Need More Willpower? Drink Something Sweet!
Losing your temper may
be due to lack of glucose.
Losing your willpower may be more than just a loss of discipline.
Have you ever had just too much of someone’s attitude and then finally ‘bit their head off’ after losing ‘your cool’? Or you ‘were’ on a diet until the cheesecake was just screaming your name too loud? Well, there may be more to controlling your urges than just loss of self-control. In an article in Scientific American Mind, July 2007, willpower was put to the test by researchers studying the physiology behind what makes us lose control. What they found out is people don’t necessarily lose willpower, they just run out of it.
What the scientists discovered is that exercising self-control actually consumes more energy than not. When people are having to exercise their willpower for a lengthened amount of time, the body actually runs out of energy to control their emotions and/or urges. This may be a rationale for why people on diets may seem more irritable than when they are not on the no-carb diet. And, this may be a reason why people find it so hard to stay on diets in the first place. Theoretically, it could be due to the brain just running out of fuel to support the expensive self-discipline that is needed for a strict diet of meat and veggies or, if you are a woman, putting up with your male coworker’s misogynistic jokes.
Here is what researches at Florida State University said about their findings:
[FSU researchers] asked volunteers to perform tasks such as ignoring a distracting stimulus while watching a video clip or suppressing racial stereotypes during a five minute social interaction. These seemingly trivial efforts depleted glucose [, the main source of fuel for the brain,] in the bloodstream and hindered volunteers’ ability to maintain mental discipline during subsequent tasks. When the study participants were given a sugar drink to boost their blood glucose levels, their performance returned to normal. Volunteers who drank an artificially sweetened drink remained impaired.
A small glass of orange juice may be the
extra boost needed to stay calm and focused.
What this tells us is sugar may be a way around the supposed weak self-control that may impair people’s ability to stay focused on tasks, keep quiet about the visiting mother-in-law or stay on that strict diet of salmon and broccoli. The key is not over doing it though. This is not a license to drink 6 Cokes a day. The key is feeding your brain just enough to stay in control, but not too much to where you are bouncing off the walls with a sugar high or preventing the weight loss that you are desiring.
Also, this could be a major breakthrough for people who are unable to properly metabolize sugar, e.g. insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and diabetics. Since people with these types of conditions do not allow an efficient use of sugar for fuel because their body’s cells are resistant to insulin which is the hormone responsible for metabolizing sugar, they may end up ‘losing control’ faster than people who can properly metabolize sugar. This could be an added reason for their struggle with weight loss.
Florida University is not the only institution researching willpower. Kathleen Vohs, a psychologist at the University of Minnesota, discovered similar results during her research on another type of loss of willpower — “Self-Regulation and Impulse Buying.” What she discovered was remarkably similar to the willpower study of Florida State.
The current research investigated impulse purchasing using a model that posits that self-regulation is governed by a common — but limited — pool of resources that becomes depleted with use. In four experiments, participants in depleted resource condition, relative to participants whose resources were not depleted, felt stronger impulsive buying urges, and actually spent more money and bought more items in unanticipated buying situations. This research indicates that self-regulartory resources are crucial in resisting impulse buying temptations.
So what can we do to curb this weakness to urges we may feel throughout the day? Well, keep your blood sugar levels stable — not high, but stable. This will give your brain the energy it needs to control your potential shopping urges or keep you from falling off the diet wagon. In other words, eat small and frequent. And, if you need an emergency boost of willpower, have a small glass of 100% juice (4-6 oz). Other than that, think long term and don’t give up the fight! Good luck on your journey ahead.
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I can believe this — they also say sweet potatoes help in the PM too. Because you are both so well-informed, and eager to share, I have tagged you for a meme, 8 things I know.
Hey SusieJ, thank you so much for the kind words. What exactly is a meme anyway? I have heard this before, but don’t really know what it means in reference to the blogging world. Anyways, take care Susie and hope to hear from you again.
Interesting. I’ll give it a try the next time I lack the will power to go the gym.
I wonder though if at bedtime a little snack, which includes a bit of sugar, might be a good thing. After all, during that long sleep of 8 or so hours, the brain must have run out of energy and needs something. ??
-30-
Try the snack before hitting the gym, it should work for you. And the nighttime thing… since you are quite inactive when you go to bed, the body can pull enough glycogen from the liver to support all the brain activity. Eating carbohydrates before bed would just give you too many calories.
Now eating protein before bedtime is a good thing. Helps rejuvenate muscles and build proteins for recovery. Have fun!
Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts. It is always great pleasure to read your posts.
Well, thank you Kim, I appreciate your kind thoughts. How long have you been a reader of Blog4Brains? Is this just your first time to post a comment?
I Cerebral, I don’t know what a meme is either. Hope no one tags me for a meme, I don’t like the sound of that word. Maybe instead of eating before bed she should do 3 to 6 miles a day like I do. I am Stealthy, like under the radar. Stealthy is better than meme. Anyway while i have been away I have writing Stephen. He has taken an interest in what Jesus told me. Everyone else has told me to seek help. I wonder if Stephen is putting me on or he is really interested. I am going to find out. Do I have One believer? Another thing, You told Susie that you hope you hear from her again. You said the same thing to me. Do you say that to all the girls? Smile, Melanie Stephan
Hey Melanie, long time no hear. Who is this Stephen guy? I am glad someone is interested in your story. And you have more than One believer. I believe you had that “vision”, or whatever you want to call it. What it means, I don’t know, but I am sure you had the experience.
Here is the reason I turn away from religion… experience, whether it is objective, subjective or spiritual, should always stay individualized. It should not matter if it means something or has significance to another. The most powerful belief is the one that is internalized, not something that is extrinsic. Because if it is intrinsic, it is yours… you own it! Keep it that way, and don’t let others steal the significance away from it. [Getting off soapbox.]
Anyways, take care girl, and don’t be a stranger. Hope to hear from you again! [Wink]
He Cerebral, I went to Stephen’ site this morning. Turns out he was just leading me on. He just wanted me to write more of my crazy story. He didn’t believe a freaking word. I am done with him. Maybe blogging is not the way to tell people that I had a visitor. Whether people believe my story or not I think I have generated some interest. They have something to chew on during their thoughtless hours of the day. Anyway I like you. God knows I have a passion for good looking men. If there weren’t a few handsome men outside my door, life won’t be worth leaving the house. Melanie Stephan P.S. these math problems that I have to preform to enter a comment are making commenting difficult. 0 x 9 8 Smile.
Hey Melanie, have you thought about starting your own blog? If not, why don’t you start your own on blogger.com or something? If you have something you want to write about, then do it on your own terms without anyone telling you what’s right and wrong. You ought to as it is really cathartic to get all of it out of your head and into the universe. Anyways, don’t trust anyone on the web. The web as actually made me more pessimistic about humanity. Only the real world and real people keep me somewhat optimistic.
Melanie,
I am NOT the Stephen that hosts the web blog in England.
Since we got kicked off that blog (Y.Safle) and you posted a blog here last night, I thought I would give this one a try.
You asked me “Why?”.
The answer is that you have a message.
Do you need your own blog?
Stephen
Hi, Cerebral. I had good thoughts of you today. Thought I would come in for a visit. I had to look in the dictionary to find the meaning of 2 words, carthisis and intrinic. I think they are nice words, a better responce than I have heard from others, most were negative. Then one person said I should be an Author. That was a surprise. I don’t think I want my own blog site. I enjoy visiting. There is some junk on the net and then some people are very clever and funny. And yes you don’t know who you can trust. I have a feeling that I can trust you, I don’t know why. Today is 7-7-7, maybe I will get lucky tonight. Then, I have a question. What would happen if an Angel and an Atheist were together? Smile. My thought is that the result would have to be Divine. Melanie