Sugar really does make us sweeter - by helping us digest bad news, says a new study.
It is believed that the sugar rush provides the brain with the fuel it needs to push away thoughts of blame and revenge, making it easier for us to forgive and forget.
“These findings provide the first evidence that forgiveness depends on how efficiently the body uses glucose,” the Daily Mail quoted researchers at the University of Kentucky as saying. The researchers team looked at whether there was a link between symptoms of the most common type of diabetes and the ability to forgive. Type 2 diabetes is linked to obesity and usually develops in middle age. Sufferers struggle to turn glucose, or sugar, into energy needed to fuel the brain. Four different experiments showed that men and women with the most symptoms of diabetes were less forgiving. For instance, asked if they would seek revenge if someone gave away one of their secrets, they were most likely to want to retaliate. They were more unwilling to help people who irritated them.
The researchers said it was likely the brain was short of the sugar it needed to keep vengeful impulses at bay. The study has been published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.
