Donut worry about giving in to that extra sweet treat.
Overeating is an issue that plagues many, as researchers predict nearly half of US adults will be obese by 2035.
But science may have an explanation for why we still reach for extra snacks even when we’re full — and it has nothing to do with willpower.
A new experimental study aimed to find an explanation for why so many struggle to get to a healthy weight and why, despite eating a full meal, we still reach for extra food.
Published in the journal Appetite, researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA) discovered that the brain continues to respond to tempting food cues even after we’ve eaten enough.
More than 70 volunteers were monitored using Electroencephalogram brain scans while playing a reward‑based learning game with food such as sweets, chocolate, chips and popcorn.
Halfway through the task, participants were given a meal of one of the foods until they were full, no longer desiring or valuing the food.
But their brains were telling a different story.
The electrical activity in areas associated with reward continued responding just as strongly to images of the now‑unwanted food — even after participants were completely full.
“No amount of fullness could switch off the brain’s response to delicious-looking food,” lead researcher Dr Thomas Sambrook, from UEA’s School of Psychology, said in a press release.
“This suggests that food cues may trigger overeating in the absence of hunger,” he added. “It’s a recipe for overeating.”
The researchers believe that over the years, as we’ve paired certain foods with pleasure, we’ve trained our brains to respond to food cues like habits.
Another culprit of overeating could be simply getting distracted during meals, feeling dissatisfied and turning to “hedonic compensation” — making up for the loss of pleasure by seeking extra gratification elsewhere.
This means that our brain responses work like automatic, learned reactions rather than conscious decisions.
The study also found that even those with excellent self-control can’t resist the brain’s automatic responses to food valuation.
This could mean the issue with overeating isn’t a matter of discipline — it’s the brain’s built-in wiring.
“Rising obesity isn’t simply about willpower,” said Sambrook. “It’s a sign that our food-rich environments and learned responses to mouth-watering cues are overpowering the body’s natural appetite controls.”
