Why We Want Brownies More Than Chicken by Joan Kent, PhD

 

Back when I was in my doctoral program, I used to wonder about something related to dopamine.

 

Dopamine is a feel-good brain chemical associated with reward and reinforcement. It’s arguably the ultimate brain reward chemical. It’s typically linked with addictive responses to foods, drugs, and even process addictions, like sex, shoplifting, and gambling.

 

Let’s Focus on Food

 

Dopamine is both synthesized and released when we eat protein foods. Examples include fish, beef, chicken, eggs, shrimp, and so on.

 

Dopamine is also released when we eat sugary foods – ice cream, cookies, brownies, and the like.

 

Those who struggle with sugar addiction (as well as other addicts) are looking to maximize the dopamine response whenever possible.

 

Here’s What I Wondered

 

Why don’t ‘dopamine addicts’ go crazy for protein foods? After all, not only do we release the dopamine we crave when we eat protein, we also build up stores of dopamine by synthesizing more.

 

So why not eat a 12-ounce steak, rather than a mere 4-ounce steak to get the most dopamine possible?

 

Turns out the answer is … because it doesn’t work. As I learned while doing my research, the firing rate of dopamine neurons slows down past a certain point, making it impossible to get a bigger dopamine high from that 12-ounce steak than from the 4-ounce one.

 

There Must Be a Loophole?

 

As I know from being the world’s foremost (recovered) sugar addict, we’re conscientious to a fault when it comes to tracking down sugar and the chemicals it triggers. It seems to me that sugar provides a loophole of sorts for this protein / dopamine thing.

 

Let me be clear that I’m absolutely not recommending this, just exploring the neurochemical phenomenon.

 

Unlike protein foods, sugary foods don’t induce an automatic slow-down of the firing rate of dopamine neurons.

 

Instead, there appears to be a direct relationship involving the sugar we eat, the endorphin (beta-endorphin) we release, and the dopamine that is indirectly fired. So the more sugar, the more dopamine.

 

That the firing is indirect (via beta-endorphin) does not diminish its power. If anything, the fact that no slow-down in neuronal firing occurs makes this indirect beta-endorphin / dopamine pathway quite strong and quite reinforcing.

 

The result is that large quantities of sugary foods will lead to a large quantity of brain dopamine, without a slow-down. That makes sugar – rather than protein – the key to the desire for more dopamine.

 

For a sugar addict, this may feel significant – and can explain a lot about her/his behavior.

 

This post doesn’t really point to a solution, but I can help. Are you in a vicious cycle where sugar is concerned? It’s easier to escape than you may realize. Just visit LastResortNutrition.com and grab your free Defeating Sugar Addiction consult. Discover how easy it is and how well it works. You got this!

 

Brought to you by Dr. Joan Kent, best-selling author of Stronger Than Sugar:  7 Simple Steps to Defeat Sugar Addiction, Lift Your Mood, and Transform Your Health.