Sugar, the brain, and compulsive eating
What it found
Eating a lot of sugar may change the brain's reward system so that eating becomes disconnected from calorie needs and turns into compulsive overeating.
The review links this to obesity, metabolic syndrome, and inflammatory diseases.
What they found
Studies in people
Health conditions linked
Excessive sugar intake is associated with adverse health conditions, including obesity, metabolic syndrome, and inflammatory diseases.
Studies in people and animals
Brain reward changes
Eating too much sugar may trigger neuroadaptations in the reward system. This can decouple eating behavior from caloric needs and lead to compulsive overeating.
Addictive behaviors
Sugar consumption has been implicated in addictive behaviors and poor health outcomes.
Other findings
Sugar is rewarding
Sugar is highly palatable and rewarding, both in its taste and in the energy it provides.
What the authors conclude
“Excessive sugar consumption, however, may trigger neuroadaptations in the reward system that decouple eating behavior from caloric needs and leads to compulsive overeating.”
Also in their conclusions
- They aim to use recent evidence to connect sugar's impact on the body, brain, and behavior.
- They seek to elucidate how and why sugar consumption has been implicated in addictive behaviors and poor health outcomes.
How it was done
The authors wanted to use recent evidence to connect how sugar affects the body, brain, and behavior, and to explain how and why sugar consumption has been tied to addictive behaviors and poor health outcomes.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- This is a review of existing evidence, so it cannot prove that sugar directly causes these changes or conditions.
- It cannot show how much sugar, or over what time, these effects might occur in any one person.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, USA; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, genejack
The paper
- Title
- Impact of sugar on the body, brain, and behavior
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Freeman CR, Zehra A, Ramirez V, Wiers CE, Volkow ND, Wang GJ (2018). Impact of sugar on the body, brain, and behavior. Frontiers in bioscience (Landmark edition). doi:10.2741/4704PubMed 29772560DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error