It’s so easy to be conned

Food companies know how our primitive brain is wired, and they capitalize on that desire

If we get a reward in the form of feel-good brain chemicals when we do something, our primitive brain connects that “something” with survival. The brain literally thinks we need to seek it out again to help us survive. Food companies know this, even if we do not!

It is easy to say “I need some caffeine, I’m going to stop and get a coffee.”

And do you order an Americano black? Probably not. Because what you are seeking is NOT the coffee or the caffeine, (although you may be telling yourself it is, as I used to do), it is the “hit.” You are seeking a “hit” of dopamine that makes your brain feel good. But you are getting a front-end pleasure that comes with a back-end consequence, because all that sugar is contributing to your current ill health, your future disease, your fatigue, your inflammation, and your fuzzy thinking. Not to mention your weight, your insulin resistance and your blood sugar.

Yes, even that innocent “nonfat latte” that I used to order every single day was giving me a “hit.”

In my daily latte, I was getting about 20 grams of lactose (the type of sugar in milk). Lactose is about 1/2 as sweet as sugar. I was getting the equivalent of a little over 2 teaspoons of sugar in that latte. My insulin and blood sugar responded accordingly, as did my brain.

And you know what? When I switched to black coffee, suddenly I was not so interested in going to Starbucks anymore. The appeal was gone without the hit. Aaaa yes, I was NOT seeking the caffeine. I was seeking the “hit.”