Study: Gargling Glucose Can Help Smokers Quit

November 10, 2012 11:36 PM

File photo of packs of cigarettes. (REMY GABALDA/AFP/GettyImages)

ATHENS, Ga. (CBS Atlanta) – Glucose is a type of sugar whose main purpose and benefit when working out is to supply energy to your muscles and brain.
Researchers now believe it has a new benefit – helping those addicted to smoking cigarettes kick the habit.
Researchers at the University of Georgia conducted tests on the subject using 51 students, according to the U.K. Sun.

Two tests measuring self-control were administered to the students, the National Monitor further learned. One task allegedly involved crossing out the letter “E” from a page of a statistics book. The other task required students to identify the color of a word written on the screen – a word that usually reflected a different color than the on-screen font, the website noted.
The Sun reported that participants who rinsed their mouths with sugar-sweetened lemonade were said to respond significantly faster to color of the words – as opposed to words themselves – than those students instructed to rinsed with lemonade that was sweetened artificially.
“Researchers used to think you had to drink the glucose and get it into your body to give you the energy to have self-control,” UGA Professor Leonard Martin was quoted as saying by the paper. “After this trial, it seems that glucose stimulates the simple carbohydrate sensors on the tongue. This, in turn, signals the motivational centers of the brain where our self-related goals are represented. These signals tell your body to pay attention,” he added.
“So, if you are trying to quit smoking, a swish of lemonade may not be the total cure, but it certainly could help you in the short run,” he added.
Martin, along with co-author and doctoral candidate Matthew Sanders, concluded that motivation to quit comes from emotional involvement in the process.
“It is the self-investment,” Martin said. “It doesn’t just crank up your energy, but it cranks up your personal investment in what you are doing.”