How Sugar Affects Your Mind

Sugar is the primary source of energy and fuel for the brain. The brain being the center and powerhouse of most human activities is quite energy demanding. Healthy brain activity is characterized by neurons firing, consuming half of the body’s sugar energy in the body. Glucose, a form of sugar, is that primary source and fuels every cell in the body. Examples would include everything from Erythrocytes (red blood cells) to Myocytes (muscle cells). So if there is no sugar in our body, communication between cells, such as the neuron can be severely affected.

Here is how:

Sugar affects neural pathways

Our body’ loves sugar and the mind responds to sugar intake by activating the ‘reward neural-pathway’ and the release of the organic chemical Dopamine. Too much firing of the pathway – with consumption—is where it gets hijacked by sugar, this is the first step towards an addiction. This is something science has found to be a very real threat.

High sugar also affects another neural pathway, the release of the mood booster Serotonin. Its release uses limited supplies and causes signs of depressions. The World Health Organization recommends only 5% of our daily calorie intake should come from sugar.

Tests on animals

Tests on lab animals have highlighted the dangers of sugar to the mind. If diets are high on Fructose, a form of sugar, it stunts memory and learning abilities and for this reason, the brain is slowed down. Over consumption of sugar causes damage to synaptic activity, resulting in impaired communication between cells. Test further showed that rats developed a resistance to insulin—hormones that manage blood sugar levels and the functioning of brain cells. This then impacted cognitive abilities—the mental ability to understand and gain and retain knowledge.

The harm sugar does

High sugar levels have been linked to inflammation in the mind, and this has been linked to depression. Teenagers may be particularly afflicted by depression and anxiety-like behavior.  High sugar levels have also been linked to cancer. This was observed in women who ate foods high on glycemic index. Do some research on the index, it’s bound to give you some more insights in controlling your sugar intake.

The effects of sugar on our brain and cognitive functions are felt most intensely by someone with diabetes. A group of diseases where high blood glucose levels continue over a period of time. Long term Diabetes (either type 1 or type 2) affect the brain’s connectivity. It can cause the brain to shrink or to experience atrophy, and cause small vessel disease that hampers blood flow to the brain. Science has made some achievements in developing cures, like the Intranasal Insulin (INI). INI goes into the brain and combines with receptors.

Dissension

There is some debate on what qualifies as an addiction, and opponents of sugar addiction exhibited in rats and mice argue that there is a great difference between the animals and us. Everything is different from the world we live in to the circumstances that create the addiction in animals in lab environments. There are therefore questions put forth in whether.