Recent research revealed that intake of excessive sugar can lead to addiction. Researchers at Princeton Neuroscience Institute found that excessive intakes of sugar induced changes in the brain of mice similar to those produced by drugs.

During first experiment, researchers fed lab rats a breakfast of sugar water after a nighttime fast for a period of three weeks. In second experiment, rats fed this way were then denied sugar for several weeks. When these rats were allowed to have sugar again they consumed more of it than before.

The sugar-fed rats drank more alcohol as compared to normal rats when offered alcohol instead of sugar water. Researchers found that sugar-fed rats showed signs of hyperactivity when given what would normally be an innocuous dose of amphetamine.

Lead researcher, Bart Hoebel of Princeton University in New Jersey said that rats feasting on large amounts of sugar when hungry, a phenomenon described as sugar-binging, undergo chemical changes in the brain similar to those produced by substances of abuse, including cocaine, morphine and nicotine. Besides, in some cases scientists observed that the excessive intake of sugar caused long-lasting effects in the brain and even induced the inclination to go for alcohol and other drugs.