Why Sugar Won’t Actually Help You Pass Your Exams

You can have a bottle of water and a bar of chocolate on a desk during the exam, they say, it helps the brain. Does it? I did some research and can assure you, chocolate — which is sugar — barely helps our brain.

Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. They are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. That sounds fine. For now.

Let me tell you what happens when sugar enters the body. Sugar is an immediate energy surge. It is swiftly absorbed into the blood stream. As it happens, the amount of sugar in the blood increases — so the body has to metabolize it. To lower sugar the pancreas secretes insulin. At that moment you feel loss of strength and — of course — want to eat something sweet again. A kind of mild addiction takes place, I would say. What is more, sugar lowers orexyn (same as hypocretin) — the neurotransmitter which is responsible for vivacity and activity. So you constantly feel broken down.

What can be done now? I’ll just stop eating sweets, you say? If only it was that easy! The biggest issue here is that even very common non-sweet products may contain up to twice the daily norms of sugar. A simple jar of fat-free yogurt most likely contains a daily norm of sugar. Pizza, sushi — everything we like contains not just a little, but a lot of sugar.

I can say from my personal experience that it is quite impossible to eliminate sugar from the diet forever. Especially if you are an addict. So what to do? My solution was (still is) to reduce the amount of sugar. First, it can be replaced with honey: tea with lemon and honey, oatmeal with honey, cottage cheese with pumpkin seeds and honey. Whenever you want a wok or pizza, cook it yourself! You will be able to control the amount of sugar. Never buy sauces, make them. It’s very easy, 100% more tasty and sugar-free!

P. S. Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out why the weight comes back after a diet!