Thursday, December 1, 2011

Sweets For My Sweetie!!

Having a hard time kicking the sweets habit?  It goes a little deeper than they just taste good.  In 2007, French scientists researched sugar in relation to addictive behavior.  Rats were given the option of drinking plain water, water laced with sugar, and water laced with cocaine.  After 24 hours, 94% of the rats preferred the sugar water over cocaine, one of the most addictive drugs.  This leads researchers to believe that sugar feeds the body’s reward system, similarly to addictive substances, causing addictive tendencies.   
Let’s back track and look at the science behind this.  Neurotransmitters in the brain relay information causing a “feeling response” such as happiness, tiredness, sadness, or relaxation.  The strength or weakness of the neurotransmitter plays an important role in a person’s ability to control food portions and choices.  Dopamine is the body’s “feel good” chemical and is found in high quantities when addictive substances such as drugs, alcohol, and nicotine are consumed.  As high quantities of dopamine are released they overstimulate the neuroreceptors causing a "high".  Continuous overstimulation slows the body’s natural release of dopamine, creating a dependence and compulsive behavior with the substance, in this case sugar, to experience the same amount of pleasure.  As with drugs, the body becomes tolerant to the same level of stimulus, so more is required to achieve the same response…meaning you eat more!!   
So the next time you look at a brownie or cupcake, look at it as more than something that tastes good and more than something that will end up on your midsection, but as a drug to which you can easily become dependent. 
Snack on...but snack wisely!!!
Information based on “It’s All In the Brain: Unlocking the Secrets of Overeating with Neuroscience” by Mary Monroe, IDEA Fitness Journal, p44.

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