How Sweet it is to Relieve the Pain by, Elisabeth Deffner

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How Sweet it is to Relieve the Pain by, beth Deffner A number of recent studies have focused on the power of sweet tastes to act as an analgesic, reducing or eliminating pain. In one study, published in a 2003 issue of Pain , 72 young adults held different solutions-sweet, bitter, and water-in their mouths before and while plunging their hands into icy water. Researchers observed an 18.1 percent increase in pain tolerance in those tasting the sweet solutions. They endured the cold water for an average of 85 seconds, while those given the bitter taste lasted an average of 82 seconds, and those given the water solution lasted an average of 83 seconds. It appears, however, that sweet tastes may have this effect only on people with low blood pressure. The sweet taste had no effect on participants with higher blood pressure, perhaps because they have a reduced response to natural painkillers, researchers suggest. Several other studies have looked at the analgesic effect of sweet tastes on infants and children. In one of Dr. Celeste ston's four studies on this subject, she found that just a tenth of a milliliter of a 24% sugar solution had an analgesic effect on pre-term infants. ston, Director of Research and a professor at Quebec's McGill University, speculates that the sweet taste-which is equally effective whether it stems from sucrose, glucose, fructose, or even artificial sweetener-has an analgesic effect for several reasons, including its ability to distract an infant from pain. "Sweet taste releases your naturally occurring . endorphins," she adds. Don't reach for the sugar bowl just yet, though. More research is needed to investigate the analgesic power of sweet tastes in adults and the connection between the analgesic effect and blood pressure.

The wise see the Lord of Love in the sun,Rising in all its golden radianceTo give its warmth and light and life to all.-Prashna UpanishadExcerpted from The Upanishads, translated by Eknath Easwaran. Reprinted with permission from Nilgiri Press.Peggy