The hunger neurons

To be honest, in my opinion the worst thing about dieting is psychologically induced.  Let's face it, the minute someone (like me) tells you you can't eat bread even though you probably didn't eat it often, you suddenly start craving bread.  This is just an example.  It could be bread, biscuits or anything else you fancy.  There are also the pesky hunger pangs which also tend to be more psychological than physical.  You may feel hungry but you probably aren't really.  It's the simple fact that your brain is telling you that you should feel hungry because you are on a diet.  Oh, and let's not forget that irritability... brave be the person who dares ask you a question!!!!!

My simple answer to this is to not sit around and dwell on it.  Do something positive, get up and move, clean something, go for a walk, play with your kids... the list is endless.

However, there are worse cases than a normal diet to lose a few pounds for the summer.  There are people who are morbidly obese, obese, obese children and people who are generally overweight.  All of these cases are at a higher risk of developing insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.  We also know that treating obesity is cheaper than treating any of the aforementioned diseases that are also potentially life threatening.

Luckily a new scientific discovery has emerged.  This new discovery centers on a tiny group of brain cells known as PVH MC4R neurons.  This group accounts for only a few hundred of the billions of cells in the brain - but don't underestimate this little bunch, they are highly powerful.  Scientists have discovered that switching the PCH MC4R neurons OFF causes a fierce spike in hunger and turning them ON stops hunger in it's tracks.

So far, the only experiments carried out have been on mice, but they seem promising.  In one experiment, mice that went to sleep on full stomachs became "ravenous" when the cells were switched off.

Alastair Garfield, a researcher at Edinburgh University said that the effect was similar to someone who had finished their dinner at 9pm waking up at midnight and being so hungry they ate their breakfast.

However, scientists found that the opposite is also true.  Stimulating this group of cells that they have nicknamed "the hunger hub", meant that the animals' appetites were diminished to the extent that mice that hadn't been fed for a while, barely ate anything at all.

The scientists are trying to understand what feelings the PCH MC4R neurons produce to stop the mice from eating.  The placed hungry mice in a clear box with two rooms, one of which was being blasted with a laser light designed to activate the hunger hub.  The hungry mice were drawn to this side of the box which suggests that they liked the effect it was having on their brains.  The mice that had been fed before entering the box divided their time between both rooms.

The scientists believe that the hunger hub does not cut appetite by creating unpleasant feelings of nausea, but release a good feeling that banishes hunger pangs and irritability.

Bradford Lowell, a researcher at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston said:

"Turning on the PVH MC4R had the same effect as dieting.

"But because it directly reduced hunger drive, it did not cause the gnawing feelings of discomfort that often come with dieting."

Dr. Garfield said:

"If you could design a magic bullet, something that could fly through the brain and hit just these cells and turn them on, then I think we would see the same effects in humans as in mice.

"The problem is that it is very difficult to design a drug that is so specific to one area of the brain."

With obesity on a seemingly uncontrollable rise with the World Health Organization predicting horrendous levels of obesity for 2030, let's hope they manage to design the magic pill that will activate the hunger hub and help tens of thousands of obese people to take back control and lose weight, get their lives back and drop their associated health risks.

 I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com