How does sugar affect the brain to make you crave it?
Why does anyone gets addicted to
certain drugs? Let’s try to understand the mechanism behind:
The rewarding Hormone:
Dopamine is a chemical released by the brain as a reward system. It is released causing a sensation of
happiness whenever a human gets something, he wants. It includes eating,
drinking, and competing to survive, or reproductive functions.
Humans have developed this response in the form of dopamine release so that humans revert back to acting the same thing that is required for their survival, some drugs, and sugary food causes the release of dopamine as well. Heroin, nicotine, or alcohol amplify dopamine's effects, causing some folks to seek that high repeatedly. Alternatively put, to be dependent.
Dopamine and sugar
Dopamine is released by sugar as well, but not as dramatically as it is by medicines. And among foods that release dopamine, sugar is uncommon. For instance, broccoli has no impact. This very likely clarify why getting kids to eat their vegetables is so difficult.
In relation to wholesome foods, Say you decide to have a well-balanced lunch because you are hungry. Dopamine levels rise in the reward system hot spots due to your actions.
However, if you consume that same dish frequently, dopamine levels will spike less and less, eventually leveling out. Dopamine levels will gradually level down after experiencing intermittent spikes. Because of this, when it comes to food. The ability of the brain to distinguish between new and diverse tastes has evolved. We have a better chance of getting all the nutrients we need if our diet is more varied. We need to be able to recognize novel foods in order to preserve that diversity, but maybe more importantly, we need to want to keep trying out new things.
Dopamine levels decrease as a portion of food becomes monotonous for this reason. What happens if you eat sugar-rich meals instead of a balanced, nutritional dinner? If you opt to consume foods high in sugar? The results are similar to those of a balanced meal if you consume little sugar or small amounts of food at a time.
However, the dopamine reaction does
not balance out if you consume too much. In other words, keep increasing the
amount of sugar intake or take a variety of different types of sugar and you
will have that rewarding feeling of happiness. That’s why it is so difficult
for some people to resist sugar.
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