Refined sugars disrupt metabolism and trigger cravings by affecting gut neurons and the vagus nerve pathway.

“Now, I realized that starchy carbohydrates are kind of a demonized term nowadays and everyone's anti-carbs, but, you know, we really should distinguish between refined sugars and complex carbohydrates. And we did an episode about this. We talked about how refined sugars disrupt, not just metabolism, but they actually disrupt some of the neurons in the gut that sense fatty acids and amino acids from fats and proteins. But those same neurons can actually respond to sugar and create a situation where you actually start craving more sugar because those neurons in your gut communicate via a nerve pathway for you aficionados called "the vagus nerve" and a little cluster of neurons called the "nodose ganglia."