share: Strong links : Obesity and the Brain
One might be forgiven for thinking that a very overweight person is overweight because they like food more than a person who doesn't eat as much.
Turns out the opposite may be true.
We need food for fuel, nutrition and we eat healthy foods high in vitamins, minerals, fiber, iron and other nutrients to hopefully prevent certain conditions. But the fact is that many of us also eat for enjoyment. Food tastes good. Period.
Our preferences are wide and often culturally oriented. A French person may crave strong cheeses, washed down with a good white wine. A Japanese person might dream about some freshly made sushi, accompanied by a nice cup of Saki.
But we all love certain foods, no matter where we grew up.
Research suggests that over eaters many not actually get the same enjoyment from food as others, and overeat to compensate. They tend to favor high calorie, high fat foods in order to get the strong taste they like. To get the same pleasure an average eater gets from food, they have to eat much more.
Research has also shown that people with a variant gene called Taq1A1 tend to over eat and be over weight. Taq1A1 has been linked to lower dopamine receptors. When we experience pleasure, dopamine is released by the brain. Therefore over wight people with the Taq1A1 gene over compensate with food to increase their dopamine levels.
For more on this study, done by the Oregon Research Institute, Yale University and the University of Texas at Austin click here :
http://www.healthnews.com/nutrition-diet/new-evidence-the-brain-s-role-o...
Tell Us
Most of us overeat certain foods at times. It might be pasta, or chips, or cookies. What foods trigger you to overeat? Do you find that you need to eat more of certain foods to get the same satisfaction as people you know who eat less?
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Add a Comment2 Comments
Cheese, please. After reading your article, I definitely believe that this is true. I don't eat much junk food, although anything with an excessive amount of cheese always seems to taste better to me. If there is something I eat and there is no cheese involved, I usually don't eat the whole thing, for an example a burger. If there is cheese on it, I will eat the whole thing and even make sure the excess melted cheese is off the plate.
Cheese is certainly a trigger for me. I wonder if there is a receptor that blocks the cheese cravings? At least I can blame my brain for my excessive cheese delights.
October 18, 2008 - 4:14pmThis Comment
I know that for many people, chocolate is the thing. For me, it's salty snacks, and potato chips are one of the worst offenders. Don't get me wrong -- I do love sweet things -- but when I'm looking for comfort food, it's salty snacks that call my name.
The part about the dopamine transmitters is really interesting. We all know that exercise helps increase our "happy" chemicals; maybe that's as important a part of weight control as is the calorie-burning part of exercise.
So now I have a new "excuse" -- LOL -- and a new motivation to get myself to the gym!
October 20, 2008 - 9:16am