{"id":14076,"date":"2013-05-24T23:58:36","date_gmt":"2013-05-25T07:58:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=14076"},"modified":"2013-07-23T14:50:02","modified_gmt":"2013-07-23T22:50:02","slug":"stop-giving-your-brain-the-sugar-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/stop-giving-your-brain-the-sugar-blues\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop Giving Your Brain the “Sugar Blues”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Refined sugar has been called poison, toxic, and the “anti-nutrient”. It’s said to be more addictive than cocaine. Is it really that bad? How much does sugar really affect your brain?<\/p>\n

Let’s take a look at the somewhat complex relationship between sugar and your brain.<\/p>\n

Your Brain Needs Glucose, Not Fructose<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brain cells need\u00a0twice as much energy<\/i>\u00a0as other cells. After all, there’s a lot going on up there! Your brain cells can\u2019t store energy, so they need a steady stream of glucose from your bloodstream. Your brain cells can live only a few minutes without energy supply – it’s that critical!<\/p>\n

The healthiest sources of glucose are from the complex carbohydrates found in whole grains, legumes, fruits,\u00a0 and vegetables. Glucose is also a building block of the lactose found in dairy products.<\/p>\n

Unhealthy sources of glucose are sugar and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) which are all are roughly half glucose and half fructose. Virtually every cell in the body can metabolize glucose for energy, but only your liver cells metabolize fructose.<\/p>\n

While honey and maple syrup do contain some nutrients, they are still the same basic composition as refined sugar – half glucose, half fructose.<\/p>\n

All Fructose Is Not Created Equal<\/strong><\/p>\n

A healthy diet contains lots of fruits and vegetables which are sources of dietary fructose. But a diet high in these sources of naturally occurring fructose is\u00a0not<\/i>\u00a0the same as a diet high in fructose from refined sweeteners. Don\u2019t make the mistake of thinking you should skip eating carrots or apples because they contain fructose. It\u2019s the\u00a0added<\/i>\u00a0fructose from refined sweeteners you should be concerned about. So there’s no need to pick carrots out of your salad. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Dangers of a High Fructose Diet<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fructose has wrongly been promoted as a healthy sweetener because it doesn\u2019t raise blood sugar levels or spike insulin. Instead it raises blood\u00a0fructose<\/i>\u00a0levels, which is arguably even \u00a0worse. Here are some of the problems with high fructose diets:<\/p>\n