Why you’re wired to love sugar

Experts have answers for you about why people are wired to love sugar and how overindulgence can affect long-term metabolic and brain health.

Americans love Easter candy, spending more than $5 billion on it in 2024, with chocolate bunnies and eggs among the most popular treats, according to the National Confectioners Association.

While having a candy or two on a holiday isn’t a problem, consistently eating too much sugar can have significant negative effects.

According to Brenda Davy, a professor in the human nutrition, foods, and exercise department at Virginia Tech and a registered dietitian, added sugar consumption is associated with negative health outcomes, including metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, weight gain, and poor diet quality.

“Health organizations such as the American Heart Association recommend limiting foods and beverages with added sugars,” Davy says. “A general recommendation is to limit added sugar intake to less than 10% of total daily calories.”

For someone who requires 2,000 calories a day, that would mean 200 total calories of added sugar—about the amount in seven or eight marshmallow Peeps.

“This should be even less for children, since foods high in added sugar often displace nutrient-dense foods in the diet, which could impact healthy growth and development,” Davy says.

According to Alex DiFeliceantonio, an assistant professor with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, very few things are “hard-wired” into human behavior, but liking and seeking sugar is one of those things. Specifically, sugar and fat combinations, like those found in chocolate candy, are especially rewarding to the brain.

As the Easter holiday approaches, and candy fills grocery store aisles, Davy and DiFeliceantonio shared guidance on candy consumption to help people navigate the holiday sugar rush:

Why we crave sugar

DiFeliceantonio explains that the brain depends on a simple sugar as its main fuel source. Because of this, it encourages behaviors that keep that fuel coming.

“Your brain runs on glucose—that’s its primary fuel,” DiFeliceantonio says. “In our evolutionary environment, it would be a really good idea to consume a lot of a resource when you have access to it. In the modern environment, that tendency is less good for us.”

Put simply: Our brains are doing their job, but the modern world provides more sugar than our bodies need.

Impacts of eating too much sugar

Davy notes that eating excess added sugar over long periods contributes to weight gain and increases the risk of other negative health effects.

“It is important to distinguish sugar naturally present in foods, such as fruits, from added sugars,” Davy says. “Fruit contains fiber and many beneficial nutrients that are needed for promoting good health. They are an important part of healthy dietary patterns, such as the DASH diet and the Mediterranean diet.”

Sugar intake can affect more than our physique—it can shape long-term brain health, too.

“Long-term excess sugar intake will lead to increased weight and, in some people, type 2 diabetes,” DiFeliceantonio says. “Those body states are also not great for your brain and can increase inflammation, especially in the hypothalamus, which plays a role in energy balance. High blood sugars and type 2 diabetes are associated with cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease.”

Kids and candy

Children do have higher energy needs at certain stages, and they rely on carbohydrates to support growth and development. But DiFeliceantonio notes that candy isn’t the kind kids need.

“Kids also need carbohydrates to fuel their growth,” she says.

“But I don’t think anyone needs a scientist to tell them that most of those carbohydrates shouldn’t come from candy.”

Source: Virginia Tech

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