We've all had the urge to eat, and some of us have it when we "shouldn't". Apparently, it is not necessarily a lack of self control that keeps us eating, though. Evolution has designed our brain to crave food as a means of survival, and, for most people, the brain understands that after a meal is completed, you should stop eating. For some, however, this craving for food does not disappear, which is one of the problems for most obese people. In recent studies, scientists have found that they can control hunger in mice via AgRP neurons. After further research and experimentation, these findings may be able to be functionally implemented in some type of "cure" for obesity or other hunger caused issues.
Reference:
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. "How brain circuits govern hunger and cravings: Findings help explain how the hungry brain hinders dieting." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 14 June 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170614134316.htm>.
I am very interested that your brain controls the feeling of hunger. You would think that it is just caused by being full and your body can not take any more food in. If scientists could discover how to control this problem for some obese people, that would be a huge discovery for civilization.
ReplyDeleteI think that that is interesting that we still have that quality from centuries ago when finding food and hunting were the ways to get food and which are more difficult to do but are necessary for survival. Like how when humans are cold, the hair on our arms stands up, which is an evolutionary mechanism from when humans were closer to apes and had more hair on their arms so it helped more then than it does now. It is still interesting the qualities that are still present although not necessarily useful anymore.
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