As the new year has commenced, so have the diets and heavy gym going. But there could be one thing sabotaging your diet and you don't even know it! If you've had problems losing weight in the past because you end up giving in to temptation, blame fructose! Fructose is a common sugar found in lots of sweet drinks and foods, and now a study shows it actually rewires your brain, causing you to overeat.
Scientists found that consuming fructose can make changes in the brain causing us to overeat. The reason? It keeps us from feeling full as opposed to regular sugar, which does. Overconsumption of sugar is a big problem in the U.S and the study may reveal the cause of our obesity epidemic.
Although I try to maintain a healthy lifestyle, I do admit that I have a sweet tooth. Nothing can come between me and my chocolate which I justify by saying it could be A LOT worse. So to learn about this new study made me understand why I crave sweets!
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The study which was conducted through MRI on 20 young normal weight people showed that difference in blood flow in their brains before and after they had drinks containing glucose or fructose in two sessions spaced several weeks apart.
According to Dr. Robert Sherwin, chief of endocrinology at Yale University, the research revealed that glucose suppresses the areas pertaining to reward or food cravings in the brain. Fructose, meanwhile does not turn that area of the brain off–hence our desire for more food.
Although the research showed the effect fructose has on us, it does not prove that it can cause obesity. But experts aren't ruling it out since it may still play a factor due to high fructose syrup and its increase in food since the 1970s. They also recommend avoiding fructose and high-fructose processed foods as much as possible.
The researchers have yet to conduct a similar study on obese people to see if fructose and glucose has the same effect on them. Meanwhile doctors heed that it's best to consume glucose and fructose in its most natural state instead of artificially.
It makes sense that our bodies react this way to "fake" sugar since it probably doesn't register it the way it would natural sugar. I guess the best thing to do when it comes to sweets is just to limit consumption and have them in moderation. I know I am!
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