Unhealthy foods promote unhealthy eating..Hmmm

As my inbox flooded with different articles talking about essentially the same thing -the addictive nature of "fatty" foods- I decided to look into it and figure out what the hype is all about. Weight loss always tends to be a hot topic in nutrition field so why not blog about it and see what others have to say. Especially nowadays with the the stress on finding an instant fix for obesity or weight loss, the stress is on  researchers to find a magic pill that cures all. An article I found on canada.com called Bacon and cheesecake 'alter brain like heroin' referred to recent research findings that high-fat foods tend to drive the development of compulsive eating. In the research conducted by Paul M Johnson and Paul J Kenny, 3 groups of lab rats on different diets were monitored. The first group was on regular chowder diet with no access to the high-caloric fiood, second group received chocolate bars, cakes, bacon, sausage and other human fatty foods  for one hour, while the third group had full access (18-23 hours) to all the high-calorie human foods that are often considered palatable. Lab rats on regular chow diet lost control over their eating habits once given free access to human fatty food. The rats with most access to the high-calorie food continued the compulsive eating patterns till they gained 25% more body weight within 40 days and not surprisingly gained the most weight among the three groups. The author even goes as far to say that the rats when put back on their regular chowder diet, "voluntarily starved themselves". This is a very interesting finding in rats but we need to be careful before making the same assumption in humans. It is important to be critical of these research findings as I am sure some of us might remember examples of earlier lab experiments that had been successful in vitro but did not show the same results inside the human body. Perhaps more studies can be done to follow up and see if there really is a connection in humans as well or just to validate the results by conducting more robust studies.

Looking more specifically into the study, researchers observed differences between the rats that were fed human fatty food versus the rats that remained on their regular diet. The overeating rats had higher levels of dopamine D2 receptor. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in our brain and is mostly associated with the pleasure system or the "reward system" (for more information on dopamine click on the hyperlink). Dopamine is a key chemical involved in motivation. It is especially linked with theories of chemical addiction as observed in this research, where the obese rats were found to have decreased levels of dopamine receptor. As the rats ate more junk food, the dopamine levels elevated but since the receptors became less responsive, the rats continued eating essentially becoming compulsive over eaters. One would think that once the dopamine levels were artificially lowered in the rats when feeding regular chow, their feeding habits would increase as well to compensate for the low levels. However, upon lowering the dopamine levels no such thing happened- the rats continued with regular eating patterns. This is interesting in that the nature of the food consumed had an effect on the consumption patterns. This article talks about how eating certain fatty foods is bad for us as they have a tendency to become habitual if we overindulge in them enough times. Associate professor at Scripps Research Institute in Florida and study co-author, Paul Kenny draws a parallel between overeating and drug addiction stating that drug addicts are aware that their actions are wrong but they cannot stop as it seems to be beyond their control, suggesting that treatments for drug addiction may work for overeating. Although, the research has rather interesting findings, I feel like it is quick to form that conclusion. The research does not take into consideration the fact that switching from rat chowder to high-caloric human foods high in preservatives could have the effect on the rat hormone levels. Moreover, I am curious how they decided upon the list of human foods that were fed to the rats as it ranges from high-sugar foods to bacon and sausage which contain protein and are quite different than cakes and pastries. The variation in the human foods could have some impact on the rats' consumption as well.

On a slightly different note, these findings remind me of why I am always skeptical  when it comes to consuming highly processed foods as we have very little information available on its impact on humans.  Perhaps this is a manifestation of all the hormones and antibiotics that we have injected in our cattles and chicken to help them grow faster and to prevent them from getting sick (aren't antibiotics suppose to be used after and not before getting sick. Consider: what are the implications?). With the swift improvement in technology and genetically engineered products that are faster and cheaper to consumer with longer shelf life, perhaps our health is the price we paid in exchange.