Apparently, the ‘sugar coma’ is real and it could be slowing down your brain
New research reveals consuming glucose can impair cognitive performance.
You may want go easy on that sweet treat because new research suggests sugar can impair brain performance.
A small study carried out by scientists in New Zealand showed glucose and sucrose, which are found in table sugar, can affect performance in cognitive tasks.
The team tested 49 people and monitored the effects of three common dietary sugars – glucose, fructose (found in fruits) and sucrose – against a placebo sweetener (sucralose) over a 16-week period.
Some were instructed to fast for 10 hours prior to the test and blood sugar levels of all the participants were measured with finger prick tests.
The effect was found to be “significantly higher” among those who fasted beforehand, “implying inferior performance”.
The researchers wrote in their paper: “Overall, the findings showed that glucose and sucrose had relatively negative effects on the assessed cognitive tasks.
“In contrast, no apparent effect on task performances was found with fructose ingestion compared to the placebo.”
“While the sample size is relatively small, the effect we observe is substantial.
“Future research should further quantify how different brain regions change after sugar consumption – by using neuroimaging techniques. This will help us better understand how attention deficits arise after glucose consumption.”
The research is published in the journal Physiology & Behavior.
