- A well-functioning pre-frontal cortex is crucial to sobriety.
- For the PFC to be able to create willpower, it needs an adequate supply of glucose.
- Relatively low blood sugar reflects in lower glucose supply to the PFC, thereby lowering willpower, and the ability to say “NO”.
- Low or dropping blood sugar results in a surge of adrenaline and other stress hormones which impair effective signaling in the PFC.
- Executive functioning is thereby impaired, leading to a lack of use of recovery and relapse prevention skills in response to a relapse trigger.
- A hypoglycemia induced stress response may also stimulate a conditioned response towards the use of addictive substances and behaviors
Academy for Addiction & Mental Health Nutrition
