I can’t tell you how many times a new client has come to me claiming they are addicted to sugar. It always makes me a little sad, because this belief often leads people to cut out all sweet foods, stripping enjoyment from their diet out of fear that they’ll binge.

Inevitably, they end up bingeing anyway.

Or they swing the other way — the “fu* it”* approach — eating anything and everything with a complete disregard for overall nutritional value.

The good news?

You are not addicted to sugar (yay).

Or any food, for that matter.

Why sugar addiction is not a thing

Ask anyone who claims to be addicted to sugar what their go-to foods are. I can almost guarantee they’ll say biscuits, chocolate, cookies, doughnuts…

They don’t say sweets.

Complete transparency here: I do have a client who once claimed to be addicted to Haribo Tangfastics. But on further investigation, her self-proclaimed “addiction” was rooted in binge eating disorder. Over time, she tried to manage this through food choice — sweets are lower in calories than chocolate — so they became her default. It had nothing to do with enjoyment.

I digress… let’s use chocolate as an example.

If you are likely to overconsume chocolate when it’s put in front of you, does that mean you are addicted to sugar?

Let’s look at what milk chocolate actually is, according to EU standards:

• Total cocoa solids: minimum 25%

• Dry milk solids: minimum 14%

• Milk fat: minimum 3.5%

• Total fat: minimum 25%

• Dry non-fat cocoa solids: minimum 2.5%

On this basis, there is surprisingly little room left for added sugar (sucrose — there is also lactose from the milk). A maximum of around 40% added sugar can be used in real milk chocolate.

So if you are “addicted” to chocolate, is it because of the sugar?

From a calorie perspective, around 50% of the energy in chocolate comes from fat. Does that mean you’re addicted to fat?

(The answer is also no — but you get the point.)

Is it the sweetness?

For enjoyment — absolutely. Sugar contributes to how much we like chocolate. It increases reward, which can increase cravings.

But craving is not addiction.

What addiction actually requires

Addiction involves:

• Loss of control over a substance or behaviour

• An overpowering compulsion to engage in it

• Intense desire that overrides normal decision-making due to brain changes

• Increasing tolerance over time

• Withdrawal symptoms when the substance is removed

Craving a food, enjoying it, or even overeating it does not meet this definition.

There is no human research showing that sugar alone causes addiction in the same way recreational drugs do. If sugar were addictive, chocolate wouldn’t be the go-to — sweets… or a casual bag of Tate & Lyle would be.

Interestingly, sweet (candy) consumption is highest between the ages of 2–18, then declines into adulthood, with a shift in preference towards chocolate.

I’m not trying to deny that many people genuinely struggle with overconsumption. But the language we use matters.

Let’s be accurate.

It’s not sugar you are craving — it’s highly palatable foods.

It’s the combination of sugar, fat, mouthfeel, taste, value and aroma working together. No single ingredient is to blame. Our overall diet and food environment shape our eating behaviour.

You are not addicted to any food — you crave it.

Maybe you don’t claim to “binge” on these foods; maybe you simply overeat them?

And that distinction matters.

It is absolutely okay to crave chocolate.

It is absolutely okay to eat chocolate.

The work isn’t in removing it from your life — it’s in removing the fear around it.

When chocolate is allowed, not forbidden, it loses its power.

And that’s where real balance — and real enjoyment — begins.