Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Break The Vicious Circle of Overeating

Previous research studies have reported that obese individuals show differences in brain circuitry related to food reward.  Compared to lean individuals, obese individuals appear to produce less dopamine and have fewer dopamine receptors.  These differences appear to reduce the pleasure associated with eating.

A new obesity research study examined this relationship between food consumption, reward circuitry in the dorsal striatum region of the brain, and weight change.  For this study, the obesity researchers used MRI to measure brain changes in women over a 6-month study period in response to drinking either a chocolate milkshake or an unflavored milkshake.  Changes in brain function in relation to weight change over the 6 months were analyzed.  The obesity researchers reported that women who gained weight during the 6 months of follow-up showed a reduced activity in dorsal striatum in response to food consumption compared to women who did not gain weight.  The study investigators further indicated that reduced activity of the brain's reward system led to overeating and that overeating further reduced the responsiveness of the food reward circuitry.

These are fascinating study results suggesting that overeating can lead to a vicious circle of overeating and weight gain.  According to this study, overeating causes weight gain, which appears to cause a reduction in our ability to sense pleasure when eating good food, which causes us to eat even more to feel that pleasure, which leads to additional weight gain.  This is a vicious circle of overeating and weight gain that is difficult to break.

It is important to remember that food should serve to provide us with health-building nourishment.  We should never put food before our health, which in essence is what we are doing when we overeat.  Continued overeating places our minds and bodies on a direct path towards obesity and disease.  The old axiom “eat to live, don’t live to eat” is as true now as it ever has been.

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