Eating should be about satisfying the pleasure centres in your brain

A study done by obesity researchers in America has come to the obvious but nevertheless interesting conclusion that obese individuals eat more because they don't get much satisfaction from food. The study led by a scientist at the University of Texas, Professor Eric Stice came to the conclusion that obese people had less pleasure receptors and therefore had to eat a bigger quantity in order to stimulate them.

Professor Stice who was published in the Journal of Neuroscience said that people suffering from obesity tended to have fewer dopamine receptors in in their brains when compared to normal weight people.  He also said that there was evidence to show that eating too much could further reduce the ability of pleasure receptors to record satisfaction with food.

Everybody has seen how overweight people tend to crave food more and eat more and so in one sense this conclusion is pretty obvious however what it does tell us is that satisfaction with what you eat and the pleasure that it gives you is an important part of making you aware of when you are full up. Dopamine is the pleasure compound in your brain and therefore plays an important part in telling you when to stop eating.

At Ukmedix News we felt that this research confirms the point that many dietitians and nutritionists make which is that it is no good going on a weight loss program which does not involve eating food that gives you pleasure. Eating therefore should not just be about getting rid of hunger but also about satisfying the pleasure centres in your brain and boosting your dopamine levels so that you actually want to stop eating from mental as well as physical satisfaction.

Is it a coincidence therefore that nations like Italy and France which produced some of the most exquisite and delicious tastes in the world are those who have the lowest rates of obesity and that those countries which are not known for their cuisine [the United States and the United Kingdom] have the highest rates of obesity.

If you are a person who loves good quality food you are unlikely to be successful in losing weight by eating boring and bland diet food. Probably the best diet for you would be a portion control diet where the emphasis is on quality rather than quantity.