Eating sweets such as chocolate when you are hungry and feel unfocused not only relieves your hunger, but it also makes you feel like sugar gives your brain energy. However, it is said that the brain does not work that well just by eating sweets. Since the brain works with glucose as energy, it is easy to think that the brain works as long as it takes sugar, but this seems to be a mistake.
According to experiment conducted by Tohoku University’s Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer (IDAC), eating in a balanced diet gave better results in all of the brain’s “concentration, fatigue and activity” rather than sugar.
In the experiment, after taking 3 kinds of breakfast: water only, sugar water only and liquid food with a well-balanced nutrition, a memory test was conducted and brain activity was measured.
From the experiment, compared with the case of taking only water or sugar water only, the liquid food temporarily decreases for concentration, but it recovers after 180 minutes, the “fatigue” gradually decreases for all three types of breakfast, but it was found that the food improved after 90 minutes.
In addition, an MRI image analysis of the brain function during the memory test revealed that various dietary areas, mainly the frontal lobe, are more active in the liquid diet than in sugar water. In other words, it is difficult to improve fatigue and concentration with sweet food alone.
Although it may be possible to expect a relaxing effect by eating sweets, be aware that research shows that excessive intake of sweets slows down the workings of the brain.