Cannot hold yourself from buying sausages, fries, burgers and sundaes? You may blame your brain for coming in your way to resist them. Yes you heard us. It is your very own brain that wants you to resort to foods that are both high in fat and carbohydrates, says a new study. High carb and fat foods, are seen to be more comforting and rewarding for the brain, which makes it even more tough to cut down on your weight.
The study published in the journal
Cell Metabolism there's a reason why you love pizza, burger and other not-so-healthy treats, this is because your brain sees them as rewarding foods as opposed to the healthy greens, pulses and legumes which are not so luring for the brain. The researchers at Yale University found the combination of carbohydrates and fats into a single food creates a more rewarding experience for the brain.
The researchers said that in our brain there is a group of neural structure is responsible for motivation, desire, craving for reward . This rewarding system is most likely to choose foods that are fattening or high carb. This could greatly hinder your weight loss plans.
Not just that, these foods also tend to takeover body's inborn signals governing food consumption.
It was interesting to note that foods containing fats and carbohydrates appear to signal their potential caloric loads to the brain via distinct mechanisms. It was revealed that when both nutrients are combined, the brain seems to overestimate the energetic value of the food.
About 206 adults were studied for the study. Their brain scans were studied in detail. They were being shown photographs of familiar snacks containing mostly fat, mostly sugar, or a combination of the two. The participants were also allocated a little amount of money to bid on their first-choice food.
The findings revealed that participants were more willing to pay for foods that combined fat and carbohydrates. The brain-body mechanisms underlying the genetic predisposition for obesity, eating in the absence of hunger, and difficulty losing or keeping off excess weight could be effectively explained by this study.