‘Sugar in tea helps stress sip away’

“When provocation is likely,for example,when encountering a difficult supervisor at a meeting,drinking a sweetened beverage prior to this encounter might increase one’s ability to effectively inhibit aggressive impulses.

“Consuming a sweetened beverage on the commute home following a stressful day could reduce aggression toward family members or fellow drivers,” the researchers were quoted by the ‘Daily Mail’ as saying.

In fact,for the study,the researchers gave lemonade to a group of men and women. Some was sweetened with sugar,the rest with an artificial sweetener.

The volunteers were set a series of stressful tasks,culminating in preparing a speech. After giving their talk,some were provoked by being told the content was boring and disappointing.

Those who had drunk the sugary lemonade rose less to the bait,according to the findings published in the ‘Journal of Experimental Social Psychology’.

The researchers,from the University of New South Wales and Queensland University,said the brain needs sugar,or glucose,to power “executive functioning”,which includes the ability to control actions.

“One method of increasing the energy available to the brain for exercising executive control is by increasing blood glucose levels. Additional glucose should provide the energy necessary to restrain aggressive impulses when provoked.

“Despite the widespread notion that glucose consumption can lead to a ‘sugar high’ resulting in impulsive behaviour our data suggest that glucose can increase executive control when provoked,” the researchers said.