I haven't always had the best relationship with food and of course sugar is in almost everything Americans consume. I mean think about the science behind sugar and why it's something we ALWAYS go back to when it comes to picking the foods we want. It is a drug- a sweet drug. LOL
Yes, I'm a firm believer in eating the cake but every once in a while because it's okay to live. It's okay to have the ice cream once in a blue moon. It wasn't until I started dating my husband, that I ate more candy... That would be another study to look for, when we're in a relationship, we get comfortable- why? It's almost like we don't care about our health anymore because we've found the person we're going to spend the rest of our lives with, correct? Plus, they'll love you no matter what you end up looking like. If they care enough about you, they'll support you no matter what. Moderation is key. Sugar can be addictive to the point of the complete opposite of moderation.
A Neuroscience Expert tells us what really happens to our brain when we don't consume enough sugar in our diets but what happens to it when we consume too much of it. I found this article helpful in understanding why it's important to know what happens to our brain when it comes to consuming sugar.
From Prevention:
Sugar rush. Sugar high. Sugar buzz. Sugar slump.
We’ve all heard these phrases that describe what our brains feel like when we’ve had too much of a sweet treat. But here’s the thing about sugar and your brain: Your noggin needs it because sugar is its main fuel. Our brains run on glucose—it fuels our cells, including our brain cells. We’re evolutionarily programmed to like sweets since they’re a great energy source. And when glucose levels are low in the blood (say, if you have hypoglycemia, or sometimes if it's just been a while since you’ve had something to eat), brain fog sets in, you fumble for words, you forget where you put down your phone, you look for a place to curl up for a quick nap.
When there’s too much sugar in the system, however, that can set off some really bad stuff in your body and your brain.
What happens in your brain when you eat sugar?
“When sugar hits our tongue, it activates certain taste buds that send a signal up to the brain, including the cerebral cortex,” says Nicole Avena, Ph.D., assistant professor of neuroscience at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, who wrote a book about sugar addiction. The signal activates the brain’s reward system; dopamine (a feel-good brain chemical) is released and the behavior is reinforced, which makes us want to repeat it (mmmm, that’snice, give me more!).
Sugar is rare among dopamine-producing foods, Avena points out. “Most of the time when we eat something new and tasty, dopamine is released the first time we taste it,” she explains. “This is an evolutionary advantage to help us to pay attention to new and different tastes, in case they make us sick. If we eat something new and don’t get sick, typically the dopamine response then goes away the next time—so basically we only release dopamine in response to eating new foods. However, sugar is different. It’s more like what happens with a drug of abuse, where dopamine is released every single time it’s consumed. Eating lots of sugar will continue to feel rewarding because the dopamine level doesn’t balance out, which it does when eating healthier foods. So sugar does act a bit like a drug in our system—which is why people get hooked on sugary foods.”