Why Is Soda So Addictive?

Although it can be a quick way to improve your health and achieve weight loss, it might not be an easy thing to give up on your favorite soda or soft drink. Have you ever wondered why? Continue reading to find out what makes soda so addictive.

Gary Wenk from the Ohio State University opines that the very formula of such beverages is the addictive factor. He says that sodas are engineered in such a way that it contains the perfect amount of sweetener, caffeine, and carbonation. And this is what is causing the addiction.

The sugar factor is said to be acting worse than drugs. Given the fact that a 12-ounce can of Coca-cola contains a whopping 39 grams of sugar (about 10 teaspoons) which exceeds the daily recommended sugar intake volume, but that rush of sweetness seems to activate the same reward centers located in the brain that drugs deal with. This sugar rush also triggers the release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens spot in your brain and makes you feel euphoria.

He says that this effect disappears so fast that it makes your brain want more of it. Previous studies have also revealed that sugar can be more rewarding and addictive than cocaine.

The next addiction factor is considered to be the caffeine content. Caffeine is a widely consumed psychostimulant and your brain craves things that stimulate it. Caffeine not only speeds up your thinking but also activated reward pathways in your brain which involves dopamine.

Apart from being addictive, diet sodas are highly unhealthy as well. They contain artificial sweeteners which could also cause addiction. The artificial sweeteners can trigger your taste receptors which register sweetness expect sugar and prepares your brain for a reward that never arrives.

“And when the brain doesn’t get the reward it wants from its drink — the real sugar — it says, go out and get me some more,” Wenk said. And the regular soda contains carbonation compounds which induce the effect of artificial sweeteners and make you crave for more.

The study also points to a genetic factor involved with soda addiction. “People with a variant in a gene known as FTO are more likely to drink more soda,” explained Cornelis (the study’s co-author). “Though the link to lower obesity risk is counterintuitive, it is a similar trend observed by other scientists and something researchers are still trying to understand”, he added.