To think that caffeine & sugar are drugs?

[dieselKiller]

The mood altering effects of caffeine & sugar are pretty obvious, I think, and both positive (more energy) & negative (anxiety, aggression). AIBU to think that we should be more explicit as a society that caffeine and sugar are mood-altering drugs?

Do you talk to your kids about the effects of caffeine and sugar so they’re not caught unawares by them?

Sugar no, caffeine not totally sure it is not heroin

I presume fat and lack of exercise may contribute to weight?

There have been a few responses along the lines of “this isn’t important, focus on something else”. Those kind of responses are bizarre to me: if this topic isn’t important and people should only post about important things, what are you doing here posting a cliched response to a topic you think is so unworthy? Surely, you should be starting your own thread on an important, world-changing topic instead?

I am able to be interested & concerned about multiple subjects. It’s not hard. Many people are able to do this.

Sugar is not a drug and is not addictive. Addictive has a particular meaning which is different to people like the taste so eat a lot of it. Sugar is also essential for your body.

Caffeine is a drug.

Sugar isn't a drug, but nor are gambling or pornography. All three can be addictive, though. Addictive means people become dependent on a substance/activity to avoid negative effects of withdrawal; commonly, this results in substance/activity-seeking behaviour displacing physiologically useful behaviour.

People become tolerant of certain levels of sweetness in food/drinks and begin to find less sweet tastes unpleasant, so they seek out things that will satisfy their desire for sweetness to the detriment of their intake of beneficial foods.

A drug is any chemical substancethat when consumed causes a change in an organism's physiology, including its psychology, if applicable. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and other substances that provide nutritional support.

What do you actually mean by sugar? Are you talking about only the refined sort that we make cakes, bread etc with? As sugars occur naturally in fruit and vegetables too. We don't need the refined stuff at all as it is a carbohydrate and there are lots of alternative carbs that aren't refined sugar. Sugar is habit forming but most sugar addiction trials have been done on rats and have then been generalised to humans with catchy headlines such as 'sugar more addictive than cocaine' etc which isn't realistic. I mean fruit contains sugar, would you ever describe yourself as addicted to fruit?

Caffeine doesn't have the same effect on the brain as drugs so people become caffeine dependent rather than addicted.

Classing these as drugs is unhelpful, but there’s evidence from Henry Dimbleby’s review that sugar tax is a beneficial concept.

?? It’s pretty well known that they are just that.

Coffee certainly is a drug. Sugar isn’t: it’s a carbohydrate which an essential nutrient.

People have far too much refined sugar in their diet but it doesn’t follow from this that sugar is a drug.

I find it irritating when people push the idea that sugar is a drug: it’s a bit hysterical and it betrays a lack of basic science.

Refined white sugar certainly is something we need less of in our diets. But not everything has to be a drug to be bad for you. And not all drugs are automatically bad.

I also think you need to pick your battles: I am certainly a caffeine addict but it’s not having any tangible negative influence in my life: not damaging my health. I used to be a smoker so from my perspective life is too short to worry about weaning myself off an entirely benign addiction. As for sugar, yes I need to cut down (as do most people). But I don’t think making people feel like meth/heads for having an afternoon cookie is a constructive approach. People need to calm down a little bit about this.

I talk to my kids about why we don’t eat too much sugar. I don’t use words like drug because they don’t really understand that concept but we talk about it in relation to teeth decay, weight, skin and then how to stay healthy with our diet.

They also know they aren’t allowed coffee and that I drink decaf at home. They are too young to understand but I agree caffeine is addictive. I had a friend who was drinking it excessively. She was buzzing around the office, didn’t sleep, was quite snappy. She couldn’t get through the morning without it.

Of course we should teach children about nutrition and well-being. Including by advising (and demonstrating) moderation in consuming caffeine and sugar and explaining why that's important. And by sugar I mean both naturally occurring sugars and refined/added sugars.

Why stop with sugar and caffeine? We should ban everything, just be to on the safe side.

I think this is key here. Anything we consume could have an effect on our bodies and brain and yes caffeine and sugar probably more then other food stuffs but I think it should be in that context rather then lumping them in with illegal or dangerous drugs (like alcohol).

Sugar and caffeine are only 'harmful' to the consumer unlike others which is why they are treated differently. I think the only way to reduce them is to normalise that in society but we are pretty hedonistic as a species really and that's the thing to get over.

No one said it was

It gives a basic summary of what is being discussed. The key point is whilst caffeine isn't formally listed as an addiction, some people struggle to give the drug up, they have withdrawal symptoms, they have negative physical and mental symptoms from consuming the drug.

Processed sugar IS addictive.

I should know. I've tried giving it up and get horrific withdrawal symptoms

It's like my brain is constantly nagging me for it until I have it

It's awful and has taken a lot of hard, tedious work to get under control

Since I’ve only started drinking decaf, my mood is consistently better; my IBS has calmed, and I sleep like a log. Been off caffeine for two years now, and I’m never going back.

Caffeine is a drug yes though I don’t know if it’s addictive (I mean if it was I’d know about it) Sugar causes cravings but I don’t know if that makes it a drug. Alcohol on the other hand…

caffeine is a drug, sugar isn't.

Sugar is not a drug.

We need it. Our brains require it. We have evolved to seek it out and enjoy it because getting enough of it increased our likelihood of survival as a species for thousands of years.

Caffeine i do explain to my children (in an age appropriate way) is something which we need to monitor and not have too much of. My children know i only have one drink containing caffeine, in the morning, then i only have decaffeinated coffee etc if at all later on.

Sugar is something which i do caution my children that too much can damage teeth etc.

I don't like making foodstuffs "forbidden". Friends i know tried to ban all sweet stuff - those are the kids who desperately take more than their share at parties. One who's mum is especially strict stole and ate a load of christmas sweets from a cupboard at house on a playdate, after my kids had already offered some.

There do seem to be a lot of joyless types on MN.

Of course our bodies need sugar. Carbohydrates are our primary source of energy. Glucose is essential to the function of the central nervous system.

OP didn't specify they were talking about added sugar. Sugar is not a drug.

I'm not sure we need sugar (I'm not talking about any small amount of naturally occurring sugars). We enjoy sugar and I suppose we're programmed to recognise sweet natural taste being safe and bitter tastes being harmful.
There are people thriving on keto diets and many on carnivore diets, which seems to consist of mainly meat and butter with some salt.
It doesn't sound enjoyable but people are certainly surviving.

So you would teach a child that sugar is a "substance" in the same way as nicotine, cocaine or heroin?

You don't think that might cause any kind of confusion?

Of course you need to teach your child about sensible diets and yes, sugar can be addictive and habit forming. I agree.

But it's not a "substance" or a "drug". It's something to be aware of and cautious about, in the same way as food additives and UPFs.

Teaching children that basic, everyday foods containing sugar or caffeine are in the same league as harmful drugs is likely to increase the risk of eating disorders and anxiety.

Teach them to be sensible, not to be paranoid and anxious.

Your body needs sugar. It needs glucose and carbohydrates to function. This is very basic biology and I'm a bit concerned at the people on this thread claiming we don't need sugar.

We don't specifically need "added sugar" or UPFs.

But sugar is a requirement of your body. You can't live without it.