That’s why we can’t keep our hands off chocolate bars and potato chips, and once we get to know them, it’s hard to stop eating them. The role of dopamine
Bars of chocolate, bags of potato chips, salty snacks, donuts, sugary drinks: why is it difficult to ignore them when shopping at the supermarket? Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Cologne, in collaboration with Yale University, have demonstrated, bringing further confirmation, that foods high in fat and sugar modify our brain: if we eat even small quantities of them regularly, the brain will learn to consume them in the future too, without being able to do without them.
But why do we like so much unhealthy foods and what’s more they make you fat? How does this preference develop? Our tendency to eat foods high in fat and sugar, the so-called Western diet, may be innate or developed as a result of being overweight. But we think that the brain somehow learns to prefer certain flavors spiega Sharmili Edwin Thanarajah, responsible author dello studio.
The scientists wanted to test this hypothesis with a field investigation. One group of volunteers was given a high-fat, high-sugar pudding every day for eight weeks in addition to their normal diet. Another group of volunteers was instead offered a pudding with the same number of calories, but with less fat. The volunteers’ brain activity was measured before and after the experiment.
It was seen in volunteers who consumed the pudding high in sugar and fat greatly increased the response of the brain to foods high in fat and sugar
. In fact, consuming this type of food increases the levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter produced by different brain areas linked to the mechanism of motivation and reward: eating particularly tasty foods generate pleasure thanks to the increase in dopamine. Unfortunately, dopamine cannot accumulate in the body and, over time, one risks one dependence precisely from those foods that give the greatest feeling of well-being. The release of dopamine also decreases if you take ever greater quantities of that food you like so much and for this reason you risk abstinence with the desire to eat more and more in order to achieve the pleasure previously experienced. The brain subconsciously learns to prefer rewarding foods and with these changes we will continue to prefer foods that contain foods high in fat and sugar says Marc Tittgemeyer who led the study.
These foods have the power to create dependence – explains Dr. Stefano Erzegovesi, nutritionist and psychiatrist – because the intensity and concentration of taste they give stimulate the same centers in the brain that lead to drug abuse. The “drug” food is characterized by the presence in abundant proportions of salt, sugar and fat, as are many industrial products, both sweet and savoury. Banning them altogether risks triggering the opposite problem: binge eating. Better to eat them once in a while, very slowly so that we can consciously recognize that we may not eat them because we don’t like them and not because we obey a ban.
During the eight weeks of the study, the volunteers who ate the high-fat, high-sugar pudding did not gain weight compared to the control group. Blood sugar or cholesterol levels also remained unchanged. But the researchers, in line with what is already known, assume that the preference for fatty and sugary foods will continue even after the study. The new connections that are created in the brain are not broken so easily – conclude the authors – and once you learn something you don’t forget so quickly.
The broccoli test
To understand whether it is hunger and not boredom, stress or our emotions that drives us to eat, some nutritionists suggest “Broccoli Test”. That is, to imagine that package of delicious biscuits just taken from the pantry is a plate of (much less inviting) broccoli: if the desire for food remains intact, you could be really hungry; If the idea is enough to stop you, perhaps it’s time to do a quick self-check to see if you’re stressed, bored, or trying to escape an emotion, such as frustration, sadness, or even excitement.
March 23, 2023 (change March 23, 2023 | 06:52)
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