Britney Spears has left rehab after completing a four week program at a Malibu, California treatment centre and has pleaded with the world's media to respect her privacy.

The troubled pop star - who checked into the Promises rehabilitation centre last month (Feb 07) - was being treated for substance abuse, but it is unclear exactly when the 25-year-old left the facility.

Spears first checked into Eric Clapton's Crossroads treatment centre in Antigua on 14 February, but left the following day (15 Feb). She checked into Promises on 19 February, before leaving the next day (20 Feb), and then re-checked herself in on 21 February.

Was Britney Spears in Rehab for Sugar Addiction?

Is sugar addictive?

A wedge of rich, dark chocolate cake iced in thick, sweet ganache beckons. Each bite melts onto the tongue, delivering a delightful rush and a feeling that all is well.

Soon after the plate is empty, the mind wonders when the next piece may come along, inviting the question: Is sugar habit-forming?

In medical terms, a substance is addictive if it:

• induces a pleasant state or relieves distress,

• causes long-term chemical changes in the brain,

• leads to adaptive changes in the brain that trigger tolerance, physical dependence and uncontrollable cravings,

• causes dependence, so that abstaining is difficult and creates severe physical and mental reactions.

A whole field of research has sprung out of the idea that food components such as sugar or fat may have some similarities to addictive drugs.

Specifically, in analyzing how rats react to sugar consumption, scientists have found similarities to the response to drugs like heroin and cocaine.

When humans and rats eat sweets, their brain levels of dopamine — a neurotransmitter that regulates reward and is at the heart of many addictive behaviors—increases.

A 2002 study at Princeton University found that rats deprived of food for 12 hours then given food and sugar-water tend to binge on the drink.

This research has also shown that rats' brain systems change in response to sugar.

When researchers blocked the brain's opioid system —w hich plays a role in the feeling of pleasure derived from a substance — the rats showed signs of withdrawal-like anxiety.

In yet another trial, rats given sugar-water after being without it for two weeks tended to drink more than ever before. All this behavior is consistent with the way rats—and humans—respond to other addictive substances.

It appears that sweets under some circumstances can be addictive.

Is Britney Spears An Out-of-Control Sugar Addict?

Is pop star Britney Spears under the grips of a dangerous sugar addiction?

Is she really mindlessly downing one Coke after another?

Does she constantly suck lollipops or incessantly chomp on other hard candies?

Do danishes and donuts frequently land in her stomach, as well as cake or cookies?

In other words, is Britney flying high on sucrose, high fructose corn syrup and caffeine -- so much so that she's constantly throwing her poor stressed-out body into an almost constant state of SUGAR SHOCK?

I can't help but wonder: Might drugs, sugar or alcohol have triggered erratic, unpredictable behavior in her such as when the pop star shaved off her gorgeous locks on Feb. 16?

Now, please bear in mind that I have no inside information about Britney's sugar habit.

I am, in fact, relying on Star magazine's un-bylined article "Britney's Rehab Rebellion," which reports that the pop diva has dived into the depths of a sugar habit and demanding, undignified diva-ish antics that show no signs of letting up.

Britney has, as Star puts it, a "raging sweet tooth," a phenomenon that also grabbed the attention of the gossip website, Defamer.

It's perhaps ironic that the pop star is now in rehab, as People and other publications reported.

She's reportedly been getting treatment at Promises Rehabilitation Center in Malibu, California, since Feb. 20 for conditions that Star claims are "substance abuse, bipolar disorder, bulimia and postpartum depression."

The sugar behavior recounted by an anonymous source to Star is quite scary. The observer said:

"She has been drinking tons of Coca-Cola — about two cases a day, or 24 Cokes in 24 hours. She drinks one after the other!"

Oh goodness, that's sugar-and-caffeine overload! That'll throw you into SUGAR SHOCK! many times over!

Star did some calculations -- there are 140 calories in a single Coke — "so that means Brit's imbibing at least 3,300 calories every day from the soft drinks alone," the publication reported.

But another important piece of math that needs to be thrown into the equation, too. Each 20-ounce bottle of Coke contains about 16.87 teaspoons of sugar (usually in the form of high fructose corn syrup).

So, if Britney's guzzling 24 of these over the course of a day and night, then she's taking in nearly 405 teaspoons of sugar! (It may be a little less if she's gulping smaller-sized cans of soda.)

Look, let's just say that the Star's source was exaggerating greatly. If Britney were consuming 8 twenty-ounce bottles of Coke a day, that would still come to nearly 135 teaspoons of sugar.

According to the Star's source, Britney's sugar fixes don't end with Coke:

"She is also constantly eating lollipops and other hard candy, and when she eats food, it's always something sweet, like danishes or donuts or cake or cookies."

Which brings us to the all-important question: Is Britney substituting one addiction for another?

Having once been in the throes of a sugar addiction myself, it seems to me that this very un-diva-like sugar behavior is a sure-fire clue that there's something else going on.

Downing sweets with such frenetic fervor seems to signify that Britney is withdrawing from drugs or alcohol.

This excessive, over-the-top clamoring for sugar also could point to some possible underlying nutrient deficiencies or biochemical dilemmas.

In fact, some treatment programs recommend supplements as L-glutamine, B vitamins and chromium to help address these problems.

Let's assume for the moment that Britney is switching addictions here. You see, often, when substance abusers kick their habit, they boost their intake of sweets.

"The sugar solution is a kind of substitute for the drug," said Robin Kanarek, Ph.D., a Tufts University psychology and nutrition professor.

"The relationship between sweets and drugs has been known about for a while in less-than-scientific circles," agreed Blake Gosnell, Ph.D., an expert in taste preferences and drug taking and basic research director at the Neuropsychiatric Institute in Fargo, North Dakota.

In fact, Dr. Gosnell told me about a cinematic moment (from an older, classic movie) that dramatizes these strange, sugar-seeking antics.

Sure enough, Britney's alleged, gotta-have-sugar behavior reminds me of the sugar-craving scene that appears in the 1955 Otto Preminger drug-addiction drama, "The Man With the Golden Arm," with Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak.

In the scene, Sinatra's character (a heroin addict) spends a harrowing night kicking drugs cold turkey. After suffering withdrawal symptoms galore, guess what he craves? You got it: Sugar! In fact, he even licks the sugar out of his hands! Yuck!

Another anonymous source Star quoted makes a similar observation: "Usually when a patient eats [a lot of] sugar, it means that they are coming down from a drug that kept them really up, like cocaine or speed."

If a person is coming down off of drugs, allowing them them sugar isn't going to solve the underlying biochemical problem.

No offense meant to the staff at the rehab facility where Britney's getting treated, but if these media reports about Britney's frantic sugar-craving shenanigans are true (or even partly true), then just what kind of medical help is she getting?

Why would she be allowed to go on potentially dangerous sugar binges, when the substance is clearly part of her problem, even if it's legal?

Look, I mean no disrespect, but perhaps the doctors and staff there could use an education about sugar's far-reaching dangers.

All those sweets the celebrity patient is allegedly consuming in excess could bring on mental confusion, depression, anxiety, mood swings, temper outbursts, excessive fatigue and so much more.

With all that sugar coursing through her bloodstream and sending her from a series of blood sugar highs to lows, Britney (or anyone, for that matter) could be bouncing around from wired to tired at a moment's notice and flying off in irrational rages! Connie Bennett @ Sugar Shock

tags: britney spears  sugar  drugs  addiction  addict  

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