Not much to comment on here, except to point out that the sugar “addiction” in depressed people has been recognized by medicine for at least 50 years and has always been treated as a co-morbidity of the depressed state, also in need of treatment. Doctors have been advising depressed patients to resist the urge to load up on sugar, warning that such “binges” would have detrimental effects both on mood and the systemic health of the patient. Well, the study below begs to disagree and demonstrates once again (just as the infamous Rat Park experiment did 50 years ago) that most “addictive” behavior is simply a desperate attempt at self-medication. And in the case of sugar, it is actually truly therapeutic and much safer than the toxic SSRI drugs modern medicine dispenses like candy (put not intended) to patients of all age groups (even babies). Yet, the popular press article still cautions people to not “sugar binge” as that may have detrimental effects on health. As the saying goes – some people never learn…and it ain’t the patients in this case:-)
https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(22)01117-4
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Feeding sugars or octopamine (OA) can alleviate a depression-like state in Drosophila
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“…The researchers’ investigations showed that the pathway was considerably more complex than anticipated. Three different neurotransmitter systems have to be activated until the serotonin deficiency at the mushroom body, which is present in flies in a DLS, is compensated for by reward. One of these three systems is the dopaminergic system, which also signals reward in humans. In view of these findings, however, human beings should not assume that it would be a good idea to consume foods with a high sugar content accordingly. Flies perceive sweetness as a reward, whereas humans can achieve the same effect by other and more healthy means.”
