Sweet We all love food. However, excessive sugar consumption; It can lead to weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes and tooth decay. Too many sugar We know not to consume. Only sometimes to sugary foods Resisting can be harder than you think. It’s as if our brains are programmed to crave such foods.

The name glucose, the sugar we use in our body, comes from the Greek word glucos. Glucose, our brain cells neurons in It is used as food in all cells, including

Sugar consumption stimulates the secretion of dopamine

evolutionary, excellent energy resources We evolved to find sugary foods that are Sugary foods also play an important role in our brain’s energy requirements.

When we consume sugary foods reward system The mesolimbic dopamine system is activated. Dopamine is a chemical naturally released in the body. Dopamine is released when the brain evaluates an event positively. When the reward system works, behaviors in the brain are reinforced. In this way, we are more likely to repeat these actions.

Today, our environment is full of sweet, energy-dense foods. Fear that we can no longer find these foods to consume everything It is not necessary. But our brains are still functionally very similar to our ancestors and really like sugar. So what happens to our brains when we consume too much sugar?

Does Sugar Help With Brain Recovery?

Brain through a process called neuroplasticity yourself reform it. This is done in conjunction with the reward system. of the reward path The repeated activation by drugs or sugary foods causes the brain to adapt to frequent stimulation. In this case, it provides a kind of tolerance.

The same goes for sugary foods rewarding feeling To get it, you need to consume more sugary foods. This is a classic addictive feature. Food addiction is a controversial topic among scientists and clinicians. The question is whether we can become addicted to food, just as we can be physically dependent on certain drugs.

The brain constantly craves more sugar.

Even if we are not hungry when we see cake Maybe we’re craving cake. To resist these requests, we must first curb our natural response. A network of inhibitory neurons controlling behaviour is critical for These neurons are concentrated in the prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain important for decision making, impulse control, and delaying gratification.

Inhibitory neurons are like the brain’s brakes. made with mice an investigationshowed that eating habits high in sugar can alter inhibitory neurons. The sugar-fed rats were less successful in controlling their behavior and making decisions.

In a recent study, people were asked to rate their desire to eat high-calorie foods when they were hungry or full. Regularly high in fat and sugary food consuming people rated their cravings for snacks with higher scores, even when they were not hungry.

This study regularly sugary foods It shows that consuming food can increase food cravings, creating a vicious cycle of wanting more and more of that food.

Excess sugar can hinder memory formation.

Another brain region affected by high sugar consumption is the hippocampus. hippocampus, brain memory is the center. Studies show that rats that consumed sugary foods were more likely to see them in certain places. objects It shows that they are less able to remember what they see or don’t see.

Hippocampus in high sugar consumption encoding memories Newborn neurons, which are vital to the immune system, are reduced and the amount of chemicals associated with inflammation increases.

How do we protect the brain from sugar?

World Health Organization, our intake of added sugars 25 grams as recommend. This amount is about 5 percent of the daily caloric intake. However, if we consider that an adult consumes an average of 85 grams of sugar, we understand how high sugar consumption is.

After reducing sugar consumption, the neuroplasticity properties of the brain decrease to some extent. However with exercises These functions can be increased. Also, foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids can increase the chemicals needed to form new neurons.