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Comfort food leads to more weight gain during stress: study
Why in news?
- Researchers have discovered a molecular pathway in the brain, controlled by insulin, which drives the additional weight gain.
- This study indicates that we have to be much more conscious about what we’re eating when we’re stressed
More in news
- High-calorie diet when combined with stress resulted in more weight gain than the same diet caused in a stress-free environment.
- What controls stress eating?(1) Food intake is mainly controlled by a part of the brain called the hypothalamus.(2) Another part of the brain the amygdala processes emotional responses, including anxiety.(3) Scientists discovered a molecule called NPY, which the brain produces naturally in response to stress to stimulate eating in humans.(4) When we switched off the production of NPY in the amygdala weight gain was reduced.(5) Without NPY, the weight gain on a high-fat diet with stress was the same as weight gain in the stress-free environment.
- Control mechanism of NPY:(1) Under normal conditions, the body produces insulin just after a meal, which helps cells absorb glucose from the blood and sends a ‘stop eating’ signal to the hypothalamus feeding centre of the brain.(2) In combination with a high-calorie diet with stress the insulin levels were 10 times higher than mice that were stress-free and received a normal diet.(3) Study showed that these prolonged, high levels of insulin in the amygdala caused the nerve cells to become desensitised to insulin, which stopped them from detecting insulin altogether.(4) These desensitised nerve cells boosted their NPY levels, which both promoted eating and reduced the bodies’ normal response to burn energy through heat.
Source
The Hindu