Studies have shown that the brain changes as a result of the regular consumption of foods rich in sugar, and the result is that the brain orders us to prefer unhealthy foods and it becomes difficult to resist this craving.
We know that it is best to avoid eating large amounts of candy, ice cream, cookies, cake and soft drinks, but sometimes it is really hard to resist, as if our brains are programmed to crave these foods.
Recent research in neuroscience has focused on whether our diet causes obesity and changes the genetic makeup of the brain. Do the foods we eat have a direct effect on our behaviour? And if so, can we avoid it by following a certain lifestyle?
When we eat foods high in sugar, the brain’s reward system, called the dopamine system, gets activated. Dopamine is a chemical released by nerve cells that signals that an event is positive. And when the reward system gets to work, it reinforces behaviors that are likely to be repeated next.
The reward system is a chemical and electrical transit system in many different regions of the brain. Dopamine, a chemical called neurotransmitter in the brain, interacts to influence many sensations and behaviors. When we eat a food that contains sugar, signals reach the reward center in the brain, and this makes us feel satisfied and stimulates the desire for more.
Reprogramming of brain networks
What we do know is that the brain is constantly reshaping its connections through a process called “neuroplasticity”, but a study by the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Germany proved that frequent activation of the reward pathway through drugs or frequent sugar consumption leads to an increase in dopamine signals for long periods. No increased excitement in the bonus tracks.
The brain then has to adapt to this matter by building new neural connections, that is, its gene structure changes, and it needs more and more sugar to achieve the same state of “craving satisfaction”, which is called addiction.
And those changes in brain networks are permanent, meaning that in the future people will subconsciously prefer to eat foods that contain a lot of fat and sugar.
Like drugs, sugar stimulates the dopamine rate in the brain. A study conducted on a group of rats in the laboratory, which were deprived of food and given sugars, for a period of 12 hours a day for a period of a whole month, showed behaviors similar to drug addiction, as they were dominated by a feeling of great appetite for eating sugars, compared to other foods, and they suffered from symptoms of stress and depression during the stage Deprivation of eating.
Research has also shown that rats fed sugar have more difficulty controlling their behavior and making decisions. Thus, our diet can affect our ability to resist temptations, as we cannot quickly reaccustom the brain to reducing sugar, because dietary patterns that have been established over many years are difficult to break easily. But the body and brain can be “reprogrammed” again to get used to less fatty and sugary foods, and nutritionists say that the body needs about 60 days to make this change.
People who regularly eat foods high in fat and sugar report that they crave more, even when they are not hungry. Once the brain becomes accustomed to foods high in fat and sugar, it not only demands more and more of them, but also tends to reject foods that contain less. of fat or sugar. Everyone is born with an innate craving for sweet food, but when that craving is strengthened by habit, healthy foods eventually become tasteless.
2023-07-10 17:31:11
#Addiction #drug. #sugar #brain
