Everyone likes sweet and sugary foods. It has been well understood that sugar can exert physiological changes to the brain making it quite possible for us to get addicted. There is even research which described the potency of sugar when it’s compared to cocaine which is 8 times less addictive than the sugar itself. Maybe it’s a form of exaggeration, maybe it’s not. Scientists have been arguing the validity of such research for a very long time, but the issue remains. How dangerous is sugar addiction?
It’s a well-known fact that glucose is the primary energy source that drives physiological processes in the body. However, do any of you know how it can influence the brain? This article will provide some insights regarding that matter. Keep on reading to know more.
Nutrition, the key component of a healthy life
Quite a number of research have established that fatty foods are not necessarily fattening. However, you might still be uncomfortable with the notion of having a high-fat diet as an alternative to achieve ideal body weight. This is because the word “fat” has been stigmatized with pictures of obese people or someone who struggles with their own physique.
Is it a coincidence that the word “fat”, which described someone with more than average body weight, is also used to describe fat, the macronutrient? Well, I don’t really have the answer to that but for certain, the majority of people doubted its potential to solve the ongoing pandemic issue, obesity.
When it comes to healthy living, we have to understand that it is not a unifactorial decision that would produce a positive outcome. There are various contributing factors but I believe, three things that matter the most are nutrition, physical activities and sleep. Among them, nutrition is the most important variable which will determine the course of your weight management program.
Without incorporating good nutrition, physical activities and sleep can’t go as far as keeping you healthy as it (nutrition) is the key indicator of maintaining good overall health and healthy weight. How many times have you witnessed someone who exercises a lot but still struggles to lose some weight? We have to be vigilant with what we eat too!
As far as I’m concern, sugar has been regarded as the number one killer but people were uncomfortable with the notion of leaving it behind. So, what is this about? We have fats which potentially can do good but people were sceptical and we have sugars, which can potentially be bad but people were unwilling to cut it off. It’s a weird but very real dilemma.
How sugar has been rooted in our systems
Once upon a time, our ancestors ate fruits as part of their staple. This is due to the fact that meats are not readily accessible and difficult to obtain. They have to hunt for it and depending on the weather, it can get very difficult to find animals. Winter can be very cold for any living creatures to survive outside. Summer can be too hot for any of them to stay in the open field.
To increase the likelihood of survival, the brain formed a reward system to encourage fruit intake as their main source of fuel. After all, other than vitamins and fibre, fruits are also rich in glucose. This is achieved through a system which we called the mesolimbic dopamine system.
Fruits have a high content of sugar thus their sweetness is often the main indicator that would guide our ancestors to know either they can be eaten or not. If the fruit tastes sour, they would leave it behind for the fear of it might be poisonous.
Each and every time these fruits are consumed, the brain will release dopamine as a means to motivate people to take more of them until they are well-fed. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter which signals the thing that we have been doing, was in fact, positive. Its secretions would reinforce that particular behaviour so that we would be tempted to repeat the same action again.
This will promote learning which will allow our ancestors to find more of those foods to survive. After all, it gave a sense of pleasure to have such a reaction occurring in our brain.
How sugar rewire the brain
Fast-forwarding to 2020, we are now no longer have to forage for food. I mean, Mcdonalds is just around the corner and we don’t have to walk far to find a restaurant. Even if you are extremely lazy, you can just order a food delivery service.
We might have a variety of foods available but our brain still favour sugars over anything else. This shouldn’t be a problem if we consume it in moderation. Regardless, as far as I’m concern, we have been taking too much sugar these days.
Our brain is quite sophisticated. It can remodel and rewire itself through a biological process which is known as neuroplasticity. Taking lots of sugar can do lots of damage to the body. This is especially true when the brain becomes desensitized to dopamine stimulation.
It simply means that we have to take in more sugar so that more dopamine would be released. Our brain needs more than the average amount of dopamine to achieve the same level of satisfaction and motivation. This is equal to addiction, you know, like a drug addict.
We are trapped in the scenario whereby our body craves for more sugar and we have few to no willing power to fight it off. It’s especially obvious when we are stress, sugar is considered as comfort foods. Have you ever seen anyone eat vegetables or fruits to calm themselves down? No, mostly they just drank soda and stuff themselves with fast food.
The decision
What we eat actually can influence our ability to resist temptations. It’s no mystery that eating a high sugar diet can influence our prefrontal cortex. This is not the part of your brain that you want to mess with. It’s involved in a multitude of important functions such as impulse control, decision making and delaying gratification.
Research which has been conducted on mice has shown that the group which has been fed with high sugar diet can’t seems to control their behaviour. The inhibitory neuron, which acts as a braking system in our brain failed to be produced sufficient enough for us to be able to regain impulse control.
People who are being fed with a high sugar diet would have a much greater craving than those who practice a low sugar diet. So if you assume taking in sweet things can make you full until your next meal course, then you were wrong. It doesn’t satisfy hunger, it amplifies it.
In order to resolve such a dilemma, we need to understand that, cutting sugar or adopt a low carbohydrate diet can reduce craving. Limiting ourselves to 5% of added sugar intake per day as suggested by The World Health Organization can do wonder. However, this kind of change will require a heroic amount of effort.
Other factors such as exercise, sleep and taking foods rich in omega 3 fats can augment the healing process. The brain neuroplasticity will allow itself to reset and the craving would be gone in a few days. I bet it’s going to be quite hellish trying to deny yourself sugar when you are craving for some.
References
- Experts Agree: Sugar Might Be as Addictive as Cocaine. Accessed on 5 January 2020.
- Your brain on sugar: What the science actually says . Accessed on 5 January 2020.
- Intense Sweetness Surpasses Cocaine Reward. Accessed on 5 January 2020.
- Explicit wanting and liking for palatable snacks are differentially affected by a change in physiological state, and differentially related to salivation and hunger. Accessed on 5 January 2020.
- WHO Sugar Recommendation. Accessed on 5 January 2020.
Disclaimer
This article was also posted on Think About Blog and Medium. If you aren't familiar with me, check out this article.
(All of the images used in my articles are either from Freepik or Shutterstock).
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