Why Open a Fridge When You Can Open a Book? Tips to Reduce Sweet Cravings

A team of scientists found that reading helps build a neural network that significantly enhances our quality of life and reduces our cravings for sweets.

"One hundred percent of humans have sweet cravings. This is an inherited trait from our ancestors that enabled humans to survive," explained Dr. David Perlmutter on the mindbodygreen website. He noted that the craving for sweets is a mechanism present in our bodies from times when obtaining food supplies was difficult. However, today, it is a need that nearly everyone feels at almost every moment of the day, with the consequence being excess weight.

According to his assessment, when we satisfy the urge for sweets, or in other words, stimulate the brain's reward system by consuming sugar, we are actually reinforcing the pathway that leads to dopamine-related areas in the brain's reward system. This can distance us from connecting with parts of the brain unrelated to the reward system, especially those linked to our ability to be empathetic and plan for the long term.

"We live in a society where we constantly respond to the brain's reward system," said Dr. Perlmutter. It was found that when we strengthen the brain areas related to empathy (as reading has been scientifically proven to do), we weaken the brain pathways in the reward system associated with the desire for sweet cravings. From this, the researchers concluded that reading can decrease our cravings for candies and other sweet things.

In conclusion, it was scientifically proven that reading may play a part in preventing Alzheimer's, and there is additional research from the University of Sussex that found it can reduce stress by 68%.