Sugar may help lower signs of stress, making you crave more. For some, sugary sweets can calm stress and anxiety during difficult times. A new study out this week has figured out why sugar might seem so helpful in those situations. “In a two-week experiment, 19 women drank three beverages a day sweetened either with real sugar or aspartame, a substitute. Researchers did magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans to see how the sweets affected the women and found that sugar, but not aspartame, triggered activity in a part of the brain involved in reacting to stress. The MRI results suggest that sugar may have interrupted the normal response to stress in the hippocampus region of the brain, limiting production of the stress hormone cortisol.” The study was small, but indicates a mechanism for why those under chronic stress might overindulge in sugar-laden foods. Knowing this might help those who eat to de-stress get a better handle on their eating habits. “While there isn’t a single, simple way to short-circuit these cravings in times of stress, it is possible to develop other ways to cope, such as taking a walk.”

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