The Reason You’re Reaching for Another Soda Isn’t Just the Caffeine High
Sugar doesn’t get a very good rap. From bad teeth to the obesity epidemic, the sweet stuff is implicated in public health issues small and large. But here’s the thing: Consuming sugar makes us feel good.
A study published Thursday in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism shows what that high means for the brain chemistry of people who regularly drink sugar-sweetened sodas. The women who took part in the study, which compared naturally sweetened beverages with those containing aspartame, were less stressed out after drinking three sugar-sweetened beverages a day for two weeks. MRI scans showed increased activity in the hippocampus region of the brain and reduced cortisol response—both signs of reduced stress.
Scans of the women (no men were included as test subjects) who drank aspartame-sweetened beverages—diet soda—did not show the same markers of reduced stress.
But before you start reaching for a can of Coke to, well, calm down, consider the conclusion drawn from the researchers who conducted the study.
“The concern is that psychological or emotional stress could trigger the habitual overconsumption of sugar and amplify sugar’s detrimental health effects, including obesity,” Kevin D. Laugero, a professor at the University of California, Davis, and a coauthor of the study, said in a statement.
There’s been plenty of back-and-forth over whether sugar does or doesn’t function like a drug when consumed in the huge amounts that are common in the modern American diet. Even in light of this study, sugar is still undeserving of any mantle such as “the new cocaine.” But the research makes the continued high consumption of soda and other sugary beverages—and the concurrent rise in obesity rates—look a bit more logical.
The adult obesity rate was 27.1 percent in 2013, according to Gallup, and Americans drank nearly 44 gallons of soda per capita that year. While consumption is down from the 53 gallons per capita consumed annually in 2000, the link between obesity and soda consumption has become increasingly common knowledge over the last decade. Perhaps people don’t continue to crack open the cans in spite of that understanding, but because of stress-related reasons.
Related stories on TakePart:
• John Oliver Takes Down America’s Sugar Addiction Just in Time for Halloween
• Jane Says: Sugar Isn't Addictive—but You Can Eat It Like an Addict
Original article from TakePart
