I’ve been aware of the condition scientists are calling ‘dessert stomach’ for many years. Especially after a sumptuous Family Feast. It’s a brain signal that tells your system to stuff-in dessert in spite of the fact you’re already full…
Defies logic…
The situation defies logic, and confounds conscious cognition…
“The big meal is over, you’re full, but the craving for sweets remains,” the introduction to a new re-port on ‘dessert stomach’ sets the scene… Researchers now say the condition is real, and is rooted in the brain. It appears, the same nerve cells that make us feel full after a meal are also responsible for our craving for sweets afterwards.
Opiate pathway
The cell cluster responsible for dessert stomach is apparently a pathway similar to an opiate recept-or, but which is activated by sugar, or even the opportunity to consume sugar. The trigger is one of our natural ‘feel-good’ substances: beta- or ß-endorphin.
What they did
A research team at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing (PIBA) tried inhibiting the release of ß-endorphin in mouse-base experiments to prove the basic concept.
“[The] effect was only observed in full animals. In hungry mice, the inhibition of ß-endorphin release had no effect,” an abstract of the study report observes.
“Interestingly, this mechanism was already activated when the mice perceived the sugar, before eating it,” the report notes. “In addition, the [substance] was also released in the brains of mice that had never eaten sugar before.”
What they found
The team also carried out brain scans on human volunteers, who received a sugar solution through a tube. They found that the same region of the humans’ brain reacted to the sugar.
“From an evolutionary perspective, this makes sense: sugar is rare in nature, but provides quick energy,” explains research group leader Henning Fenselau. The brain is programmed to control the intake of sugar whenever it is available.”
The takeaway
There could be implications for the simple, side-effect-free treatment of obesity through ß-endorphin-mediated appetite suppression.
“There are already drugs that block opiate receptors in the brain, but the weight loss is less than with appetite-suppressant injections. We believe that a combination with them or with other therapies could be very useful.,” says Fenselau. “However, we need to investigate this further.”
My take
Makes sense. Substances such as ß-endorphin are well-known to exert powerful effects on the body – via receptors in the brain.
What’s amazing – to me, at least – is that the ‘dessert stomach’ system can subvert even our basic ‘you’re full’ signalling system!
~ Maggie J.