Do you Know Really? Sugar Could be The Key to Lose Weight

Eating fresh fruit and vegetables helps people resist the temptation of waist-expanding treats, scientists have found.

When our supplies of glucose - found in carbohydrates - drop we begin to lose our ability to control desire, while our urge to eat increases.

The lack of glucose – which is used to power the brain – makes us helpless against the urge to reach for high-calorie foods, researchers said.

Obese people are particularly vulnerable, with even the slightest drop in glucose prompting irresistible cravings for carbohydrates, from which we get most of our sugar.

These can be "good" carbs, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, brown rice and pasta and wholemeal bread, or "bad" varieties which include white bread and sugar, fizzy drinks, cakes, crisps and other packet snacks.

Making sure the brain's glucose levels do not drop could be the secret to staying slim, a study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation suggested.

* Originally Posted: Top Diagnosis

How Hard You Can Against the Temptation of Food?

You might have thought resisting that piece of chocolate cake or extra biscuit was simply a matter of exerting a little will power. But for some of us it’s much more difficult than that – because of the way our brains are wired.




Scientists have found that a key part of the brain which stops the body from acting on impulse – and gorging – does not function as well in those who are overweight or obese.

A study by scientists from Yale University has shown that falling glucose levels lead to a loss of self-control in the brain which subsequently lead to parts of the brain craving high-calorie food such as cakes, biscuits or crisps.


In obese people the effect may be even more pronounced, so they are driven to eat by the slightest drop in glucose. Their uncontrollable cravings for treats are triggered by falls in blood sugar

Glucose is normally obtained from carbohydrate foods, which can come in healthy and less healthy forms.

Scientists believe the phenomenon occurs because of the brain's huge demand for glucose, which it needs as energy fuel.

'Good' carbs include fresh fruit and vegetables, brown rice and pasta, nuts, wholemeal bread, and beans.

Among the 'bad' varieties are white bread, white sugar, biscuits, cakes, crisps and other packet snacks, carbonated soft drinks, ice cream and corn syrup used in processed foods.

Ensuring adequate brain glucose levels - in a healthy way - might make it easier to stay slim, the research suggests.

“The key seems to be eating healthy foods that maintain glucose levels. The brain needs its food,” said Professor Rajita Sinha, from Yale University in the U.S., who led the study.

The research is reported today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.Prof Sinha's team manipulated blood sugar levels in a group of volunteers with intravenous injections of glucose.

At the same time, participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans of their brains while being shown pictures of high-calorie and low-calorie food, and non-edible items.

The scans showed that when glucose levels fell, two 'reward' regions of the brain that make certain activities pleasurable induce a desire to eat.

But the most pronounced reaction was seen in the prefrontal cortex, the 'sensible' part of the brain that prevents people acting on impulse. When glucose levels lowered, the prefrontal cortex lost its ability to reign back the urgent 'eat' signals.

* Originally Posted: Top Diagnosis