Normally, if you rationally consider that the cake they offer you is not the healthiest bite for you, your prefrontal cortex will try to overcome self-control and reject it with a simple "No, thank you." But imagine getting a tasty treat after having spent the entire day from meeting to meeting, studying for an exam, or simply under too much stress. In that case, the prefrontal cortex, exhausted by so much effort, will not have enough energy to overcome the temptation.
In addition, in stressful conditions, it will be enough to see the food to increase your blood concentration of ghrelin , also known as the hunger hormone, and therefore your appetite. If to this is added that you have spent too many hours without putting anything in your mouth and that your brain lacks sugar – its only fuel -, the neurons of the hypothalamus will cause the signals of the areas related to the reward to become hyperactive , releasing opioids Naturals that act in a similar way to heroin and increase the pleasure of tasting a sweet, while "covering the mouth" of the prefrontal cortex so that the rest of the brain does not listen to their commands. And so, of course, there is no one to resist.
