Why We Overeat
Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 6:00AMAfter fatty foods pass your lips and before they settle on to your hips, they go to your brain. And that may be an important clue to why - and when - we're prone to overeat.
Research from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas suggests that when certain molecules of saturated fat reach the brain, they interrupt signals (from the hormones leptin and insulin) that normally suppress appetite after we've eaten. The culprit most responsible is palmitic acid, a saturated fat found in foods such as butter, cheese, milk and beef. Absent this signal from the brain that we've had enough, we keep eating. The signaling disruption lasts about three days, the investigators said. They looked at the effects of fat on animals' brains by feeding them palmitic acid, monounsaturated fatty acid and oleic acid, an unsaturated fat found in olive and grapeseed oils. The only fat that sabotaged leptin and insulin signals was palmitic. The study was published in the September 2009 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation. Other new research showed that we tend to eat less when with a heavy friend who eats large portions and more when we're with a thin friend who eats a lot, suggesting social signals also influence patterns of eating. That study was published online on August 25, 2009 in the Journal of Consumer Research.
Reader Comments (9)
Thank you for posting this - a huge question indeed - why are we overeating? This was great insight - as you always provide. I see from your photo you are enjoying a bowl of probably what was some Japanese matcha - cool! I am in the tea industry but my true purpose for being on this earth is to DO something about childhood obesity - so that is why I found this article very beneficial. The other truth is we OVEREAT because we UNDERLOVE - ourselves.
I have heard that our brains actually need some of these fats. Is that true? Or can we get the fat that we need for our brains from olive oil, nuts and fish? I like some red meat in my diet.
Fantastic information. This really does help to piece together the tendency for those who eat junk foods to want to keep eating. I also wonder if some people are more prone to it than others.
The correlation of the skinny/fat companions completely makes sense to me as well. Having different-sized significant others made a difference in my weight. When I would cook for the thin one, I would give him some of mine. When I would cook for the chubby one, I ate all of mine and gained 10 pounds a year with him until I put an end to it and went on a weight loss plan.
Thank you for posting this. It is very enlightening.
I am a psychotherapist for an eating disorder hospital. Your article is interesting and factual although I wish you would also include something about binge eating as a bio/psycho/social issue. Also, people with an eating disorder will often get caught in the perpetual cycle of bingeing, feeling guilty, (often purging), restricting, which then leads to bingeing on fatty foods. This is a problem that needs to be addressed more often when issues of obesity and diets are being discussed.
Thank you.
According to Dr. Robert Lustig, "Sugar: The Bitter Truth", fructose is also a culprit in overeating, since it does not stimulate leptin (to tell you to stop eating) or suppress ghrelin (tells you to keep eating). When you think of how many popular foods have saturated fat AND fructose, it probably shouldn't surprise us that obesity has become a serious health problem! This makes a real case for a diet rich in vegetables, unsaturated fats and whole grains.
Healthy-Eating-Support.org/Childhood-Obesity.html
Debbie: Dr. Weil says:
A balanced diet should include the right mix of carbohydrates, fats and proteins to meet the body's nutritional needs, and the right number of calories to replace those lost in everyday life. Here's the recommended breakdown: 50-60 percent of calories from carbohydrates, 30% from fat, 10-20 percent from protein (preferably soy or fish). Buy organic whenever possible.
Pam: This is just one place on www.drweil.com where Dr. Weil talks about binge eating.
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA175302
That's interesting. My husband is very thin and eats huge portions of everything without ever gaining weight! I was also very thin when we met 20 years ago but have gained 25 pounds over the years. I know I eat more now than I did when e met. Gradually I lost sense of what a good portion for me was. Now trying to correct that! And, as for the first point, when there's good cheese about I definitely need to exercise control!
For me I was overeatimg because of a Candida overgrowth in my gut. I wasn't gaining a ton of weight but I was always eating a lot of high carb foods in excess. It was the excess of yeast craving the sugars and also controlling my mind.
I was feeding the yeast, not my body.
-Josh