this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2026
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This sounded like bullshit but I’m open to the idea enough to do a few minutes of digging. The study that the first few search results reference tested rats and found that, according to my understanding at least, intermittent sugar intake can be addictive in a similar manner to opiates, but to a smaller degree than actual opiates. There was no comparison to alcohol.
There was this brief article where the chair of nutrition at Harvard said sugar can mimic some traits of addictiveness but specifically stated it can’t be classified the same as alcohol or nicotine. No actual study done, just a guy who presumably knows what he’s talking about.
So claiming sugar is more addictive than alcohol still sounds like bullshit to me. Habit forming? Yes. Withdrawal symptoms after high regular consumption? Yes. Over consumed (at least in the US)? Hell yes. But more addictive than alcohol? Do you have an actual source to support such a claim?
They compared sugar to the worst known addictive substance- opiates. Alcohol is far less addictive than opiates. Therefore, despite a lack of quantizing what is "less", it is likely that sugar is more addictive than alcohol.