar more difficult - essential to function but also addictive which seems to be once it's been processed and turned into junk food/snacks - eg you don't get a sugar addiction from eating fruit.

Caffeine is addictive and can have negative impacts on sleep, mental health and physical health.

How have you not heard that caffeine is addictive? This has been known for decades.

This is about caffeine:
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/articles/2020/12/new-insight-into-caffeine-use-disorder

Well no, sugar is not a drug. But ime it is incredibly addictive, and something I am now trying to address as my weight is creeping up. I've never tried tea or coffee and I'm 38!

I do see where you're coming from, but supporting a child to be aware of the impact of different foods on their health and mood is different to labelling a piece of cake as a "drug".

Cake is not a drug or something that comes in "doses" - this undermines the reality of actual drugs.