March 25, 2018 — Here’s a bit of hype that crossed many screens this week. The Society of Interventional Radiology wants you to know that an experimental procedure to freeze a nerve may “ignite weight loss.” Ignite sounds good, right? Naturally, health reporters had fun hyping this one. Our favorite: “Freezing the ‘hunger nerve’ could be key to more […]
March 24, 2018 — Maybe it’s not on the tip of every tongue. But serotonin is a bit more familiar than most neurotransmitters. Most people think of it as a “happy hormone” for the central nervous system that becomes depleted in a state of depression. However, The GI system has far more of it than the CNS. And now, […]
January 27, 2018 — We eat for many reasons, and one of those reasons is pleasure. Beautiful, appetizing food beckons us, even when we’re not physically hungry. Researchers label those qualities of food as hedonics. Food marketers know that these are the qualities that sell their products. And now, neuroscience suggests that women may be more sensitive than men […]
November 19, 2017 — The Huffington Post asks if African Americans are “On a Sugar High?” That’s how they open a story about rising rates of diabetes. Health reporters offer advice for coming down from a sugar high. Tax cuts “Could Cause a Sugar High,” says Reuters. Oh, great! This buzz phrase connecting sugar, euphoria, and hyperactivity is so potent […]
November 1, 2017 — At ObesityWeek, the Obesity Journal Symposium is always a good bet and yesterday was no exception. Among five excellent papers, one was especially intriguing – a study of how a gastric sleeve affects teen brain function. It was a small, but careful study with tantalizing results. Alaina Pearce and colleagues studied 36 patients in one active […]
August 24, 2017 — Women’s Health summed up a bunch of sensational headlines recently: “Eating this one food might be the trick to losing weight.” That one food, of course, is magic walnuts. And the headlines flowed from some perfectly valid research. There’s just one tiny problem. Weight loss was not the subject of the research. In fact, the […]
August 22, 2017 — Among the complex web of factors that are causing obesity to rise, you will find the rise of drugs that cause weight gain. New antipsychotic drugs – like olanzapine or Zyprexa – are classic examples. They offer important benefits for people living with schizophrenia or bipolar disease. But they have a downside. They can cause obesity and metabolic […]
August 14, 2017 — For several years now, neuroscientists have been looking for connections between obesity and how our brains process rewards. Dopamine receptors play a role in the reward you feel when you eat especially tasty foods. And prior research suggests people with obesity have fewer dopamine receptors. Now new research in Obesity shows that young adults with […]
July 2, 2017 — In the New York Times Friday, psychiatrist Richard Friedman tells us that cookies and meth have a great deal in common. He’s taking up a popular, simple explanation for obesity: Contemporary humans did not experience a sudden collapse in self-control. What happened is that cheap, calorie-dense foods that are highly rewarding to your brain are […]
March 31, 2017 — Brain function can play a role in the development of obesity. And in turn obesity can play a role in brain function. Many knowledge gaps remain, but fascinating insights keep coming. And dopamine – an important neurotransmitter – seems to lie at the heart of changes in the brain linked to obesity. More and more research links dopamine […]
