Fatty Foods Trigger Snacking

Eating fatty foods like potato chips and french fries triggers the body to produce natural marijuana-like chemicals called endocannabinoids that cause a person to eat more, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.


Researchers at UC Irvine discovered when rats tasted something fatty, cells in their upper gut started producing endocannabinoids. The process starts on the tongue, where fats in food generate a signal that travels first to the brain and then through a nerve bundle called the vagus to the intestines. There, the signal stimulates the production of endocannabinoids, which initiates a surge in cell signaling that prompts the wanton intake of fatty foods, probably by initiating the release of digestive chemicals linked to hunger and satiety that compel us to eat more.

"This is the first demonstration that endocannabinoid signaling in the gut plays an important role in regulating fat intake," the researchers said. The findings suggest it might be possible to curb this tendency by obstructing endocannabinoid activity by using drugs that "clog" cannabinoid receptors.

Sources:

• UC Irvine: Body’s natural marijuana-like chemicals make fatty foods hard to resist