Eating habits and body fat related to differences in brain chemistry
New research from the US National Institute of Health (NIH) has linked eating in response to food cues to habit-forming region in obese adults – revealing that people who are obese may be more susceptible to environmental food cues than their lean counterparts because of differences in brain chemistry that make eating more habitual and less rewarding.
Writing in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, the research team examined data from 43 men and women with varying amounts of body fat – finding that obese participants tended to have greater dopamine activity in the habit-forming region of the brain than lean counterparts, and less activity in the region controlling reward.
Such differences could potentially make obese people more drawn to overeat in response to food triggers and simultaneously making food less rewarding to them, suggested the tea,.
"While we cannot say whether obesity is a cause or an effect of these patterns of dopamine activity, eating based on unconscious habits rather than conscious choices could make it harder to achieve and maintain a healthy weight, especially when appetizing food cues are practically everywhere," commented lead author Kevin D. Hall, Ph.D.
"This means that triggers such as the smell of popcorn at a movie theatre or a commercial for a favourite food may have a stronger pull for an obese person – and a stronger reaction from their brain chemistry – than for a lean person exposed to the same trigger,” he suggested.
