Scientists XT Wang and Robert D. Dvorak, from the University of South Dakota (USA), have shown that blood glucose levels affect the decision-making process . In their experiments they asked a group of volunteers if they would prefer to receive certain amounts of money the next day or more in a longer period of time. Half answered the questions before and after ingesting a carbonated drink with sugar, while the other half drank drinks without sugar ("light"), with aspartame as a sweetener). Their glucose levels were also measured throughout the process.
The results, published in the journal Psychological Science , show that those who had high amounts of sugar in their blood were more predisposed to wait , while those who had low glucose from the diet drink wanted to receive their financial reward immediately, even if that implied perceiving less money. ? When we have available energy, in the form of glucose, our decisions are more oriented towards the future ?, conclude the researchers, who assure that? The future is more abstract than the present and requires more cognitive effort on the part of our brain ?.
Having little "energy" (little glucose) in the blood, on the contrary, makes us focus on the present. According to Wang, the lack of sugar alerts the body to an "imminent caloric crisis" and makes us more impulsive when making decisions.
