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Donuts provide the ingredients for making acetylcholine that is vital for learning and paying attention.

Caffeine is neuroprotective and prevents the inhibitory transmitter adenosine from turning off brain function.

Nicotine is neuroprotective and greatly reduces the risk of developing Parkinson’ disease.

Caffeine, sugar, and nicotine have all been shown to enhance cognitive function.

This is the main point of this post: Sometimes what your brain craves is not good for your body. We all know that this is true. We’re drawn to any food that has ample quantities of fat, salt, and sugar. Visit any coffee shop in the nation, and you’re likely to see people enjoying a cigarette with their coffee and glazed donut. Why do humans choose to consume chemicals that are so unhealthy? Smoking kills slowly and nicotine is incredibly toxic, caffeine is harmful to the heart muscles and, at high doses, can induce dangerous arrythmias, while the regular consumption of sugar-ladened donuts leads to diabetes and obesity-related disorders.

The reason is simple: Our brains reward us for consuming these foods/chemicals. [For a thorough discussion of this topic, go here: Your Brain on Food: How Chemicals Control Your Thoughts and Feelings.] It’s well known that nicotine, caffeine, and sugar produce euphoria which encourages their continued long-term use. However, science has clearly demonstrated their toxicity for our physical health; Is there any evidence that caffeine, nicotine, and sugar are beneficial to the brain? Yes. Let’s look at the evidence.

It’s early morning and you’re having difficulty paying attention to the traffic, to the boss, to whatever you’re trying to accomplish. Why? Your brain is not cooperating because you just woke up that it’s low on one critical ingredient—sugar. You have been fasting since last night's dinner, and your blood levels........

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