It’s difficult to stave off sugar cravings once you’ve gotten started. For some, a box of chocolates or a pint of Ben and Jerry’s means that the whole box or pint will be downed in one sitting. For others, two to three Starbucks runs per day probably won’t seem too strange, despite the loads of sugar that are pumped into most of the beverages on the menu.

We think that of course, in moderation, our sugar intake is for the most part harmless. Maybe we have one mocha a day instead of three. Maybe that box of chocolates lasts a week or more. But for many, sugar cravings are signifiers of a very serious and hard to reverse addiction that is similar to a drug and quite possibly just as destructive, reported Burlington County Times, Jan. 4.

According to Burlington, the average person consumes 285 calories worth (20 teaspoons) of sugar per day (one 12 oz. soda contains 8-10 teaspoons of sugar on its own. That’s just under half a cup of sugar and something like 14 teaspoons too many. For those who are addicted, sugar cravings can be so great that “you can’t stop eating it, you lose control eating it and you gain excessive weight from it,” said Dr. Fred Bonanni, director of Abington Health’s Institute for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery in Pennsylvania. It’s an epidemic that sees Americans eating 156 pounds per year, often times without their knowledge. This is a scary and dangerous fact. According to the New York Daily News, sugar “is eight times more addictive than cocaine.”

Much of the sugar that is consumed in America comes from processed foods and sweetened drinks. Burlington notes that even things like ketchup and spaghetti sauce have sugar added. It’s not just the Coca Cola or cookies that you have to watch out for. Look at the labels of your trusted “healthy” cereal, or your teriyaki sauce, for instance.

Here’s the kicker. The body does need sugar in the form of glucose in order to function properly. In the case of added sugars, which offer no nutritional value aside from energy, caution should be heeded. According to the World Health Organization, added sugar should not exceed 10% of anyone’s daily intake of foods. The American Heart Association recommends sugar intake to take up 7% or less of our daily caloric intake. That means a cut back is in order of bagels and other breads, chips, canned and packaged fruits, yogurt, and many other grocery items high in added sugar content which may shock you.

One of the reasons sugar is so addictive is that when it is processed in the body, it literally “activates the brain’s reward center, where a neurotransmitter called dopamine, or DRD2, triggers sensations of pleasure.” And often, sugar consumption causes a “sugar high” that is also followed by a low. Even those who are really good at eating sugar in moderation have probably experienced this. Many try to get back to the high. “You get this rush, your blood sugar drops and you feel crappy and tired and worn out. You put more sugar in to get the same response, and it becomes this vicious cycle,” said Bonanni. In no time at all, you’re back up to three mochas a day and a box of chocolates. Beyond that, there could be more sugar added to your day, as the more sugar consumed causes a higher level of sugar intake needed in order to reach that sugar high.

It takes a lot of discipline to wean yourself from consuming excess sugar. It is, however, pertinent to wean yourself. Consumption of excess sugar causes things like diabetes, excess fat, depression, migraines, poor eyesight, arthritis (and other autoimmune diseases), gout and osteoporosis. The best bet would be to wean yourself completely from excess and added sugars. But don’t go cold-turkey. If you make changes over time, there will be less chance of relapse into the vicious cycle of sugar highs and lows.