Proper diet can prevent Development Disorders.
Our brain requires more energy than any other organ in our body and its primary source of energy is glucose. After much research, it has been established that only 6 teaspoons of sugar in children is more than enough. Any more comes under excess and has detrimental effects ranging from cognitive to physical. Not just that it has a ‘drug-like’ effect in the rewarding system of the brain.
• Loss of self-control
• Overeating
• Obesity (with malnourishment)
• Acne
• Inflammation and pains
Increases risk in childhood for:
• Diabetes
• Heart diseases
• Addictions
• High blood pressure, to name a few.
Excess sugar slows down the brain. It decreases our ability to use memory accurately. Sugar is also linked to depression and anxiety as it interferes with our neurotransmitters and destabilizes our mood causing mood swings. Like drugs, sugar floods the brain with dopamine, a feel-good chemical, thus interfering with the normal functioning of the brain. A study conducted at Yale University found that simple sight of a milkshake activated the same reward centers of the brain as cocaine does with addicts. In fact, another study conducted in 2007 found that study subjects (rats) preferred sugar water to cocaine.
Sugar intake can also predict violent behaviors as a study conducted found that 70% of violent behaving adults had had excess sugar on a daily basis in childhood. The authors of the study speculated that this phenomenon is related to parents using candy to control their children’s behavior, which gets in the way of children learning to delay gratification.
Sugar- The New Drug
