Sugar affects ability to resist temptation

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Dec. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say sugar or glucose affects people's ability to resist temptation.

Florida State researchers Roy F. Baumeister and Dianne M. Tice with Kathleen D. Vohs of the University of Minnesota found that when participants perform multiple self-control tasks in a row, they do worse over time -- and as a result self-control wanes as it is exercised.

The researchers measured the blood glucose levels of participants before either engaging in a self-control task or a task that did not involve self control.

They found that the group performing the self-control task suffered depletion in glucose afterward. In another experiment, two groups performed the self-control task two times each, drinking one of two sweetened beverages in between.

The control group drank lemonade with Splenda, a sugar-free sweetener; the test group got lemonade sweetened with real sugar.

The study, published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, found those who drank the drink with sugar performed better than the Splenda group on their second test -- presumably because their blood sugar had been replenished.