This morning I opened my Calorie Count newsletter with feigned interest. The topic was about endless eating and why is it that some days you can’t seem to feel full. My preconceived notion after reading the title was that sure if you ignore your body’s natural signals of appetite suppression (i.e. leptin and insulin) you would continue to eat past the necessary (read: reasonable) amount. Not a surprise, there’s more to it.
Not a surprise that this deliciousness will come back to haunt you for days...
A recent study featured in EatingWell examined the root cause and came back with a surprising but factual answer. Consumption of greasy food can alter your brain’s reaction to your appetite suppression hormones, leptin and insulin. Instead of responding by telling you to stop eating, your brain becomes resistant to the hormones and lets your binge eating continue for days after indulging in greasy foods. The root cause being the type of fat in the culprit greasy food. Through tests conducted using mice, researchers were able to distinguish a difference in the brain’s response to two types of fat. One, palmitic acid, which is a saturated fat found in beef, butter, cheese, and palm oil and the other oleic fat, which is a healthier fat present in olive oil, fish, nuts, and soybeans. You can probably guess that it was the palmitic acid which disrupted your brain’s interpretation of satiation. So this means that when you decide to reward your healthful behavior with some greasy french fries or potato skins while watching the big game, you could be setting off extra eating for days beyond just the french fries. Scary!
I’d like to think that I have pretty good will power to hold myself to just the french fries, but let’s be honest; later that evening a dessert may sneak in and then some chocolate the next day and maybe some nachos at happy hour. We’ve all been there, done that. At least now I know who to blame—the palmitic acid!
There are a couple of things you can try to help your brain get back on track quicker.
1) Exercise (of course, real results come from real work)
2) Start your meals with salad instead of bread (torture)
3) Substitute alcoholic beverages with water (boring!)
4) Eat more slowly (your brain normally takes 20 minutes to register fullness, without being on “palmitic acid”)
If you’d rather not change your habits, at least you now have a scapegoat to blame for your poor eating choices!
spending my night reading your stuff! Love this one and the ones on the blueberries!
Still hate to work out, eat right and replace booze with water??? not going to happen.