Sugar is a colloquial term for the chemical sucrose. Nutritionally, sugar can refer to other simple carbohydrates such as glucose and fructose. Sucrose is present in a number of foods of natural origin, including fruits, vegetables and honey and so should be considered a food. However, this does not mean that sucrose cannot have drug-like effects. The dividing line between sucrose being a food and sucrose being a drug is related to the amount that is consumed, as well as the form it is in. Refining foods to remove the sucrose and then consuming high amounts of this concentrated form of sucrose has been shown to cause drug-like effects in humans and animals, and may be addictive. As well as providing energy, the sucrose may activate the reward pathways of the brain, most notably the dopamine system. This adicts the user to the euphoric feelings associated with the sucrose and the sucrose therefore becomes addictive. Eating sucrose present in fruit, vegetables and honey does not appear to have these addictive effects.
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