Many are magically attracted to sweet and fatty foods. This is no coincidence, according to new studies by the Max Planck Institute, because these foods change our brain.
Cologne – Why is it so difficult for us to give the cold shoulder to supermarket sugar traps such as chocolate bars, chips and biscuits? The Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Cologne and Yale University have jointly demonstrated that foods high in fat and sugar affect the brain. Even when eating small amounts, it “learns” to continue consuming such foods because it is conditioned to do so.
Actually, we all know how to do it better. But despite all the good intentions and warnings from Researchers who don’t eat enough sugar and meat for a long life guess, we still reach for the toxic trash food from the snack shelf again and again. But why?
New study: How sweets and fat change our brain
“Our propensity for high-fat, high-sugar foods, the so-called Western diet, could be innate or it could develop as a result of being overweight. But we think the brain learns this preference,” explains Sharmili Edwin Thanarajah, lead author of the Study published Wednesday in the journal Cell Metabolism.
Diet study unmasks trigger effect of sugar and fat on the brain
To test this hypothesis, the researchers gave a group of subjects a small pudding high in fat and sugar every day for a period of eight weeks in addition to their normal diet. The other group received a pudding with the same number of calories but low in fat and sugar. Before and during the study period, the participants’ brain activity was measured.
Our measurements of brain activity have shown that the brain rewires itself by consuming fries and the like.
Study proves: Our brain learns to prefer “rewarding” snacks
After eight weeks, the brain’s response to foods high in fat and sugar was greatly increased in the group that ate the sugary, high-fat pudding. In particular, the so-called dopaminergic system, which is responsible for motivation and reward in the brain, was activated. Marc Tittgemeyer, who led the study, explains:
“Our measurements of brain activity have shown that the brain rewires itself through the consumption of fries and the like. It subconsciously learns to prefer rewarding food. Because of these changes in the brain, we will subconsciously always prefer foods that are high in fat and sugar.” This reward mechanism is triggered again and again by the substitute drug sugar and also fat.
In the brain: “New connections are made that don’t dissolve so quickly”
Although the test subjects did not gain more weight than the control group participants and their blood values remained unchanged during the study period, the researchers assume that the preference for sugary and fatty foods will continue even after the end of the study. Marc Tittgemeyer: “New connections are made in the brain, which also don’t dissolve so quickly. The point of learning is that you don’t forget things you’ve learned so quickly.”
Experts advise: limit the availability of high-fat and high-sugar foods
“Therefore, changing the dietary environment and reducing the availability of high-energy, high-fat, high-sugar foods is central to tackling the obesity epidemic,” the study concludes. The WHO recently sounded the alarm: Overweight and obesity are now responsible for more than 1.3 million deaths a year.
And not only the WHO, but also medical associations and politicians are calling for one, among other things sugar tax, as already exist in Denmark, France, Spain or Mexico. Even discounters like Aldi are already changing the recipes for their confectionery, hopefully not in favor of sugar substitutes. Studies have shown that these are not much better either: Sweeteners increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.