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Sandra Sünram-Lea

Nutrition and Cognition Research

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Why comfort eating doesn’t make you happy

January 22, 2021 By Prof. Sandra Sünram-Lea

person holding black ceramic mug with coffee beans

Eating processed comfort foods can briefly make you feel better about yourself. The sugar fat and salt they contain can affect the brain's mesolymbic reward system, giving you a nice sensation. But the mood improvement is only brief because your body will quickly release insulin, which takes sugar out of your bloodstream, and causes a slump. If you try to stop the slump … [Read more...] about Why comfort eating doesn’t make you happy

Public Lecture: NEWtritional Year’s Resolutions

December 10, 2019 By Prof. Sandra Sünram-Lea

Nutritional New Year's Resolutions

I was invited to give a public lecture at The Storey in Lancaster as part of Lancaster University's Science and Technology Lecture Series. My talk was about the effects of different dietary choices on our health, and the New Year’s Resolutions we can make to start off 2020 as a healthy year for body and brain.   … [Read more...] about Public Lecture: NEWtritional Year’s Resolutions

Dietary Influences on Neurocognition (ISNPR 2019)

October 21, 2019 By Prof. Sandra Sünram-Lea

Sandra Sünram-Lea at ISNPR 2019

Down to London to the ISNPR 2019 conference on Nutrition for Mental and Brain Health, organised by the International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research. I presented my paper as part of the Symposium on Dietary Influences on Neurocognition Across the Lifespan, organized by Andrew Scholey, with participants Lauren Owen, Alison Coates, Eef Hogervorst, and David Smith. … [Read more...] about Dietary Influences on Neurocognition (ISNPR 2019)

UnDisciplined: my Interview alongside a Political Scientist

June 22, 2019 By Prof. Sandra Sünram-Lea

interview about sugar with political scientist

I was interviewed by Mathew LaPlante for the UnDisciplined Show on Utah Public Radio, about our recent meta-analysis. Each week, UnDisciplined introduces its audience to two scientists, working in different fields – and then introduces them to each other, to discuss points of overlap – making for a lively and unpredictable discussion! I was paired up with Jay Jennings, a … [Read more...] about UnDisciplined: my Interview alongside a Political Scientist

Effects of sugar on health: Interview on Poland’s TVN24

April 12, 2019 By Prof. Sandra Sünram-Lea

Following our meta analysis paper "Sugar rush or sugar crash? on the effects of carbohydrate on mood, led by Dr Konstantinos Mantantzis at Humboldt University of Berlin, with Dr Friederike Schlaghecken and Professor Elizabeth Maylor, I was interviewed for Poland's Polska Swiat TV News 24 about the effects of sugar on health and the human body. Watch the interview  (3 … [Read more...] about Effects of sugar on health: Interview on Poland’s TVN24

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Nutrition and Cognition research

My research background is in biological psychology and neuroscience, and I am interested in biological factors and mechanisms which affect human cognition and behaviour across the lifespan. Much of my research has focused on the effects of glucose administration and glucose regulatory mechanisms on human cognition.

My Profiles

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  • Academia
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Recent Publications

Sugar rush or sugar crash?: A meta-analysis of carbohydrate effects on mood

The effect of carbohydrate (CHO) consumption on mood is at the center of a long-standing debate, with researchers reporting both mood improvements and decrements following CHO ingestion. As global consumption of sugar-sweetened products has sharply increased in recent years, … Continue Reading about Sugar rush or sugar crash?: A meta-analysis of carbohydrate effects on mood

Last in, first out: brain economy in times of limited resources

It has been argued that cognitive abilities that developed last ontogenetically are likely the first to become impaired when cognitive and/or physiological resources are compromised. In phylogeny as in ontogeny, the prefrontal cortex is a late developing region of the cortex. … Continue Reading about Last in, first out: brain economy in times of limited resources

A temporary deficiency in self-control: can heightened motivation overcome this effect?

Self-control is important for everyday life and involves behavioral regulation. Self-control requires effort, and when completing two successive self-control tasks, there is typically a temporary drop in performance in the second task. High self-reported motivation and being made … Continue Reading about A temporary deficiency in self-control: can heightened motivation overcome this effect?

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