WHY YOUR BRAIN MAKES YOU REACH FOR JUNK FOOD

-
Will that be a pizza for you or will you go for a salad? Choosing what you eat is not simply a matter of taste, conclude scientists in a new study at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital of McGill University and the McGill University Health Centre. As you glance over a menu or peruse the shelves in a supermarket, your brain is making decisions based more on a food's caloric content.
The study, published in Psychological Science, is based on brain scans of healthy participants who were asked to examine pictures of various foods. Participants rated which foods they would like to consume and were asked to estimate the calorie content of each food. Surprisingly, they were poor at accurately judging the number of calories in the various foods, but their choices and their willingness to pay still centered on those foods with higher caloric content.
"Earlier studies found that children and adults tend to choose high-calorie food" says Dr. Alain Dagher, neurologist at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital and lead author of the study. "The easy availability and low cost of high-calorie food has been blamed for the rise in obesity. Their consumption is largely governed by the anticipated effects of these foods, which are likely learned through experience. Our study sought to determine how people's awareness of caloric content influenced the brain areas known to be implicated in evaluating food options. We found that brain activity tracked the true caloric content of foods."
Decisions about food consumption and caloric density are linked to a part of the brain called the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, an area that encodes the value of stimuli and predicts immediate consumption.
Understanding the reasons for people's food choices could help to control the factors that lead to obesity, a condition affecting 1 in 4 Canadian adults and 1 in 10 children. Obesity is linked to many health problems including high blood pressure, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Treating Canadians who have these problems costs billions of tax health dollars.
This work was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

EASY PRESCRIBER 2ND EDITION

-
Image
EASY PRESCRIBER 2 ND EDITION OF THE BEST-SELLER Author: Dr. K S Gopi, BSc, BHMS, MD. Former Professor Govt. Homoeopathic Medical College Kozhikode, Kerala. India. SALIENT FEATURES ·        More additions, including Covid-19, and more psychiatric diseases ·        A practical guide for practitioners and medical students. ·        Includes almost all disease conditions and their Homeopathic Management ·        Special arrangement of medicines will help easy selection of remedy and potency. ·        Dose and repetition of dose is clearly mentioned in each disease ·        Crown ¼ size, 980 pages, doble colour printing and hard bound, PRICE: Rs .2250 (India), $ 100 FOR COPIES CONTACT - email-plantmedicines@yahoo.com, WhatsApp-+919207011814, Amazon.in, Homeomart.com  
Read more

HOMOEOPATHIC REMEDIES FOR DE QUERVAIN'S TENOSYNOVITIS

-
Image
De Quervain's tenosynovitis  is a painful condition affecting the tendons on the thumb side of your wrist. If you have de Quervain's tenosynovitis, it will probably hurt when you turn your wrist, grasp anything or make a fist. Although the exact cause of de Quervain's tenosynovitis isn't known, any activity that relies on repetitive hand or wrist movement — such as working in the garden, playing golf or racket sports, or lifting your baby — can make it worse. Causes- Chronic overuse of your wrist is commonly associated with de Quervain's tenosynovitis. Tendons are rope-like structures that attach muscle to bone. When you grip, grasp, clench, pinch or wring anything in your hand, two tendons in your wrist and lower thumb normally glide smoothly through the small tunnel that connects them to the base of the thumb. Repeating a particular motion day after day may irritate the sheath around the two tendons, causing thickening and swelling that restricts their m...
Read more

HOMOEOPATHIC REMEDIES FOR IMPETIGO

-
Image
Impetigo  is a common and highly contagious skin infection that mainly affects infants and children. Impetigo usually appears as red sores on the face, especially around a child's nose and mouth, and on hands and feet. The sores burst and develop honey-colored crusts. Causes - Impetigo is most often caused by staphylococcus aureus. Non –bullous impetigo can also be caused by group A beta-haemolytic streptococcus, Streptococcus pyogenes. The  bacteria that cause impetigo when you come into contact with the sores of someone who's infected or with items they've touched — such as clothing, bed linen, towels and even toys. Symptoms - Classic signs and symptoms of impetigo involve red sores that quickly rupture, ooze for a few days and then form a yellowish-brown crust. The sores usually occur around the nose and mouth but can be spread to other areas of the body by fingers, clothing and towels. Itching and soreness are generally mild. A less common form of the disorder...
Read more