The brain uses a lot of energy, and it gets this from glucose.1 But, too much sugar can harm our thinking, self-control, and make us feel hooked like drugs do.1 Scientists see that eating too much is a lot like using drugs. They’re even starting to think of overeating as an addiction.
Key Takeaways
- High-glycemic foods, such as processed and high-sugar foods, can lead to more intense feelings of hunger than low-glycemic foods.1
- Foods causing rapid spikes in blood sugar have a greater addictive drive in the brain compared to low-glycemic foods.1
- Sugar can cause diminished reward responses over time, potentially leading to addiction to low-nutrient, sugary foods.1
- Elevated blood sugar can lead to inflammation in the brain, affecting memory and cognition.1
- Higher sugar consumption is associated with a higher likelihood of experiencing mental disorders and mood disturbances, such as depression and anxiety.1
Sugar’s Impact on Cognitive Skills and Self-Control
Many of us find that eating a bit of sugar makes us want more. Some scientists think sweet, salty, and fatty foods might act like addictive substances in our brains. This can lead to a lack of self-control, overeating, and gaining weight.1 Such behavior is similar to how people addicted to drugs and alcohol act.
Impaired Cognitive Skills and Decreased Self-Control
Foods that are high in sugar quicken our brain’s reward system more than foods low in sugar do.1 This is why a meal with a high glycemic index (GI) might make you feel hungrier faster than a low-GI meal. Over time, eating food that shoots our blood sugar up can make us feel less in control and diminish our thinking skills.
Drug-like Effects in the Brain’s Reward Center
Some studies suggest sweet foods can be even harder to resist than drugs like cocaine.1 When we eat these sugary foods, our brain’s reward center reacts, sparking intense cravings and cutting our self-control. This cycle can lead to eating too much sugar and possibly becoming addicted to food.
| Effect | Finding | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| High-glycemic foods activate reward response | High-glycemic foods activate regions of the brain associated with the reward response and provoke more intense feelings of hunger than low-glycemic foods | 1 |
| High-GI meal increases brain activity in eating, reward, and craving | A high-GI meal elicited greater brain activity in areas involved in eating behavior, reward, and craving | 1 |
| Sweet foods more addictive than cocaine | Research indicated that sweet foods can be more addictive than cocaine | 1 |
The Reward Response and Food Addiction
When we eat, have sex, or use drugs, parts of our brain light up, making us feel good. This good feeling links to what we’re doing, causing us to want to do it again.2 For example, sugary foods can light up these brain areas more than less sugary ones. This makes us feel a greater urge to eat more.3
The Role of the Reward Response in Overeating
Eating a lot of high-sugar, high-fat foods can lead to needing more of them to feel the same pleasure. This needing more is called tolerance. It’s a key sign of addiction, pushing us to eat even when we don’t get as much pleasure.2
This cycle can weaken our brain’s pleasure response over time. Then we end up eating even more of these unhealthy foods that are full of sugar, salt, and fat.2
Sugar Addiction: A Comparison to Substance Abuse
Sugar acts a lot like hard drugs in our brains, with both leading to addiction-like reactions.3 Studies on rats show they can act addicted to sugar, just like with drugs. They binge, feel withdrawal, and crave it.4
And, the way our brains react to sugar seems similar to how they react to drugs. All this shows how important the reward response is in making us overeat and get addicted to certain foods. Knowing this can help fight the rise of obesity and its health problems.
The Glycemic Index and Brain Activity
The glycemic index helps sort carbs by how fast they raise blood sugar.1 Foods like candy, white bread, and doughnuts quickly boost blood sugar. On the other hand, things like vegetables, nuts, and fruits keep your blood sugar steady. This can help maintain a healthy weight and lower your risk of heart disease and diabetes.
High-Glycemic Foods and Their Effects on the Brain
Eating high-GI meals boosts brain activity in areas linked to wanting more food and reward.1 This effect can make sugary, processed meals very hard to resist, much like how a study showed some sweet foods are as addictive as drugs.1
Low-Glycemic Foods and Their Benefits
But, choosing low-GI options is good for your brain. Evidence from a study in Appetite suggests that a diet low in sugar can reverse sugar’s harm to memory.1 Another research in Nutrients shows that cutting back on sugar and taking omega-3s and curcumin can boost memory.1
Sugar’s Addictive Potential Surpassing Cocaine
A study in PLoS One found sweet foods could be more addictive than cocaine. This was based on research with animals. It showed intense sweetness beats cocaine’s reward, even for people who are used to drugs.56
The Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) looks at eating behaviors like addiction with certain foods. Foods high in fat and ones that spike blood sugar can be the most addictive.5 In an interesting test, rats had to choose between a sugary drink and cocaine. 94% chose the sugary drink.56
Refined sugar can act on the brain like illegal drugs do, leading to familiar drug-like habits.5 Research shows that sugar can play on parts of the brain in ways that remind of drugs. But it does this to a lesser extent.5
Repeatedly having sugar can change the brain in ways that are similar to drug use.5 Sugar-exposed rats showed behavior like addiction, like bingeing, withdrawal, and cravings.5
Letting rats have sugar sometimes changed how their brains worked, leading to addict-like habits.5 Too much sugar is linked to many health troubles. It’s important for health to cut down on sugar.5
More studies are needed to know all about the possible addictive nature of sugar. We want to understand how it affects people’s behavior and health.5
The Effects of Sugar on Brain Function: What You Need to Know
Sugar doesn’t just affect your brain, it harms your whole body. An increase in blood sugar, even if it’s just once, can hurt your brain. This leads to inflammation and memory problems.1 Luckily, you can undo sugar’s bad effects on memory. A diet low in sugar and with low GI levels can help. You should also cut down on sugar and take omega-3 and curcumin to boost your memory.1
Foods that boost your blood sugar quickly can make you crave them more.1 On the other hand, foods that don’t spike your blood sugar are better for you. They help keep your blood sugar and diseases like heart disease and type 2 diabetes under control.1
Meals that quickly raise your blood sugar can also make your brain more ‘hungry’.1 Eating too much of these foods can mess up your brain’s reward system. This might make you want those unhealthy, sugary foods even more.1
Too much sugar can cause inflammation in the brain, leading to memory issues.1 But, you can fight this effect with the right diet. A low-sugar diet helps your brain stay healthy. And adding omega-3 and curcumin to your diet can make your memory better.1
High blood sugar can also mess with your feelings. It might make anxiety and depression more likely.1 Eating a lot of sugar increases your chances of having mental health problems, according to studies.1
Over time, high sugar levels can harm your brain and thinking skills, even if you don’t have diabetes.1 This happens because sugar reduces a key memory-making factor in your brain. It could even up your chances of getting dementia or Alzheimer’s.1
Watch out for sugar in different forms. Fructose, dextrose, and other forms of sugar are in many foods.7 Be cautious with sweet drinks. Water is the best choice instead of sugary drinks.7 Be careful with products like bread or sauces. They often have a lot of sugar too. Always read the labels to spot high-sugar items.7
Drinking alcohol in moderation is okay. But too much can mess with your blood sugar. It can make your blood sugar drop too low, affecting your brain and body.7 It’s key to be aware of how much sugar you’re consuming early on. Excessive sugar can cause serious damage to the brain and its functions.7
Health issues from too much sugar, like obesity and heart problems, can be improved with a healthy diet. Managing your sugar intake is important for staying healthy overall.7
Inflammation and Memory Impairment
Too much sugar can harm the brain. In 2016, a study in Behavioral Brain Research showed high sugar hurt rats’ brains. It led to inflammation in the hippocampus. This made the rats have memory impairment.1
Reversing Sugar-Induced Memory Damage
The bright side is, you can fix sugar’s harm to memory. A 2017 study in Appetite suggested a special diet can help. Eating low-sugar, low-GI foods might turn around memory impairment from sugar.1
Improving Working Memory by Reducing Sugar Intake
Less sugar and more omega-3s and curcumin might help your working memory. According to a 2015 Nutrients study, these changes can be good. They might cut down sugar’s harm on thinking and boost brain power.1
Sugar’s Impact on Mood and Mental Health
Sugar can mess with our feelings and make us more anxious. Studies show it’s not good for the brain, especially with high blood sugar.1 People with type 2 diabetes also felt sadder and more anxious when their blood sugar spiked.1 The more sugar people ate, the higher their chance of having a mental health issue, one study revealed.1
Compromised Emotional Processing and Increased Anxiety
High blood sugar can make us bad at processing emotions, more anxious, and at a higher risk for depression.1 It can even make our brains shrink.1 Getting hooked on sugar happens because it boosts a feel-good chemical in our brains. This makes us crave more sugar for a quick happiness fix.8
Higher Risk for Depression with Elevated Sugar Consumption
People who eat a lot of sugar have a 23% higher chance of getting a mental illness.1 There’s a link between too much sugar and Alzheimer’s, as found in US studies.8 Stress can make us eat too much, especially sugary foods, leading to a bad cycle of stress and bad food choices.8
Blood Vessel Damage and Brain Shrinkage
High blood sugar is bad for your blood vessels, especially in the brain and eyes.9 If you have diabetes for a long time, you might see damage that affects how you learn, remember, and move. This comes from studies on people with diabetes over the years.9
But it’s not just about diabetes. Eating too much sugar can lower your brainpower. This might happen because of high blood sugar, high blood pressure, trouble with insulin, and too much cholesterol.1
Cognitive Deficits in Long-Term Diabetics
Nearly all diabetes cases are of type-2, affecting millions globally.9 Unhealthy diets, not moving enough, and living longer will push this number to 700 million by 2045.9
Between 20 and 70% of those with diabetes have trouble with learning, memory, and other brain skills.9 In a particular study, over a third of a group from south India with type-2 had cognitive issues.9
Compared to others, someone with diabetes is more at risk of brain problems and early signs of dementia.9
Lower Cognitive Function Scores with Higher Sugar Intake
Brains of those with type-2 diabetes often look different, like they’re getting smaller or are damaged in specific areas.9 They might have less gray matter and white matter, even if they don’t show other signs.9
This shrinking can be worse than what normally happens as we age, plus there’s more chance of small brain injuries with diabetes.9 A part called the hippocampus might be especially harmed in diabetes.9 Overall, it seems having diabetes makes you more likely to have a shrinking brain.9
Just eating a lot of sugar can mess up your brain skills, with or without diabetes. Your blood sugar, blood pressure, insulin, and cholesterol levels all play a part.1
Reduced Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF)
A diet high in added sugar can lower BDNF production. This is bad because BDNF is key for learning and forming memories.1 The risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s goes up when BDNF levels drop. A report in Diabetologia mentioned this.1
The Role of BDNF in Memory Formation and Learning
BDNF is super important for neurons to grow and stay healthy. It helps us make new memories and learn better. Too much sugar can hurt BDNF, which then affects our thinking and mental health.1
Link Between Low BDNF and Dementia Risk
Less BDNF means more risk of diseases like dementia. People with low BDNF may see their memory and thinking get worse over time.1 Keeping BDNF levels high with a good diet and lifestyle choices is key. It helps protect our brains and lowers dementia risk.10
Recommended Sugar Intake and Health Risks
The American Heart Association suggests women should limit added sugar to 25 grams daily. Men, on the other hand, are allowed up to 38 grams.11 Yet, many people in the U.S. eat more sugar than they should. Too much sugar can cause tooth decay, weight gain, and raise the chances of Type 2 Diabetes.1
American Heart Association’s Sugar Intake Guidelines
The American Heart Association advises on sugar intake to keep a healthy diet. These guidelines help in managing how much sugar we eat. They are meant to lessen the harm to brain function and health.11
Health Risks of Excessive Sugar Consumption
By focusing on all sugar forms and avoiding sweet drinks, people can cut their sugar use. This step can protect cognitive skills and health. It’s key to good brain function, avoiding weight issues, and reducing the risk of Type 2 Diabetes.111
Source Links
- https://www.verywellmind.com/how-sugar-affects-the-brain-4065218
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8468293/
- https://theconversation.com/your-brain-on-sugar-what-the-science-actually-says-126581
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2235907/
- https://www.coniferpark.com/blog/sugar-more-addictive-than-cocaine
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1931610/
- https://unitedbrainassociation.org/2020/06/28/how-sugar-affects-the-brain/
- https://www.benenden.co.uk/be-healthy/nutrition/seven-ways-sugar-is-affecting-your-mental-performance/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9800261/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7037992/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10780393/
