Picture warm, gooey cookies, crunchy candies, velvety cakes, waffle cones piled high with ice cream. Is your mouth watering? Are you craving dessert? Why? What happens in the brain that makes sugary foods so hard to resist?
Imagjinoni disa biskota te ngrohta e te lengshme, karamele krokante, keke te mendafshte, kone prej vaferi te tejmbushur me akullore. A po ju leshon goja leng? Ju vjen deshira per embelsira? Pse? Cfare ndodh ne trurin tone
Sugar is a general term used to describe a class of molecules
qe i ben kaq te parrezistueshme ushqimet e embla?
called carbohydrates, and it's found in a wide variety of food and drink. Just check the labels on sweet products you buy. Glucose, fructose, sucrose, maltose, lactose, dextrose, and starch are all forms of sugar. So are high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, raw sugar, and honey. And sugar isn't just in candies and desserts, it's also added to tomato sauce, yogurt, dried fruit, flavored waters, or granola bars.
Fjala sheqer eshte nje term i pergjithshem qe perdoret per te pershkruar nje categori molekulash te quajtura karbohidrate, dhe gjendet ne nje game te gjere ushqimesh dhe pijesh. Mjafton te kontrolloni etiketat e embelsirave qe blini. Glukosa, fruktoza, sukroza, maltoza, laktozi, dekstroza, dhe niseshteja jane te gjitha forma sheqernash. Sic jane edhe shurupi i mistrit me nivel te larte fruktoze, lengjet e frutave, sheqeri apo mjalti. Dhe sheqeri nuk gjendet vetem tek karamelet e embelsirat, ai i shtohet edhe salces se domateve, kosit, frutave te thata, ujerave te aromatizuara,
Since sugar is everywhere, it's important to understand
apo shufrave me mysli.
how it affects the brain. What happens when sugar hits your tongue? And does eating a little bit of sugar make you crave more?
Duke qene se sheqeri ndodhet gjithandej, eshte e rendesishme te kuptojme se c'ndikim ka ai tek truri. Cfare ndodh kur sheqeri prek gjuhen tone? A eshte e vertete se po te hash pak sheqer deshiron edhe me shume?
You take a bite of cereal. The sugars it contains activate the sweet-taste receptors, part of the taste buds on the tongue. These receptors send a signal up to the brain stem, and from there, it forks off into many areas of the forebrain, one of which is the cerebral cortex. Different sections of the cerebral cortex process different tastes: bitter, salty, umami, and, in our case, sweet. From here, the signal activates the brain's reward system. This reward system is a series of electrical and chemical pathways across several different regions of the brain. It's a complicated network, but it helps answer a single, subconscious question: should I do that again? That warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you taste Grandma's chocolate cake? That's your reward system saying, "Mmm, yes!" And it's not just activated by food. Socializing, sexual behavior, and drugs are just a few examples of things and experiences that also activate the reward system. But overactivating this reward system kickstarts a series of unfortunate events: loss of control, craving, and increased tolerance to sugar.
Kafshon nje shufer grunjerash. Sheqeri qe ajo permban aktivizon receptoret e shijet qe ndodhen ne gjuhe. Keta receptore dergojne nje sinjal ne trungun e trurit, dhe nga aty, sinjali shperndahet ne zona te ndryshme te trurit, njera prej te cilave eshte korteksi. Zona te ndryshme te kortekstit perpunojne shije te ndryshme: te hidhuren, te kripuren, umamin, dhe ne rastin tone, te emblen. Prej ketej sinjali aktivizon sistemin shperblyes te trurit. Ky sistem shperblyes perbehet nga nje sere ngacmimesh elektrike dhe kimike te zonave te ndryshme te trurit. Eshte nje rrjet i nderlikuar, por ai ndihmon ne gjetjen e pergjigjes per te vetmen pyetje te pandergjegjshme: a duhet te vazhdoj? Ajo ndjesia e ngrohte, marramendese qe ke kur provon kekun me cokollate te gjyshes? Eshte sistemi i shperblimit qe te thote, "Hmm, po! " Ai nuk aktivizohet vetem nga ushqimi. Shoqerizimi, sjellja seksuale dhe drogat jane vetem pak nga shembujt te gjerave apo pervojave qe aktivizojne sistemin e shperblimit. Por kur ky sistem aktivizohet se tepermi atehere nisin nje sere ngjarjesh te papelqyeshme: humbje kontrolli, uri, dhe tolerance e tepruar ndaj sheqernave.
Let's get back to our bite of cereal. It travels down into your stomach and eventually into your gut. And guess what? There are sugar receptors here, too. They are not taste buds, but they do send signals telling your brain that you're full or that your body should produce more insulin to deal with the extra sugar you're eating.
Le te kthehemi tek kafshata jone e grunjerave. Ajo udheton poshte drejt stomakut, dhe pastaj drejt zorreve. Dhe a e di? Ketu ndodhen receptore te tjere te sheqernave. Nuk dallojne shijen, por ama dergojne sinjale qe i thone trurit tend se je i ngopur apo se trupi duhet te prodhoje me shume insuline per te perballuar sheqerin e tepert qe ti po ha.
The major currency of our reward system is dopamine, an important chemical or neurotransmitter. There are many dopamine receptors in the forebrain, but they're not evenly distributed. Certain areas contain dense clusters of receptors, and these dopamine hot spots are a part of our reward system. Drugs like alcohol, nicotine, or heroin send dopamine into overdrive, leading some people to constantly seek that high, in other words, to be addicted. Sugar also causes dopamine to be released, though not as violently as drugs. And sugar is rare among dopamine-inducing foods. Broccoli, for example, has no effect, which probably explains why it's so hard to get kids to eat their veggies.
Monedha kryesore e sistemit tone te shperblimit eshte dopamina, nje neurotransmetues i rendesishem kimik. Ne pjesen e perparme te trurit ka shume receptore dopamine, por ata nuk jane te shperndare njetrajtesisht. Ne disa zona gjenden ishuj te dendur receptoresh, dhe keto pika te nxehta jane pjese e sistemit te shperblimit. Drogat si alkooli, nikotina, apo heroina e cojne ne qiell nivelin e dopamines, gje qe i nxit disa njerez te arrijne gjithnje ate nivel te larte, e thene ndryshe, te krijojne varesi. Edhe sheqeri nxit prodhimin e dopamines, por jo ne nivele aq te larta sa drogat. Dhe sheqeri eshte nje nga ushqimet e rralla qe nxisin prodhimin e dopamines. Per shembull, brokoli nuk ka asnje efekt, gje qe ndoshta shpjegon se pse eshte kaq e veshtire t'i bindesh femijet te hane perime.
Speaking of healthy foods, let's say you're hungry and decide to eat a balanced meal. You do, and dopamine levels spike in the reward system hot spots. But if you eat that same dish many days in a row, dopamine levels will spike less and less, eventually leveling out. That's because when it comes to food, the brain evolved to pay special attention to new or different tastes. Why? Two reasons: first, to detect food that's gone bad. And second, because the more variety we have in our diet, the more likely we are to get all the nutrients we need. To keep that variety up, we need to be able to recognize a new food, and more importantly, we need to want to keep eating new foods. And that's why the dopamine levels off when a food becomes boring.
Teksa flasim per ushqimet e shendetshme, supozojme se ti ke uri dhe vendos te hash nje vakt te balancuar. Ti e ben kete, keshtu dopamina ngacmon ishujt e ndjeshem te sistemit te shperblimit. Por nese ti ha po te njejtin ushqim per disa dite rresht, niveli i dopamines do te ulet gjithnje e me shume, derisa te arrije ne zero. Kjo ndodh sepse, kur flitet per ushqime, gjate evolucionit truri u mesua t'i kushtonte vemendje te vecante shijeve te reja ose te ndryshme. Pse? Ka dy arsye: e para, per te kuptuar nese ushqimi ishte apo jo i prishur. e dyta, sepse sa me shume varietet te kemi ne dieten tone, aq me e lehte do te jete qe te marrim gjithe lendet qe na duhen. Ne menyre qe t'a mbajme te gjalle kete varietet, duhet te jemi ne gjendje te dallojme nje ushqim te ri, dhe c'ka eshte me e rendesishme, duhet te kemi gjithnje deshiren per te ngrene ushqime te reja. Ja pse niveli i dopamines bie
Now, back to that meal. What happens if in place of the healthy, balanced dish, you eat sugar-rich food instead? If you rarely eat sugar or don't eat much at a time, the effect is similar to that of the balanced meal. But if you eat too much, the dopamine response does not level out. In other words, eating lots of sugar will continue to feel rewarding. In this way, sugar behaves a little bit like a drug. It's one reason people seem to be hooked on sugary foods.
kur ushqimi behet i merzitshem. Tani le te kthehemi tek vakti jone. Cfare ndodh nese ne vend te atij vakti te shendetshem e te balancuar, ti vendos te hash ushqime me permbajtje te larte sheqeri? Nese e ha rralle sheqerin ose nuk ha shume prej tij pernjeheresh, efekti do te jete i njejte me ate te nje vakti te balancuar. Nese ha shume, atehere niveli i dopamines nuk do te bjere. E thene ndryshe, nese ha shume sheqerna do te ndihesh gjithnje i shperblyer. Ne kete drejtim, sheqeri sillet paksa si drogat. Kjo eshte nje prej arsyeve perse njerezit krijojne varesi
So, think back to all those different kinds of sugar.
ndaj ushqimeve te embla.
Each one is unique, but every time any sugar is consumed, it kickstarts a domino effect in the brain that sparks a rewarding feeling. Too much, too often, and things can go into overdrive. So, yes, overconsumption of sugar can have addictive effects on the brain, but a wedge of cake once in a while won't hurt you.
Tani, kujtoni te gjitha llojet e ndryshme te sheqerit. Secili prej tyre eshte unik, por sa here qe njeri prej tyre hyn ne sistemin tone, ai nxit nje efekt domino ne trurin tone qe prodhon nje ndjesi shperblimi. Eshte e forte, dhe ndodh shpesh, prandaj ndodh edhe qe te kalohet limiti. Pra, konsumi i tepert i sheqernave, mund te krijoje varesi te trurit,