Fatty foods may damage your brain

A new study finds that fat-filled foods may damage the region of the brain responsible for regulating a person’s appetite, which scientists say could account for why overweight people struggle with sticking to a diet plan.

Announced on Friday at the British Science Festival, the study found that a diet rich in saturated fats leads to damage to the brain’s hypothalamus, a key region involved in controlling appetite. The findings suggest that saturated fats may have a direct impact on the body’s ability to stick to a diet, said Lynda Williams of the Rowett Institute for Nutrition and Health at Aberdeen University.

“The hypothalamus is a small area at the base of the brain containing neurones that control the amount of food we eat and the energy we expend,” she explains. “However, this control breaks down in obesity — the system appears not to work — and we don’t really know why this happens.”

If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.

Comments

No comments yet.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.