A Calorie is Not a Calorie Update
Sugary foods and drinks, white bread and other processed carbohydrates that are known to cause abrupt spikes and falls in blood sugar appear to stimulate parts of the brain involved in hunger, craving and reward, the new research shows. The findings, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggest that these so-called high-glycemic foods influence the brain in a way that might drive some people to overeat. (New York Times)
“Compared with an isocaloric low-GI meal, a high-GI meal decreased plasma glucose, increased hunger, and selectively stimulated brain regions associated with reward and craving in the late postprandial period, which is a time with special significance to eating behavior at the next meal.”
Cool finding, but I’m sure this has been done before.
Sure has. However hopefully it spreads around more so that the public is more exposed to these principles elements of nutrition that most people should know.
So now I know this, will I change my habits? Nah.
Many addicts will say the same thing.
If your habit is to have a soda each day, that could be a good way to eliminate some of this and that.
But you’ll start thinking about changing your habits and thinking about doing something is half the battle.
“four hours after drinking the high-glycemic shake, blood sugar levels had plummeted into the hypoglycemic range, the subjects reported more hunger, and brain scans showed greater activation in parts of the brain that regulate cravings, reward and addictive behaviors.”
That sounds significant
Well, when you’re depriving your body of nutrients and substituting it by high-glycemic foods that end up stored as fat as your body thinks it’s getting prepared for a long period of low food intake, then of course it will then start asking for more food.
There’s no doubt that sugary foods can be addicting..
It’s safe to argue that eating a chocolate bar causes blood sugar to spike, boosting dopamine and induced cravings that encourage binging on chocolate. By contrast, eating a bowl of unsweetened oatmeal doesn’t spike blood sugar and doesn’t induce the desire to eat more of it. Is there a lesson in that analogy somewhere? Yes, it’s that oatmeal tastes like cardboard crap while chocolate tastes good.