During the Chuseok holiday, a variety of delicious foods are prepared. I keep getting my hands on oily food and need to be careful. Researchers in the United States have found that the craving for fatty foods is caused by the gut.
A research team led by Professor Charles Zucker of the Department of Biochemistry at Columbia University in the U.S. reported in the international scientific journal Nature on the 7th, “It has been confirmed that a signal from the gut to the brain triggers the craving for fatty foods.
This study was conducted in mice. The researchers presented the mice with water in which fat was dissolved and sweetened water, and observed which water they preferred. The research team explained, “This is to find out how it reacts to lipids and fatty acids.
As a result, it was found that the rats continued to ingest fat-dissolved water. The same phenomenon was observed in an experiment in mice genetically modified to prevent the taste of fat on the tongue. “The mice didn’t taste the fat, but they still preferred water in which the fat was dissolved,” the researchers said.
The researchers analyzed that fat activates certain brain circuits. As a result of measuring brain activity in real mice, it was found that neurons in a specific area of the brainstem were activated. These neurons are the neurons involved in feeding.
The team traced the pathway by which fat activated these neurons. As a result, it was concluded that there was some kind of fat sensor in the intestines. When fat enters the intestines, this fat sensor is activated and sends a signal to the brain that stimulates the craving for fatty foods.
The research team inactivated this fat sensor through genetic manipulation. Then the mice lost their appetite for fat. Inactivation of fat-eating neurons produced the same results.
“The obesity rate has nearly doubled since 1980, and 500 million people now suffer from obesity-related diabetes,” Zucker said. ” he said.