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 Alfonso Abizaid is a Carleton University neuroscience professor. (Tony Caldwell, QMI Agency) |
OTTAWA - Stop! Don't touch that Twinkie.
Your stomach might say yes, but Dr. Alfonso Abizaid says no.
The Carleton University neuroscience professor said while our bellies might beckon us to calorie-rich foods, research shows we shouldn't always trust our brains to determine whether we should indulge.
Abizaid's research into the connection between the digestive system, the brain and food intake has honed his focus on a hormone called ghrelin, which tells our brain when we're hungry.
"Ghrelin starts increasing in anticipation of meals or when we see things that predict the availability of high-calorie meals like the golden arches at McDonald's," he said.
It also gives us the munchies when we're stressed, he said.
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"It seems to be a physiological mechanism by which our bodies begin preparing and dealing with a stressor," by seeking comfort in familiar and fatty foods, he said.
One of the hormone's unusual traits, however, is that it also increases the effects of dopamine, the same hormone that evokes feelings of enjoyment and reward in the brain's pleasure system.
Dopamine is commonly associated with addictions. Drugs such as cocaine, nicotine, and amphetamines increase dopamine, which reinforces the enjoyable aspects of the activity in our brains.
"If it's a single stressful event, it's very good for you," he said. "But when stress is there all the time, it can become pathological. Whether it's high-fat foods or cocaine, ghrelin is going to enhance the effects of the reward system."
So when we're stressed, we eat. The more we eat, the more we feel rewarded and the more our brains become convinced eating is a good way to cope with stress.
"It's not completely accepted in the medical literature that food is addictive, but it is addictive," he said pointing to groups such as Food Addicts Anonymous and even Weight Watchers as evidence.
Members of these groups seek to control food cravings, he said, which is exactly what he hopes his research will help achieve. Obesity and its associated health effects could be the No. 1 killer for current and future generations, he said.
Abizaid is working with other researchers and drug companies to develop a ghrelin blocker. Conversely, he's also interested in treatments that encourage the release of the hormone to help people suffering from cancer or eating disorders like anorexia.
"Trying to control appetite is a big challenge. So of course, we're trying to come up with solutions that meet our needs in the short- and long-term."
justin.sadler@sunmedia.ca