[LifeStyle] Can't stop eating unhealthy food? A new study explains the reasons

[#Steeven.™]

For some people, it is very difficult to stop eating junk food, especially after years of eating unhealthy food. Know what science says about it

Losing weight and starting a diet is not always easy, the reality is that there are many aspects that are involved. In principle it is important to select the dietary pattern that is suitable for each lifestyle, secondly and probably one of the most fundamental issues, to achieve good results is willpower.

The truth is that many people find it difficult to control the temptation to eat unhealthy food or junk food. A new study provides interesting new context on this topic, especially after years of eating these unhealthy foods. The reality is that at this time there are not many foods that escape being high in fat and calories, after all the aisles of supermarkets and the menus of most restaurants are saturated with these types of options. It has recently been proven that even those who have access to nutritious food options can have difficulties consuming them regularly.

Based on the above, a new study suggests that this challenge can be attributed to the way the brain responds to certain foods. This research work was published in the journal Nature and explored how a high-fat diet affects the brain, and consequently also alters the desire to eat healthy foods. The researchers focused the study on mice, thus giving one group a high-fat diet (HFD) and another group a standard diet (SD). After a few weeks in general, it can be said that the mice stopped eating the SD diet model, after the high-fat diet was offered and when the latter was taken away, the mice strangely ate very little of it. normal diet. As a result, the mice lost weight.

As an important and complementary part of this study, the scientists also recorded the activity of AgRP neurons, which is a group of neurons that control energy balance and fire when you feel hungry. In the same way, neurons for dopamine, the neurotransmitter responsible for our state of mind and for making us feel good, were monitored. What did you find? After the mice ate a high-fat diet, they experienced a reduction in the responses of both groups of neurons when exposed to SD. So much so that neurons only responded strongly when the HFD was offered. In other words, the mice found that the standard diet was less filling and less rewarding than the food that had more calories and fat.

Undoubtedly, this explains beyond simple cravings, the reason why it is often difficult to stop eating junk food. At the same time, another of the most interesting conclusions of this study is that the mice experienced abstinence from fatty foods, which they interpreted as a long-term eating habit that makes caloric foods irresistible to the brain, since the processed as more rewarding and valuable. The most interesting thing is that they are very attractive, even when we are not hungry.

We can conclude that the brain has memory, in such a way that a recurrent consumption of fast and processed foods creates a habit / habit in the body that damages not only the health and optimal functioning of the organs, alters brain chemistry and hormones in charge of regulating appetite, hunger and even mood.