In the desperate struggle to combat weight gain, many turn to low-calorie diets in trying to shed unwanted body fat. Unfortunately, the moment they stray from the diet, any weight lost returns with a vengeance. It just doesn’t seem fair! Diets that deprive the body of adequate calories do not produce lasting weight loss results. Scientists have recently released the results of tests showing that calorie restriction and meal skipping makes food more rewarding and therefore, harder to resist over the long-term. Weight-loss management plans that encourage a balanced diet of low-calorie food are a better way to lose weight.

Dieting

Diets work by limiting the amount of calories a person consumes to create a deficit whereby the body uses more energy than it consumes, which forces the body to use stored energy. Unfortunately, most humans are impatient and seek diets that give instant results. Diet plans such as low carbohydrate or protein shakes are notorious for low-calorie counts, and most people succeed in dropping several pounds in the first few weeks of trying them. But whether it is the cabbage soup diet or the apple diet, these diet fads do have one thing in common; they restrict the number of calories to ridiculously low levels to generate results, so low in fact, that the participants find it almost impossible to stay committed. Recent research suggests that we are pre-programmed to seek pleasure in food. This explains why these diets always fail.

Food and Our Brain

The body needs nutrients to survive. In order to get these nutrients the brain releases a chemical response to food, which has a dopamine effect on the body. The opioid receptors of the brain reward the body when it eats. It is a naturally occurring chemical chain that drives the body to feel hunger, satisfaction from food, and creates the desire to eat particular foods. Unfortunately, much of what our brain encourages us to eat is now highly concentrated in processed foods. Overloaded with sugar, refined carbohydrates and salt, the modern diet has a drastic effect on health. As our health becomes affected by our diet, we seek ways to lose weight.

Caused of Weight Gain

Processed foods have many hidden sugars, sodium, carbohydrates and fats that are damaging for our health. Combined with stress, sedentary lifestyles and environmental influences such as advertising and easy access to low-cost fast food, weight gain is a symptom of living in the 21st century. Recent studies have found that because the brain delivers a pleasurable response to food, comfort eating, emotional binge eating, or bingeing as a result of adhering to a low-calorie diet is inevitable.

The Evidence

In a test on mice, one group received access to sugar anytime they wanted it; the other group ate a diet with no sugar at all. The laboratory mice denied sugar for several weeks began to eat far more sugar once it was available to them again. Brain scans showed that the dopamine drive to eat the sugar was much higher in the mice that were on a restricted diet. In a similar test on people scientists found almost the same results, suggesting that reducing calorie intake and abstaining from sugars and carbohydrates created a higher pleasurable feeling when the foods were reintroduced back into the diet. Test subjects also found that fluctuating blood sugar levels also made it very hard to fight the need to binge.

Ideally, a diet that is well balanced helps to control bingeing on unhealthy food options. Foods that have a low glycemic rating, are high in dietary fiber and low in sugar and fat actually help to regulate blood sugar levels. The body digests such foods slowly, keeping the stomach feeling full and the urges to binge at bay. Skipping meals or engaging in very low-calorie diets just invites the body to fight the fad every step of the way. A balanced calorie-controlled diet full of nutritional foods eaten regularly is proven to work.

Green tea extract is everywhere. It’s on TV, all over the internet, even on the front counter of your local health store. Yet recent studies alerted consumers to the dangers of relying on green tea extract to help generate weight loss. To be an effective stimulant for weight loss, the required doses of the active ingredients in the green tea were extremely toxic. But science has not given up on green tea just yet. In fact, new research has found a way to make it more effective without causing patients to overdose on toxic ingredients.

Green Tea Extract

There is strong evidence to support green tea extract as an herbal remedy to help in the battle of the bulge. Not only does it help with weight control, it also regulates blood glucose levels, which is ideal for controlling type 2 diabetes.

How Green Tea Extract Works

Green tea has been proven to slow down intestinal glucose and lipid absorption. Its active elements are a flavonoid known as gallated catechins. High levels of gallated catechins in the intestines help the body to control blood glucose concentrations.

The Dangers of Green Tea Extract

Unfortunately, the amount of green tea extract the required to generate enough gallated catechins in the gut to have an effect on blood sugar levels have been proven to have a terrible side-effects. The way green tea extract actually increases the gallated catechins was found to also cause insulin resistance. This is by no means a favorable outcome for people who are obese or suffering from diabetes.

New Research Shows Promising Results

Recently, scientists tested the effects of the green tea extract on mice. They chose to study how the herbal supplement worked when used as a weight loss aid. Researchers carefully observed how the extract reacted with blood sugar in a group of diabetic mice and a control group of healthy mice. Both groups ate a high-fat diet and received the green tea extract. Scientists wanted to prevent high amounts of the gallated catechins from being absorbed, so one group of mice were given a polyethylene glycol. This non-toxic chemical works by combining with the gallated catechins in the stomach, preventing them from entering the bloodstream.

The results were very interesting. The mice who received only the green tea extract did not show any changes. Yet surprisingly, the normal mice and the diabetic mice that received both the polyethylene glycol and green tea extract saw positive changes in weight reduction, glucose intolerance and insulin resistance with no side effects.

Hope for Green Tea Extract as an Aid for Weight Loss

The study showed that green tea extract was extremely effective when used with polyethylene glycol. The gallated catechins were not absorbed as quickly into the bloodstream. The longer they remained in the intestines they greatly limited the amount of glucose the body extracted from food. The amount of green tea extract required for this positive effect was no more than the amounts naturally found in a cup of green tea. This breakthrough actually recommends a healthy, low dose of the extract that no longer runs the risk of a toxic overdose.

The research supports green tea extract as a safe herbal remedy when taken with polyethylene glycol. When taken together, very few side effects cause concern. Its ability to aid with weight loss and to help with insulin resistance makes it a good option for people suffering from obesity and type-2 diabetes, especially when taken as part of a healthy diet and exercise program.

Recent television commercials would suggest that fast food outlets have embraced the consumer’s want for more healthy options on the menu. We see young, vibrant customers selecting tasty, healthy looking meals, and hear menus rich with words such as “light,” “low fat,” and “healthy” lunchtime options. But a recent study suggests that the well-known franchises introducing so-called “healthy” alternatives have barely scratched the surface of the changes needed to make their foods truly healthy.

Fast Food: An American Obsession

With as many as a quarter of the population opting to eat fast food as many as three times per week, there, no wonder there is an obesity epidemic in America. The land of hamburgers and pizza sees a regular diet of excessive fats, sugars and salt as the norm. As a result, diet-related diseases such as heart disease and diabetes are at an all-time high.

The Need for Change

Most adults are aware of the need for change. Fast food giants, desperate to keep their grip on the wallets of the country have begun to introduce healthier options. But few of these options are as healthy as the fast food chains would like us to believe. In fact, avoiding fast food altogether is still the best way to make healthier meal choices.

Studying the Menu

A recent investigation into the nutritional quality of the food available in eight of the country’s most popular fast food restaurants found some interesting facts. They examined the menus dating back as far as 1997 to better understand the healthful changes these companies claimed to have made. Using the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Healthy Eating Index (HEI), they measured the nutritional quality of the menu items.

What the Researchers Found

A healthy diet should receive a HEI score of over 60; the higher the number the better the food choice. The menus that came from the eight leading fast food outlets averaged a score of 48, a rather disturbing result. The study found that over the fourteen years examined, each of the eight restaurants did show a slight improvement. In most cases, it was a meager seven-point increase. There was very little increase in vegetables, grains, whole grains and healthy oils. Sadly, when it came to low-fat milk and dairy options, and low-sodium, there was very little change in any of the menus.

New “Healthy” Choices Aren’t Enough

Eating out is a huge part of the American lifestyle. Fast food giants have the power to turn the health of the nation around. It’s not a matter of denying people their favorite foods; it’s more about making better choices available.

Simply by avoiding trans-fats and using better cooking techniques the menu items transform into healthier meals. Downsizing meal deals, incorporating more vegetables and salads in burgers and wraps, reducing the amount of deep-fried foods and halving the amount of salt added to foods is a start.

Providing low-fat, low-sugar options and using more whole grain and fresh foods not only makes a more healthful meal, it actually promises more flavor. Customers should continue to demand healthy options. Ask for more vegetables, less fries and drinks that come with no added sugar. After all, it’s your body and your choice. Don’t be duped by the healthy illusion of what’s on offer.

Dieting Mistake #1: Following the Leader

What works for your best friend is not guaranteed to work for you. You have probably noticed that your friends and family members jump from one diet plan to another, and they choose their plans according to results reported by others. The cycle of diet hopping never ends and never produces lasting results.

Do your research and find a weight loss plan that will work for your lifestyle, personality and physical needs. Encourage others to do what works for them while you do what works for you. Don’t believe that you must stick rigidly to any particular plan either. Feel free to make small changes to make the plan work for you.

Dieting Mistake #2: Setting Unreachable Goals

There is nothing more disheartening than failing to meet a goal you sacrificed so much to achieve. Many fail to reach their goals simply because the goals were unrealistic to begin with. If you want to experience the satisfaction of reaching your goals, make sure they are realistic and measurable. Meeting even the smallest goal will boost your confidence and renew your motivation to continue. Set one small goal, and then set your next goal once you meet it.

Dieting Mistake #3: Too Many Restrictions and Too Many Rules

Do you assume that a good diet plan will force you to cut out most of your favorite foods? If so, you may be stuck in the trap of placing too many restrictive rules on yourself. Very few people can go the rest of their lives without the foods they enjoy, and your diet plan will have to stick long term to keep the weight off.

Weight loss requires sacrifice, but don’t be so strict that you end up quitting altogether. Ask yourself if the rules of your plan are reasonable for the long term. If you find yourself continually breaking a rule, you might need to reconsider that rule.

Dieting Mistake #4: Forcing It

This is a great way to set yourself up for failure. If you see a particular diet plan is based on foods you don’t like, that’s not the right plan for you. If you don’t like certain foods, then you may need to count calories or follow another plan that allows you to eat foods you know you will enjoy eating. The same goes for exercise. Find something you enjoy if you want long-term success. Otherwise, you’ll have no fun and quit before you see encouraging results.

Dieting Mistake #5: Thinking of Diets as Temporary

The mental aspect of weight loss is often neglected, but it’s crucial to long-term success. You are not going on a diet. You are making healthy lifestyle changes that will make sure you have a long, happy life. Change the way you think about your weight loss efforts, and you will drastically improve your chances of losing the weight and keeping it off forever.

Now that you are aware of the five biggest dieting mistakes, you have the power to overcome and avoid them. You make the life changes and sacrifices to lose weight, and you deserve your results. Don’t let these mistakes rob you of what you deserve.

Many people believe they should easy into healthy lifestyle changes one step at a time, perhaps by cutting out one type of food or adding in a little exercise here and there. According to a recent study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, you are better off making a clean break from unhealthy lifestyle choices by taking on diet and exercise at the same time. In fact, dieting first may actually decrease your chances of successfully developing a regular workout routine later down the road.

Previous studies on the subject have been inconsistent. While it may seem obvious that partaking in two healthy choices may reap more benefits than just one alone, many theorize that trying to indulge in healthy eating habits while trying to stick to a regular exercise routine may be too overwhelming or counterproductive for some people. In other words, they feel that baby steps, or tackling one problem at a time, is the best way to go. This study shows baby steps may not be the best approach.

How Do Food and Fitness Co-Exist?

The study, performed by Stanford University researchers, set out to see exactly how fitness and food work together to form a healthy lifestyle. For one year, they counseled four groups of volunteers organized into categories: those learning to make exercise and dietary changes simultaneously, those changing exercise first and diet later, one group changing diet first and then exercise and the last group made no exercise or dietary changes. Before the study, participants were inactive, over the age of 45 and eating suboptimal diets. Researchers provided telephone coaching once a month to all four groups anywhere between 10 to 40 minutes, discussing support and advice for exercise and diet. Researchers tracked the progress of each person over the course of the study.

Participants in the diet and exercise group were most likely to meet all goals by the end of the study. This happened even though they had more goals to think about, such following a low fat diet plan of keeping saturated fat to 10 percent or less of their total intake, eating five to nine servings of vegetables and fruits daily and completing two and a half hours of exercise each week. Participants in the group that focused on making exercise changes first also performed well over the 12-month study.

However, those that started by making dietary changes before considering exercise changes experienced greater difficulty. A few months into the program, they were asked to add daily exercise routines into their diet programs. Researchers found that these participants may have had trouble simply finding the time to exercise because they were so busy trying to eat healthier. By the same token, those already working on the easier change of smarter food choices may not feel an incentive to make the harder change of adding exercise months down the road.

While the study concludes that those trying to move toward a healthier lifestyle should try to make dietary and exercise changes at the same time, those overwhelmed by the thought could try starting with increased physical activity instead of changing eating habits. Once comfortable with a regular fitness routine, they could then focus on making healthy food choices to round out the plan.

The trouble with exercising first, however, is that slower progress could be discouraging. By doing both at once, dieters will shed pounds faster.

If you have walked into a McDonald’s or Panera Bread recently, you may have noticed calorie counts on their menus. More and more restaurants are updating their menus with calories for their food choices. By law, all retail food chains are required to post the calorie content of each menu item if they have twenty or more locations across the country. The goal is to educate the consumer and encourage people to make smarter choices when it comes to what they eat. A recent study shows that putting calorie information into another format may be a better way to education consumers about the health risks of high calorie foods.

Most studies show that posting calorie information has little effect on the amount of calories consumers order and consume. Now, researchers are focusing on another way to education consumers that may have a greater impact on the way they think about and order their food: displaying the number of minutes of brisk walking needed to burn off the calories in a menu item.

Reasons behind New Menu Idea

Researchers believe that posting the amount of time it takes to walk off food would have a stronger impact on the minds of consumers. Almost everyone can relate to brisk walking, letting them consider the amount of time they would want to engage in that exercise before ordering their meals.

The idea is a good one, based on recent research. One study examined 300 men and women between the ages of 18 and 30, examining their menu choices. They used menus containing the same beverage and food options including soda, water, desserts, salads, fries, chicken sandwiches and tenders and burgers. They assigned participants at random to three groups, including one menu with calorie information, one without calorie information and one describing how many minutes of brisk walking it would take to burn off the calories in the food.

The study showed that the menu displaying the number of minutes of brisk walking to burn off the food calories led participants to order fewer calories when compared to those ordering from the menu that did not have calorie information available. No statistical difference appeared in menu orders when comparing those using menus that had calorie information versus those that did not.

A Promising Lead

While the study suggested there are indeed benefits to displaying the number of minutes of brisk walking needed to burn off calories from menu items, researchers agree they cannot make good generalizations because the study examined only people under the age of 30. They will need to use this method again, looking at people of all ages and backgrounds.

Just How Many Minutes Do You Need to Walk?

You, however, can use this information to your advantage now. To hit home some of the points made by the study, a 150-pound person can typically burn 340 calories per hour walking at four miles per hour on a level, firm surface at a very brisk pace. At this rate, you will need to walk over two hours to burn off the 704 calories in a McDonald’s Big Mac with cheese. Additionally, you can expect to walk 45 minutes to burn the 272 calories in either a Snickers Bar or a grande Starbucks Latte with whole milk. Conversely, it should only take a little over five minutes to burn off the 30 calories in a single serving of carrots. Use our calorie burn calculator to figure out your personal burn and use it to thing about your foods in reference to the time they cost to help you make healthier food choices.

In a new study, scientists at the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine concluded that purposefully infecting a mouse with roundworms could combat obesity and other metabolic disorders. These gastrointestinal roundworms infect roughly 2 billion people across the globe and many believe that up until the 20th century, every individual had roundworms in their body.

In developed first and second world countries, there is a lower risk of roundworm infection but a rising chance of autoimmunity. Using roundworms to infect humans may have possible therapeutic effects and researchers are currently conducting studies to examine whether or not worms can treat other diseases such as multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease and allergies.

Roundworms Shown Effective in Mice

Researchers fed mice a diet high in fats and then infected them with roundworms. The infected mice of normal weight gained 15 percent less than those who were not infected. Mice that were previously overweight when treated with roundworms lost almost 13 percent of their weight within as little as 10 days. The infection also reduced both fasting blood glucose, a serious risk factor for developing diabetes, and fatty liver disease by decreasing fats in the liver by 25 percent and the weight of the liver as a whole by 30 percent.

Insulin and leptin levels also dropped with infection, indicating that the mice were able to level out their sensitivities to these hormones. Leptin is what the body uses to regulate appetite; a higher leptin level can lead to obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Risks of Treatment

Besides the unpleasant thought of using a parasite as a medical treatment, roundworm infestation has potential side effects. Affecting the lungs and small intestine, the infestation is most common in moist climates such as the tropics and subtropics. The disease is a major cause of death in many children because it increases their risk of developing other infections their bodies would typically be able to fight off under normal circumstances.

There is little risk of developing roundworm in the United States due to sanitation and waste control advances. You would have a greater chance of infection if you walked in areas where people suffering from roundworm had left feces. The larvae find their way into the skin and then move into the bloodstream toward the lungs and enter the airways. The larvae are then swallowed, allowing them to breed in the small intestine. There, they grow into adults and live there for one year or more, laying eggs and eventually releasing themselves into the feces of the individual.

Symptoms and Complications of Roundworm

Most people have few or no symptoms once the worms enter the small intestine. However, some may suffer from gas, fever, fatigue, diarrhea, cough, blood in the stool, abdominal discomfort, itchy rashes, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting or pale skin. Possible complications include nutritional deficiencies, iron deficiency anemia caused by blood loss, and a severe protein loss when fluid builds up in the abdomen.

Obesity is a key risk factor for many health conditions including heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. While researchers may be able to lower the risk of obesity by using roundworm infection, lasting side effects and potential dangers may leave patients desiring another method of treatment.

A new study finds that the more people in a city who list active, healthy lifestyles on their Facebook profiles, the lower the rate of obesity is in that city. Researchers from Boston Children’s Hospital’s Informatics Program examined data from both Facebook users and from surveys conducted across the nation to find this out.

The importance of the study lies within the findings, as public health investigators can use people’s interests within different geographical locations to watch, predict and categorize existing obesity rates within each neighborhood. This presents an opportunity to make targeted interventions that decrease obesity rates in those areas.

How Has Facebook Helped?

Because Facebook is an easily accessible social network, data is available for accurate research of large populations that would be unavailable and unobtainable. The larger the sample group, the more accurate data becomes. Without Facebook, research of this magnitude makes it too hard to gather large sample sizes, costs too much to conduct and takes too long to analyze.

Facebook helped to generate real-time estimates of obesity levels in different geo-locations, representing a low-cost data stream of high value. Using Facebook to target public health campaigns could potentially promote healthy lifestyle changes as researchers pinpoint problem areas and design geo-targeted online obesity interventions for specific neighborhoods and communities.

Researchers collected data on personal interests from Facebook users, including what users posted on their walls, what they “liked,” and information they shared with other members. They analyzed users from all over the country, as well as those solely located in New York City. After they gathered data, scientists compared the percentages of those who listed healthy, active lifestyles versus those who spent a lot of time talking about television shows. They compared the data with that collected from two different telephone-based surveys done by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and New York City’s EpiQuery Community Health Survey.

Results of the Study Could Mean Better Health Campaigns

When researchers analyzed the results, they found close relationships between Facebook interests and obesity rates. For example, obesity rates were 12 percent lower in areas of the United States where the highest percentage of users reported interests related to physical activities. Researchers lined the highest rates of obesity with users who reported the highest percentage of television-related interests.

A similar correlation appeared when researchers examined data strictly from New York City, showing that this pattern is inherent not only at the national level but also at the local level. Coney Island saw a high percentage of users involved in activities with an obesity rate seven percent lower than Queens, where researchers found a low percentage of interests on activities. Similarly, the number of users showing interest in television shows was much higher in Bronx and the obesity rate was 27 percent higher than in Greenpoint, where users reported a low interest in television.

The bottom line is that in areas where Facebook users have reported more interest in activities, there appears to be a lower percentage of obesity. Social media such as Facebook can help to aid in public health surveillance by giving researchers access to population information that they would not be able to get in other ways.

Sufferers of obesity live in hope that one day medical science will produce a miracle cure. Recent discoveries that the cancer drug sunitinib is a potential drug treatment for obesity leave many doctors concerned. Using sunitinib to treat obesity has far more worrisome side effects than the life-threatening health concerns already associated with being overweight.

Although researchers are far from being ready to run human trials, the study does bring science one step closer to understanding how obesity affects the body. Researchers need to run further tests before suggesting this drug could be the answer to weight loss prayers.

The Theory behind Sunitinib for Weight Loss

For a long time now, researchers have known that cancerous tumors amass large amounts of abnormal blood cells. Recent studies using mice revealed that the blood vessels found in the fat tissue of obese animals seem to help feed these diseased tumors. Researchers looked for a drug that could lower the amount of fat tissue in the body, which would then limit the amount of extra blood vessels feeding the fat tissue. By finding a drug that could successfully do this, they hoped to develop a drug treatment for obesity.

The Studies in Action

Sunitinib is an angiogenesis inhibitor used to treat both kidney and gastrointestinal tumors. For more than a decade now, researchers have focused on the role of abnormal blood vessel growth in cancerous tumors. They knew that angiogenesis inhibitors reduced the growth of these abnormal blood vessels. In 2002, researchers began to explore the relationship between fat tissue and cancer. Because sunitinib reduces blood vessel growth in tumors, scientists wanted to look at its ability to do the same in fat tissue.

The researchers tested sunitinib on mice that had their ovaries removed. This created post-menopausal obese mice, a common cause of weight gain for women. Half of the mice were untreated as a control group. The other half received the angiogenesis inhibitor drug called sunitinib, also used to decrease the blood vessels that feed cancer tumors. These mice had daily doses of sunitinib for two weeks, either orally or through abdominal injections.

Sunitinib Study Results

Scientists discovered that the obese mice treated with sunitinib lost on average 70 percent of their fat mass. After the two-week trial, the treated mice showed a dramatic decrease in appetite as well. This sounds like the miracle drug obese patients have been looking for, until you look at the side effects.

The Side Effects of Sunitinib

Some of the known side effects of this drug are severe headaches with chest pain and dizziness, fainting, erratic heartbeat and a shortness of breath. People have reported swelling of the ankles and feet, sudden numbness of limbs, impaired vision, slurred speech and even loss of balance. Many patients find they urinate less or not at all, have blood in their urine, and experience lower back pain. People who take sunitinib find that they bruise easily and are prone to unusual bleeding from the nose, mouth, vagina or rectum. Some even reported coughing up blood. Most people report feeling depressed and lethargic. Many claim unexplained redness and peeling of the palms of their hands and the soles of the feet. Sore white patches and ulcers appear in the mouth and on lips too. Almost all people experienced an unpleasant taste in their mouth, an irritating cough, nausea, an upset stomach and constipation. The skin takes on a sickly jaundice hue as well. Not every patient will experience these side effects, but even a few of them may be too high a price to pay for weight loss.

As of this point, no good drug solutions exist for significant weight loss that do not come without a slew of nasty side effects. The known side effects of sunitinib make it an unlikely drug for weight loss treatment. However, the study does shed more light on what is happening at a cellular level in an obese body. The studies may lead to new ways to target these blood vessels that don’t cause great harm to other parts of the body.

It is a common dilemma. We sit down in front of the television and open a bag of potato chips, and then in the blink of an eye the bag is empty! Somehow, we have managed to consume the entire contents without being conscious of our actions. We did not intend to eat them all, it just happens! With obesity affecting over two-thirds of the population, understanding how the body responds to different foods may well be the key to unlocking the obesity epidemic.

What Did the Scientists Study?

A recent study observed the eating habits of lab rats to better understand a very common medical condition known as “hedonic hyperphagia.” Hedonic hyperphagia is the term given to the act of eating excessively for pure pleasure and not satisfying hunger. Chronic cases of this condition are one of the many contributing medical concerns that have increased the number of obese people living in the United States. Why people engage in extreme recreational eating is a bit of a puzzle. Triggered by anxiety, depression and even stress, many people eat emotionally because of the comfort they receive from the food; after all, this is why we have “comfort foods.” There is a reason “chick flicks” show the devouring of a bucket of ice cream when heartache occurs. So, scientists wanted to understand how the brain functions when people engage in hedonic hyperphagia so that possible preventative actions could be created in the future.

How Did the Scientists Conduct This Study?

Firstly, the scientists used two groups of lab rats. They fed one group potato chips and the other normal rat food. Both groups’ food contained the same nutritional value, including the amount of carbohydrates, salt, dietary fiber and fat. The study used potato chips because this was the most common food item that people across America reported having the most difficultly with when it came to portion control. The second part of the study gave each rat access to normal rat food, rat food that had the same nutritional content as the chips, and potato chips. For both sections of the tests, the rats underwent high-tech magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) so that their brain activity during feeding could be mapped.

What Did Scientists Discover?

The first part of the test showed that when the rats ate the potato chips different parts of the brain were stimulated. The expected parts of the brain associated with eating lit up when the rats ate the rat food. When the rats ate the potato chips, the expected parts of the brain lit up, but so did several more parts of the brain. The “feel-good” center of the brain was greatly stimulated.

In the second stage of the study when the rats received three forms of food, measurements showed that the rats ate the same amounts of each. Interestingly, the rats were much more forceful in their desire to eat the chips, and showed a higher level of interest for this choice. The study also showed they had a lot more energy and were much more active after eating the chips. Although the potato chips are high in calories, it did raise questions because the energy levels in the chips were the same as the second choice of rat food, so why did this rat food not produce the same results? This forced the scientists to look at the brain wave maps to find an explanation.

The MIR scans revealed something very interesting. When comparing the three forms of food, when the rats ate the chips the reward and addiction points in the brain were extremely active. Remarkably, the food consumption control of the brain, along with the sleep area, and the areas responsible for activity and other body motion, all received significant stimulation. The stimulation was also noticeably different to how these section of the brain regularly show up on MIR scans too, which shows that the potato chips affect the brain differently.

How Will the Results of This Study Help in the Fight Against Obesity?

The study shows that besides the crunchy sensation and salty goodness of potato chips, the chips trigger pleasing brain messages that make it very difficult to exert self-control. The effect of potato chips on the brain helps to explain the feeding behavior of over-eaters. Knowing that some foods trigger the reward and pleasure elements of the brain is one step closer to pinpointing treatments for obesity.

The study now paves the way for further research to discover how certain addictive snack foods are so irresistible for some, while others have no problem asserting their willpower to stop. Once science can find the molecules responsible for stimulating the brain, they may find suitable additives to use in processed foods to prevent this from occurring. Alternatively, such breakthroughs could lead the way in helping increase the appetite in people who suffer anorexia nervosa. Who knows, such an additive could even help parents make vegetables more attractive for their kids.