Your
brain
on
sugar
We
love
sweet
treats
.
But
too
much
sugar
in
our
diets
can
lead
to
weight
____________________
and
obesity
,
Type
2
diabetes
and
dental
____________________
.
We
know
we
shouldn
?
t
be
eating
candy
,
ice
cream
,
cookies
,
cakes
and
drinking
sugary
sodas
,
but
sometimes
they
are
so
hard
to
____________________
.
It
?
s
as
if
our
brain
is
____________________
to
want
these
foods
.
Your
body
runs
on
sugar
?
glucose
to
be
precise
.
Glucose
comes
from
the
Greek
word
glukos
which
means
sweet
.
Glucose
____________________
the
cells
that
make
up
our
body
?
including
brain
cells
(
neurons
)
.
On
an
evolutionary
basis
,
our
primitive
ancestors
were
scavengers
.
Sugary
foods
are
excellent
____________________
of
energy
,
so
we
have
evolved
to
find
sweet
foods
particularly
____________________
.
Foods
with
unpleasant
,
bitter
and
sour
tastes
can
be
____________________
,
poisonous
or
rotting
?
causing
sickness
.
So
to
____________________
our
survival
as
a
species
,
we
have
an
____________________
brain
system
that
makes
us
like
sweet
foods
since
they
?
re
a
great
source
of
energy
to
fuel
our
bodies
.
When
we
eat
sweet
foods
the
brain
?
s
____________________
system
?
called
the
mesolimbic
dopamine
system
?
gets
____________________
.
Dopamine
is
a
brain
chemical
____________________
by
neurons
and
can
____________________
that
an
event
was
positive
.
When
the
reward
system
fires
,
it
____________________
behaviours
?
making
it
more
likely
for
us
to
____________________
out
these
actions
again
.
Dopamine
?
hits
?
from
eating
sugar
____________________
rapid
learning
to
____________________
find
more
of
these
foods
.
Our
environment
today
is
____________________
with
sweet
,
energy
rich
foods
.
We
no
longer
have
to
____________________
for
these
special
sugary
foods
?
they
are
____________________
everywhere
.
Unfortunately
,
our
brain
is
still
functionally
very
similar
to
our
ancestors
,
and
it
really
likes
sugar
.
So
what
happens
in
the
brain
when
we
____________________
consume
sugar
?