Lordy Be! Study Shows Fatty Foods Head Straight for the Brain First!

A recent study by the UT Southwestern Medical Center, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation suggests that foods high in certain fats may head straight to the brain.  From that point the fat molecules encourage the brain to send messages to the body's cells to ignore the appetite-suppressing signals from leptin and insulin which are two important hormones involved in food intake and body-weight regulation.  Worse yet, our bodies may be tricked into eating more and the effect may last up to three days!

Wow! Although this study was conducted on mice and rats, researchers feel this strengthens existing dietary recommendations to limit saturated fat intake.

This study explains a lot if you stop and think about it.  How many times have most of us woken up the morning after a huge holiday meal or special occasion feeling like we wanted to eat anything within sight? Many times we haven't been able to pinpoint exactly why we have felt this way.  I strongly feel that most of us can also relate to the urge to continue eating that way for several days afterwards. 

In fact, here's a short story.  Our absolute favorite ice cream brand from back home branched out into the south florida area this past year.  Needless to say, we ran to the store and bought some!  Seriously, we could have easily chosen to clear the shelf.  Heck, I had lost all of the weight I wanted to lose and surely I could eat my most favorite ice cream in the entire world!  Hmm...my husband and my son gobbled it up with me.  Actually, one half gallon didn't last for more than two days.  After a month or two of eating it for one reason or another my son made this statement:  "I feel I have no control over eating this ice cream; I feel like I have to keep eating it for days until it is gone."  Do any of you notice his comments substantiate this recent research in rodents?  Granted he's not a rat nor is he a top researcher but I feel he did say something quite profound.  My husband and I felt the same way but like most people we really didn't understand why we felt this way.

Now, we have studies, such as this latest study that suggest there may be solid reasons to back our lack of control over our urges to eat certain foods day after day.

To me, this is yet another great reason why we should try to eat in a healthful manner 95% of the time.

I'm just like most people.  I enjoy eating high saturated fats but I have also learned that I can no longer allow them to rule my patterns of eating.  There's a time and a place to eat them and I'm in charge of when and if I choose to do so.  I don't believe in labeling certain foods as "bad".  When I do eat these type foods, I have  learned the importance of limiting my intake.  I know I may temporarily enjoy them but I also realize overall, they are not in my best interest to eat on any type of consistent basis.

I am finally learning to limit these type foods for special occasions and trust me, there are always special occasions around almost every corner if you stop and think about it.  I can't eat these foods everyday because I don't wish to struggle or battle out the repercussions of trying to get my body back on track.  I know that fatty foods work against me being able to control my intake of calories and regulate my body weight.

Yes, I must admit I feel a great deal of compassion towards the rodents in this research.   It was only a couple of years ago when I was in the same predicament!

Have a great day everyone!