Neurobiologists at Yale University have analyzed how our brain reacts when it lacks sugar . And they have discovered that the area responsible for regulating emotions and impulses loses the ability to curb the desire to eat hypercaloric foods . Specifically, it is the prefrontal cortex, which Rajita Sinha compares to a "glucose sink". When sugar is lacking, an area called the hypothalamus detects it and activates the insula and striatum (areas related to rewards), which become hyperactive so that the desire to eat arises. Simultaneously, the prefrontal cortex, which normally keeps the former "at bay", "loses all its authority."
The best method to avoid this situation, says Sinha, is not to allow more than three hours between meals, eat five times a day, and include healthy foods (fruit, cereals …) in the diet that keep the brain fed and "under control" without the need to abuse sweets and cakes.
