Control of appetite killed by junk food, according to study

Wed, 22 Jun 2011
Scientists researching why eating too much fast food makes you want to eat even more have shown that it can destroy the ability of the brain to control the appetite. It was revealed that junk food can kill off the brain cells that control weight, creating a cycle of over-eating that leads to obesity, and making it difficult to lose weight .

The study involved feeding rats a typical high-fat western diet, finding they doubled the amount of calories taken in within three days, and also started to suffer from an inflammation in the hypothalamus, a part of the brain that controls body weight.

On monitoring the rats, it was found that the inflammation did stop, but then came back again four weeks later. A healing response to brain injury was also discovered, termed gliosis, which is believed to be the brain equivalent of wound healing and is normally found neuronal injuries, including multiple sclerosis and stroke.

Joshua Thaler, lead researcher on the study, pointed out "'The possibility that brain injury may be a consequence of the over-consumption of a typical American diet offers a new explanation for why sustained weight loss is so difficult for most obese individuals to achieve."

He added "If new medicines can be designed that limit neuron injury during overeating, they may be effective in combating the obesity epidemic ."
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