To eat or not to eat – what does your brain say?
The desire to eat comes from many factors monitored by, and instructions put out by your brain – in essence your level of Brain Fitness. One specific brain region involved in monitoring nutrition signals is the hypothalamus. This part of the brain houses a complex set of brain cells that talk to each other and talk to your bloodstream and digestive tract to decide whether you need to eat.
If the hypothalamus system senses a need for nutrition it will send out hormone signals that make you hungry, if not, it will try to keep you feeling full. However, there are other players in the drive to eat that come from emotional centers and decision-making centers in the brain. This is what separates us from other animals. Our behaviors aren’t as ‘hard-wired’ so we our more likely to eat inappropriately just because we want to, not because we need to.
The STOP signs in our heads
A new study published in the September 2007 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked at a specific brain region involved in this whole process, which relates back to the whole concept of brain fitness.
Researchers looked at the activity of a brain region called (ready for the long name) the left dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex, or left DLPFC. This part of the brain plays a role in inhibiting inappropriate behavior. It stops you from acting on the impulse to do stupid things in public, like punch someone who makes you mad, or say something that you know you’ll regret. It also stops you from impulsively grabbing that donut when you know you don’t need it, which relates to this study.
Higher activity in the left DLPFC is associated with greater control over impulsive eating. The new research found that obese women had lower activity in this brain region compared to lean or previously obese women (that had successfully lost weight and kept it off). This was a follow up to a previous study showing the same thing in men. It’s not really surprising but the cool thing is that, the human cortex, including the DLPFC, tends to be ‘moldable’.
Practice makes more permanent
We know that repeatedly practicing things that use the cortex can make those brain connections stronger. For example, if you repeatedly do Sudoku, you will get better at recognizing number patterns. If you repeatedly do crossword puzzles, you will get better at recalling words. The new study is exciting because it suggests that if you repeatedly work on impulse control you may be able to increase the strength of the DLPFC and gain control of that impulsive eating.
It all comes back to brain fitness in the end and how fit your brain circuits are that control your behaviors. Just like running or lifting weights, you can strengthen these brain muscles and give your brain the power to have more control over behaviors that you want to change. Like anything else, all it takes is a little practice.
Now, excessive eating is not the only thing that controls weight gain. Other factors that control your metabolism contribute to whether you will gain or lose weight. Some of these have genetic influences that are stronger in some people than in others. But many of these can improve with good nutrition and exercise as well.
The point to this article is that by practicing to change the behaviors that you don’t like, your brain will get better at controlling them and it will get easier. No one accomplishes anything difficult without practice and experience – but eventually what once seemed close to impossible becomes automatic after the appropriate training. Brain Fitness is no different. With effort, you can regain control. Just keep trying and give yourself time for your brain circuits to strengthen.
