If you’ve ever thought that your favorite food was “calling your name,” irresistibly drawing you to the refrigerator, it’s not just all in your head. Well, actually it is in your head. But, it’s very real. Let me explain…
A study at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas has found that fat from certain foods goes to the brain and triggers the brain to send messages to the cells in the body, telling them to ignore the appetite-suppressing signals from leptin and insulin.
The interference with the leptin and insulin hormones, which are involved in regulating your weight, goes on for up to three days.
“Normally, our body is primed to say when we’ve had enough, but that doesn’t always happen when we’re eating something good,” says researcher Deborah Clegg. “[The] entire brain chemistry can change in a very short period of time. Our findings suggest that when you eat something high in fat, your brain gets hit with the fatty acids, and you become resistant to insulin and leptin.”
The researchers found that one particular type of fat (palmitic acid), found in beef, butter, cheese and milk, is particularly powerful in bringing about this phenomenon.
That explains my craving for a cheeseburger with buttered buns and a glass of milk today.
(via: MSNBC)