Americans love their sugar. In the United States, the average person consumes more than 126 grams of sugar per day, according to data from market research firm Euromonitor. That’s about five times the World Health Organization’s recommended sugar intake for adults. It’s also more than twice the average sugar intake of the 54 countries observed by Euromonitor.

The U.S. diet has changed dramatically in the past two centuries. In 1822, the average American ate about 6 pounds of sugar. In the years since then, this figure has skyrocketed by 1,519 percent. On average, Americans now eat over 100 pounds of sugar a year.

This dramatic transformation should be a serious cause for alarm. A study carried out by Australia’s Queensland University of Technology confirmed that excessive sugar consumption increases dopamine levels in a similar way to drugs such as cocaine.

“Excess sugar consumption has been proven to contribute directly to weight gain,” said Prof. Selena Bartlett, a neuroscientist from the university’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation. “It has also been shown to repeatedly elevate dopamine levels which control the brain’s reward and pleasure centers in a way that is similar to many drugs of abuse, including tobacco, cocaine and morphine.”

Withdrawal symptoms from such sugar addiction are similar to going “cold turkey” from drugs. These findings contradict previous research, such as a 2014 Edinburgh University study, which found that sugar addiction was a psychological addiction but not a biochemical dependency.

To avoid the devastating health effects of a diet filled with excessive sugar and processed foods, strive to eat foods the way God created them. Eat whole foods.

“Eat only those natural foods that will spoil, and eat them before they do,” wrote educator Herbert W. Armstrong. If you keep this rule in mind, you will eat far less refined and processed food that is loaded with preservatives. For more information on this simple yet solid principle of nutrition, read Trumpet managing editor Joel Hilliker’s article “A Solid, Simple Nutrition Principle.”