Sweets and Alcoholism

Pete C · November-15th-2003, 10:12 AM

Have a Sweet Tooth? Beware of Alcoholism

Sweet Tooth, Alcoholism May Have Genetic Link

By Michael Smith, MD
WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD
on Friday, November 14, 2003

Nov. 14, 2003 -- People with a sweet tooth are more than twice as likely to have a genetic predisposition to developing alcoholism, a new study shows.

Research over the past 20 years indicates that there is some association between having a sweet tooth and alcoholism. In fact, animal studies have shown that alcohol-preferring animals eat more sweets, says researcher Alexey B. Kampov-Polevoy in a news release. Even human studies have shown that people with alcoholism or cocaine dependence prefer highly sweet substances.

But could this link be caused by genetics? That's exactly what the Kampov-Polevoy and colleagues sought to discover. Kampov-Polevoy is assistant professor of psychiatry at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine.

The researchers wanted to tease out whether a tendency for having a sweet tooth precedes the development of alcoholism -- suggesting a genetic tendency for both -- or if the sweet tooth is merely caused by years of excessive drinking.

Sweet Tooth, Alcoholism Link

The researchers studied 163 men and women who had no personal history of alcoholism or drug abuse. On average, they had had about three drinks of alcohol per week.

About half of the study participants had a positive family history of alcoholism and the other half had no family history of alcoholism. Having a family history of alcoholism -- possibly coming from genetics -- is known to increase the chance of developing alcoholism.

The researchers gave the study participants a choice between several different sugar solutions.

They found that people with a family history of alcoholism were much more likely to have a sweet tooth compared with those with no such family history. Those with a family history were 2.5 times more likely to have a sweet tooth. In addition, those with the family history of alcoholism disliked the less sweet solutions while those without a family history rated them as neutral.

"This finding indicates that a [sweet tooth] precedes alcoholism," says David Overstreet, PhD, in a news release. "The finding adds further weight to the hypothesis for the association between the liking for sweets and the genetic risk for alcoholism." Overstreet is associate professor of psychiatry with the Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Brain Controls Like for Sweets, Alcohol

The researchers say their findings may provide an explanation of the association between having a sweet tooth and risk of alcoholism.

"Pleasurable reactions to both alcohol and sweet substances are regulated by the same mechanism, namely, the brain's opioid system," says Kampov-Polevoy. "Activation of this system results in increased consumption of both alcohol and sweets, while blockade of this system causes the opposite effect." In fact, the medication naltrexone, which blocks this system in the brain, is prescribed to alcoholics to reduce their drinking.

"We believe that children of alcoholics have a genetic abnormality of the brain opioid system, which leads to an increased sensitivity to the rewarding effects of alcohol." The same abnormality of the brain opioid system may also lead to a tendency to have a sweet tooth, says Kampov-Polevoy.

"These studies imply that a person whose relatives are alcoholics may be at greater risk for developing alcoholism if he or she likes sweets," says Overstreet. Future research will help determine if this is indeed the case.

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SOURCES: Kampov-Polevoy, A. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, November 2003; vol 27: pp 1743-1749. News release, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine.

© 2003 WebMD Inc. All rights reserved.

tippy · November-15th-2003, 12:34 PM

I think this article is interesting. I drank beer at night for a good decade until about 2 years ago when I stopped drinking completely because it had become a little too important if you catch my drift. Anyway, during the drinking period I had absolutely no interest in any kind of candy or dessert--even without any alcohol in my system--which I noticed because I had always previously enjoyed that stuff. When I stopped drinking, my taste for sweets returned which is a somewhat different take on the experiments conducted here but seems definitely related. If I were to guess it was that my body had interest in only the one kind of sugar which replaced the desire for all others. I would say my father and grandfather both had real sweet tooths, but there aren't any family members I know of on either side who had drinking problems.

clinthopson · November-15th-2003, 12:45 PM

I've been consuming various alcoholic beverages all my adult life. Mostly either the before dinner cocktail or wine with dinner. Of course, a taste or two at a jazz joint was de reguer.

I've never had a craving for sweets while drinking. Since doing Atkins, I've pretty much avoided sweets but still have my glasses of wine. Three is the limit, self imposed.

I don't know if this is relevant, but wotthell.

Uli · November-15th-2003, 12:52 PM

I do sometimes have a sweet tooth and am totally capable of stuffing myself with sweets. But that sugar high always eluded me.

Pete C · November-15th-2003, 01:05 PM

I've never been big on sweets. Spicy is my bag. I was a heavy drinker as a late teenager into early 20s, now I'm only a social drinker. Luckily, I've never had an addiction problem with any substance I toyed with...except caffeine, which is one of the most addictive drugs known to man.

Cem · November-15th-2003, 01:05 PM

I'm more addicted to certain textures in sweets (and other foods) than sweetness, I think. I don't really have a sweet tooth and have been lucky (I think??) with alcohol consumption, partially due to no alcoholism in the family that I know of maybe. Sometimes, I wonder about my consumption and what is a reasonable amount of alcohol to enjoy before it's a problem, but...?? Fwiw, just about everyone I know, who's a serious juicer, also has an affinity for sweets.

Sergio Zamora · November-15th-2003, 01:17 PM

Homer: I'm feeling kinda low, Apu. Got any of that beer that has candy
floating in it? Some Skittlebrau
Apu: Such a product does not exist, sir. I think you must have dreamed
it.
Homer: Oh. Then just give me a six pack and a couple of packets of
Skittles.

cookie · November-15th-2003, 01:44 PM

When I quit drinking, everybody warned me that I would put on weight. Indeed,many folks told me that if I had an urge to drink, I should eat something sweet. One lady suggested hard candy. The funny thing is that I really didn't develop MORE of a sweet-tooth or indulge more. In fact, if anything, my desire for sweet things has diminished---or maybe I just have more judgement and stop before I eat the entire cake.

I know many (most of the people I drank with) people who couldn't stand the thought of eating something sweet *while* drinking. They would go mostly for the savories, but me, I'd drink beer and eat ice-cream (which really grossed people out). Wine with cake? No problem. But my big choice of cocktail was Manhattans. That's a slightly sweet drink, especially if you throw in a bit of cherry juice---not enough to really cut the booze, mind you. Just enough to make it a bit sweet.

I've actually managed to lose quite a bit of weight since I quit drinking. I guess my average caloric intake went down significantly when I stopped drinking 7 or 8 Manhattans a day. The occasional piece of cake doesn't really seem so bad after THAT.

Tom Storer · November-15th-2003, 03:25 PM

I have an appreciation of fine desserts but no real sweet tooth to speak of. I'll eat chocolate or what have you if it's offered, because, as someone or other put it, "sure I have will power, but I refuse to be a slave to it." But I can go without sweets indefinitely without thinking about it.

On the other hand, keep me away from the salty stuff. Peanuts, chips, crackers... I'll gobble them up until I'm dragged away (or until I've polished them all off). And of course that makes me thirsty, so if there are plentiful grease-and-salt nibbles, I'm liable to drink too much just washing them down.

Pete C · November-15th-2003, 03:38 PM

Salt ain't my bag either. Chilis 'n' garlic.

Brian Olewnick · November-15th-2003, 03:42 PM

Being the son of a German mom from a centuries long lineage of bakers, the love of intensely rich sweets was transferred genetically from birth. I keep telling Linda that the phrase "too sweet" is oxymoronic. But I've never been a drinker at all. I enjoy a beer now and then at dinner and will happily have a glass of wine if offered, but if I didn't taste alcohol over the course of a year, I wouldn't know the difference. But just try keeping me away from those cinnamon-sugar chocolate chip bars.....

stonemonkts · November-15th-2003, 03:51 PM

I grew up with alcohol (dad was a bartender, then owned his own cocktail lounge). He drank to excess frequently, but handled it well most of the time. Like the saying goes, he can't get drunk, he's Irish. That's a fallacy, but I can say he never went beyond a squinty-eyed yet very aware red-faced condition even if he drank 12-16 hours straight.

I over-indulged in alcohol all through my teen years, but never drank on a daily basis. Therefore I never felt it a problem, per se, although it was problematic in terms of behavior.

ANYWAY, I definitely have a sweet tooth. I don't give in to the impulse too much, but when I do, look out. That bag/bar/box is history.

My real weakness is nuts. I jones for them. Pistachios, cashews, almonds, peanuts, macadamias, you name the nut. The viscious irony is I cannot handle them, digestively speaking.
I can eat a few here and there, but that's not good enough. I want to eat the entire can of cashews in one sitting, the whole bag of pistachios all at once. Get a rhythm going, grab one crack the shell (or shuck?) flip the meat into my mouth, chew, swallow, repeat until I can't move.

Chocolate-coated peanuts or almonds send me into a stupor. Paroxysms of delight.

I'm kidding. But dayamn they good.

I'm thankful I don't crave alcohol beyond the habits described by Clint, and others. I drink wine with dinner, and if at a party, I'll drink almost throughout the event (pacing myself, but never without one, mostly from anxiety at being engaged socially, I think).

I know this thread wasn't started to serve as a confessional. Oh well.

tippy · November-15th-2003, 04:06 PM

Oh how it could be anything but a confessional. Anyway...I just want to say that I think chocolate covered almond clusters (must be clustered and with fine chocolate) are IT, the be-all end-all of candy delights. Yowza.

Another favorite--those scandinavian "princess" cakes with the coarse soaked white cake, middle layer of raspberry and whipped cream, the whole kit armored like a tank in a layer of *delicious* marzipan. Damn damn damn!!!!

Gordon B · November-15th-2003, 04:55 PM

Brian said he could go a year without alcohol and not miss it. I could go a year without either alcohol or sweets and my life wouldn't suffer very much. I drink wine very occasionally but do drink beer or single malt whiskey on the order of less than one per day.

I'm not a sugar fan but I love dark chocolate. Bitter is good. Sweet is bad.
I like my coffee strong, black and slightly bitter.

shrugs · November-15th-2003, 05:14 PM

The hell with going a whole year. I need a beer every day and am not afraid to admit it. But I ain't drinking the common can of swill either. There is so much to enjoy in a glass of good ale. It's so much more than the alcohol content.
When it comes to sweets, I love 'em. Gonna have to get some beignets on Monday morning.....

Mike P · November-15th-2003, 05:22 PM

"he can't get drunk, he's Irish"

An Irish seven course meal is: One baked pototo & a six pack.

shrugs · November-15th-2003, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gordon B
Bitter is good. Sweet is bad.
I like my coffee strong, black and slightly bitter.

How can you like Old Rasputin? It finishes a little sweet.

Tom Storer · November-16th-2003, 08:26 AM

Every Christmas season when I was a kid, my father would bring home a box of chocolate-covered macadamia nuts. But there was only one box, it was special, and no one could pig out. What torture.

I had to watch my older brother to make sure he wasn't getting more than I was. If Gary had been my brother, I would have been in the clear: he would have refused to eat them on the grounds that it was a *Christmas* treat. ("Why don't we get chocolate-covered macadamia nuts on April 23 instead of Christmas? Huh? Why?") ;-)

Gordon B · November-16th-2003, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by shrugs
How can you like Old Rasputin? It finishes a little sweet.

Just a little. Compare it to Imperial Extra Double Stout, which I sampled for the first and only time with dinner a couple of nights ago.. It had enough of a sugar taste to ruin it for me.

Gary Sisco · November-16th-2003, 08:44 AM

Nah, you can have them, Tom. :-) I like macadamia nuts, but not with chocolate, and I can buy them anytime, so ...

I'm an old lush and make no bones about it, though, like all old lush's, I used to drink much, much harder than I do now. (The ones who continued with the old behavior didn't get to be old lush's because they're all dead.) Sweets and alcohol don't go well with each other, to my taste. I eat dessert stuff maybe three times a year. I'm with Pete. Spicy is my thing. I've never known many drinkers that were also into sweets.

Cookie -- Between when I was a real alkie and now when I'm only an old lush, I stopped drinking completely for ten years (28 to 38). When I first stopped, I started eating four or five meals (and I'm talking meals, not snacks) every day, for months, and I lost about 30 lbs. Go figure.

Today, I like to catch a buzz if I'm socializing, but on a normal day I have one or two beers, sometimes none. In the winter, I might substitute a cocktail for the beer. That's about it.

john williams · November-16th-2003, 08:52 AM

I love sweet stuff, but rarely drink, except a couple beers on a hot day or a good wine with a meal. My whole family are sweet tooths but there is no history of alcoholism whatsoever. The biggest drinker in my family was my maternal grandfather who hated sweet stuff.

Ah, its good to be the exception rather than the rule. Most big drinkers I know hate sweet stuff and seem to crave salty/savory stuff instead as a rule.

I like the occasional spliff though.

My partner loves the sweet stuff too but drinks about as much as I do.

I think if I was going to be an alchy it would have happened by now as I can pretty much take or leave the booze.

Gordon B · November-16th-2003, 01:57 PM

Shrugs, I just had an Old Rasputin with my lunch. I don't taste any sweetness at all. Having just played two sets of tennis and then an OR (9% ABV) with my frozen pizza, I'm ready to take a nap, although I think Oscar wants me to grab a cigar and take him for a walk around the neighborhood. Such choices!

Pete C · November-16th-2003, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gordon B
I think Oscar wants me to grab a cigar and take him for a walk around the neighborhood.

You take Sergio for walks?

Jazzzoline · November-16th-2003, 10:13 PM

Where did Patricia's post go?

Jazzzoline · November-16th-2003, 10:20 PM

Maybe sweets and acohol goes together, but I think it's addiction or not that should be discuss: either one is an addict, either not.
Addictions vary from alcohol, drugs, food, sweets, work, sports, shopping, lottery, casinos, computer, name it. I think it's genetic too. And when one stops an addiction to something, it's only for falling into another one.

GoodSpeak · November-16th-2003, 11:16 PM

Like sugar, be an alcoholic.

Please.

GoodSpeak · November-16th-2003, 11:17 PM

Future research will help determine if this is indeed the case.

Next...

Gary Sisco · November-17th-2003, 10:30 AM

Jazzonline -- If ridding oneself of one addiction means to merely fall into another, why bother in the first place, if it's addiction itself that's a problem? Seems like your logic sets up an impossible problem as within it there's no escaping addiction.

I also very much think that the word addiction (like many others) has been used so loosely for so long that it basically doesn't mean anything anymore. Anything that anyone likes to do, or any habit, is now an "addiction." I have a longstanding pot habit, for example, but I don't get sick if I do without. I just do without. I might miss it, but I miss anything I like if it's not around. I'd miss my record collection if I traveled for too long on vacation or something. I can't say the same for the heroin I toyed with in my youth. Or the amphetamines. Quitting those was something rather more powerful than merely missing something or wishing I had some.

Gary Sisco · November-17th-2003, 10:32 AM

Ditto caffeine, which does addict and cause withdrawal symptoms, sometimes quite severe. And very much ditto nicotine, which was many times harder for me to quit than either heroin or amphetamines. And I've known many, many former junkies and former alkies who are not able to kick nicotine.

Anyone who can't get through a workday without standing around outside in VT during the winter, just to smoke a cigarette on the sidewalk, is a true junkie, whether they'll admit or not. Those people are addicts, one and all.

shrugs · November-17th-2003, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gordon B
Shrugs, I just had an Old Rasputin with my lunch. I don't taste any sweetness at all. Having just played two sets of tennis and then an OR (9% ABV) with my frozen pizza, I'm ready to take a nap, although I think Oscar wants me to grab a cigar and take him for a walk around the neighborhood. Such choices!

Seems odd since a large percentage of the reviews for it on the net mention sweetness. Drinking it too cold maybe?