  Hi, my name is Cheryl and I'm addicted to sugar  Getty Images
Hi, my name is Cheryl and I’m an addict. My drug of choice? That
sweet, sweet white powder. Yep, I jones for sugar.  People often
toss off remarks like, 'Oh, I'm totally addicted to these
cronuts!' But there’s scientific evidence that sugar can be just
as addictive as cigarettes or drugs. This just got real.  Nicole
M. Avena, PhD, a neuroscientist and addiction expert, just
published a book with co-author John R. Talbott called, Why
Diets Fail: Because You’re Addicted to Sugar. The title, a
culmination of 10 years of research on food dependency, explains
how and why sugar affects some of us so profoundly, plus a
program for gently kicking your sugar habit.   “There are these
pathways in the brain that are known to be activated by
substance abuse and they happen to be the same pathways that can
be activated by food,” Avena says. “This might explain in part
why so many people have a hard time controlling their intake
even though you know you’re on