Why Eating A Lot Feels So Darn Good

Galen

Current Event: 2

Topic: Health

Why Eating a Lot Feels So Darn Good
By Madison Park, CNN
November 24, 2010
Length: 1856

Filling a stomach with comfort food is an evolutionary instinct that we do because we are subconsciously preparing for the dark times. We are in survival mode. “Just like puffy-cheeked squirrels storing up for the winter.” Our brains reward us by releasing chemicals that make us feel good in a similar way that alcohol and drugs do. Scientists call it ingestion analgesia, literally pain relief from eating. Professor Roger Cone says that "for most animals and most of human history, we have not had excess of calories. Animals and humans had to work harder to survive, but now, with unlimited calories everywhere for most people and a great reduction in the amount of physical activity, we've become obese." By having such easy access to fat, sugar and much more, our bodies have adjusted by releasing endogenous opioid, which help control pain. A study published in Nature Neuroscience this year suggested that these high fat and calorie foods affect he brain in the same way that cocaine and heroin does. A study this year found that when rats consumed these foods in large quantities it lead to compulsive eating habits that resemble drug addiction. Food replaces emptiness with a sleepy relaxing feeling known as the food coma.

Fortunately, our body releases a hormone when food travels to the upper small intestine to tell the brain to stop eating. As our food intake increases our blood glucose level changes and the hormone ghrelin, which stimulates appetite, calms down. That feeling of satiety should end the meal. Unfortunately we often ignore this cue. The bottom line is we need to eat less. Rolls, a professor of the national science at Pennsylvania State, says to “ eat when you feel a little hungry, but don't wait until you feel ravenous, because you'll probably overeat.” People should stop eating when they are pleasantly full instead of when they can’t stand up.