Wearing a diet full of fats and sugar makes us get used to these highly palatable products to the point that our brain stops feeling so much pleasure with each bite. This is what a team of researchers from the University of California has discovered in Berkeley, who suggests that the pleasure of eating, even eating junk food is key to maintaining a healthy weight in a society in which the food rich in fat abounds.
Thus, although it has always been thought that the pleasure we get by eating junk food (dopamine discharge) is the cause of excessive consumption of food and the increase in obesity rates in our society, this study suggests, paradoxically, which, which People with obesity may experience less pleasure when eating than those of Normopese.
The brain explorations of obese people show a reduced activity in the brain regions related to pleasure when receiving food, a pattern also observed in animal studies.
And now, UC Berkeley researchers have identified a possible underlying cause of this phenomenon: a decrease in neurotensin, A brain peptide that interacts with the dopamine network, and a potential strategy to restore the pleasure of eating in a way that helps reduce general consumption.
The study reveals an unsuspected brain mechanism that explains why a high fat diet can constantly reduce the desire to consume foods rich in fats and sugars, even when these foods remain easily accessible. The researchers propose that this lack of desire in obese people is due to the decrease in pleasure when eating, which could contribute to the progression of obesity.
“A natural inclination towards junk food is not inherently bad, but losing it could further exacerbate obesity,” says Stephan Lammel, a professor at the UC Berkeley Neuroscience Department and member of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute.
Researchers show that restoring neurotensin levels, either by changes in diet or through genetic manipulations that improve their production, can restore the pleasure of eating and promoting weight loss.
“A fat -rich diet alters the brain, resulting in lower levels of neurotensin, which in turn alters our way of eating and our response to these foods,” says Lammel.
“We have discovered a way to recover desire for calorie foods, which could help control the weight,” adds the researcher.
While findings in mice cannot always be transferred directly to human beings, this discovery could open new paths to address obesity restoring pleasure related to food and breaking unhealthy food patterns.
“Imagine to eat an incredible dessert in a restaurant in Paris: you experience an explosion of dopamine and happiness,” explains Neta Gazit Shimoni, postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley.
“We discover,” he continues – that this same sensation occurs in mice with a normal diet, but not in those with a high fat diet. They can continue eating by custom or boredom, instead of genuine pleasure ».