Nutrients & more...

image Do you know that if we flip the word "desserts" it reads as "stressed"?!  While we may reach out to sweet foods in need of comfort, it has detrimental effects on our bodies. New studies have found that sugar affects not only our body, but also our minds.  Sugar is more addictive than drugs. And just like drug consumption a person may not have much control over it. But why is it so? The reward response In humans, sweet foods activate regions of the brain associated with the reward response and provoke more intense feelings of hunger than other foods. Foods that cause a higher elevation in blood glucose (aka sweets, fizzy drinks, energy bars, etc.) produce a larger addictive drive in the brain. A typical sweet eater's anxiety, despair, and irritability may increase if they abruptly cut out sweets from their diet. The symptoms of sugar and sweets withdrawal can be similar to those of withdrawal from other stimulants. Mood regulation Sugar makes dopamine(happy...

A few days back I was talking to my cousin and it turned out that both of us were on a cooking spree. On the top of it we were gorging on desserts. Why would we do that? As newly married women, things like new people, new job, relocation, rearrangement of priorities and new responsibilities were our main concerns. As it has been said “Stressed spelled backwards is desserts.” So there we were, eating and sharing our concerns. Mental stress and depression are by far the major reason when many of us reach out for comfort foods. As Peter De Vries stated “Gluttony is an emotional escape, a sign something is eating us.” Comfort foods are generally foods which trigger our memories e.g. some broth which your mother cooked when you were ill. Or, they can just be your favourite foods. Most of the time, these are loaded with calories. A number of hormones and neurotransmitters are involved in regulating our mood. Serotonin is the one which has been extensively researched upon. It is one...