Examine, a free weekly newsletter covering science with a sceptical, evidence-based eye, is sent every Tuesday. You’re reading an excerpt – sign up to get the whole newsletter in your inbox.

Today we’re going to delve into the science of “glucose homeostasis”. Or, to put it in more immediate language: what happens to me after I eat a chocolate bar?

This is a personal story, and a confession. I love an afternoon choccy (I am particularly fond of KitKats).

Snickers – really satisfies?Credit: Luke Hemer

Here’s the weird thing. Eat one at 3pm, and I find myself ravenously hungry by 5pm. Skip the bar, and I arrive at dinner (6pm) with only the beginnings of an appetite. I’m eating more food, but ending up hungrier.

Why?

Glucose metabolism is a delicate, complex, crucial dance that developed to solve a problem: our energy-hungry brains need a constant supply of glucose, but we aren’t constantly eating.

When we eat, our stomach breaks down food, then drops it into the small intestine, where nutrients – including sugars – are absorbed.

This sugar hits our bloodstream. About one hour after a meal, it reaches a peak, typically in a dose much higher than our body needs.

In response, our pancreas releases insulin, a hormone that prompts the liver and muscles to take sugar out of the blood and turn it into glycogen. Glycogen is a complex sugar the body can quickly........

© The Sydney Morning Herald