Video of the day:
[bluebox]Researchers have known for some time now that the cornerstone of al
l degenerative conditions, including brain disorders, is inflammation. But what they didn’t have documented until now are the instigators of that inflammation—the first missteps that prompt this deadly reaction. And what they are finding is that gluten, and a high-carbohydrate diet for that matter, are among the most prominent stimulators of inflammatory pathways that reach the brain.
~DAVID PERLMUTTER, author of Grain Brain.
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What happens in the brain that makes sugary foods so hard to resist?
Sugar is a general term to describe a class of molecules called carbohydrates and it’s found in a wide variety of food and drink. Just check the labels on sweet products you buy.
Glucose, fructose, sucrose, maltose, lactose, dextros and starch are all forms of sugar. So are high-fructose corn syrop, fruit juice, raw sugar, and honey. And sugar isn’t just in candies and desserts, it’s also added to tomato sauce, yogurt, dried fruit, flavored waters, or granola bars.
What happens when sugar hits your tongue?
The sugars it contains activate the sweet taste receptors, part of the taste buds on the tongue. These receptors send a signal up to the brain stem, and from there, it forks off into many areas of the forebrain, one of which is the cerebral cortex.Different sections of the cerebral cortex process different tastes: bitter, salty, umami, and, in our case, sweet. From here, the signal activates the brain’s reward system.This reward system is a series of electrical and chemical pathways across several different regions of the brain.
It’s a complicated network, but it helps answer a single, subconscious question: should I do that again? That warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you taste Grandma’s chocolate cake? That’s your reward system saying, “Mmm, yes!” And it’s not just activated by food. Socializing, sexual behavior, and drugs are just a few examples of things and experiences that also activate the reward system.
But overactivating this reward system kickstarts a series of unfortunate events: loss of control, craving, and increased tolerance to sugar.
Two reasons: first, to detect food that’s gone bad and second, because the more variety we have in our diet, the more likely we are to get all the nutrients we need. To keep that variety up, we need to be able to recognize a new food, and more importantly, we need to want to keep eating new foods. And that’s why the dopamine levels off when a food becomes boring.