The vagus nerve sends internal sensory information from the gut to the brain about the nutritional value of food. But, the molecular basis of the reward in the brain associated with what we eat has been incompletely understood.
Now, a new study published in Cell Metabolism by a team from the Monell Chemical Senses Center, unravels the internal neural wiring, revealing separate fat and sugar craving pathways, as well as a concerning result: Combining these pathways overly triggers our desire to eat more than usual.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550413123004667?via%3Dihub (open access)
Cool! Early days yet but seems promising.
I immensely dislike how healthy food consumption is this weird moral battleground while at the same time we basically give corporations free reign to manufacture powerfully incentivising unhealthy food. It’s like allowing someone to turn your whole city into a casino and then getting mad at people who develop gambling problems.
Increased understanding might lead to better regulation (I’m a cynic here because if you’re not mad at this point will anything make you want to crack down on junk food?), but hopefully at least better drugs for people that want help changing eating behaviours.
Great analogy. (BTW it’s “free rein”)