As Halloween is upon us, I wanted to take this time as a light reminder about the trick in the treat.
The treat of course being sugar. That sweet-tasting substance, hidden in so many of our foods that keep us coming back for more.
I won’t take up too much of your time this week as you have heard it all before, but I wanted to explain why it is that sugar is so addictive and give you a little piece of general knowledge to sweeten your conversation at the upcoming seasonal gatherings.
Sugar is bad, full stop, we know that. But why can’t we stop it?
Well, when we ingest (eat) sugar, it blocks leptin in the brain. Leptin in the brain is a satiety hormone, it registers that we are full and takes about 20 minutes of eating to kick in. That’s why teenagers who eat quickly can eat so much, because they finish their plate before the 20-minute mark.
Anyway, if we eat sugar and block leptin, we have no idea that we are full and therefore we continue to go back for more. So much so that an interesting study done on mice, removed their satiety centre in the brain, which means they could never register fullness. As such they essentially ate themselves to death.
This I think you can appreciate is happening to humans on a slower scale, we eat and eat and then try to crawl back from chronic illness and disease.
So, my take-home for you:
1. Enjoy the odd treat, seriously go for it. But so long as it is a treat. Once a week.
2. Eat slowly, this will allow you to go over the 20 minutes and the satiety to kick in, therefore feeling full and stopping.
3. Drink a large glass of water before eating to stimulate stomach stretch receptors, also key in registering fullness.
If you want to find out more about sugar and the dangers of it, be sure to check out this podcast where I interview one of the worlds foremost experts on sugar addiction.
Happy Halloween and don’t forget the trick in the treat.
With love
Tom
