With Sugar and Fat, Brains -- Not Bellies -- Are In Control
Quick. Would you pick a creamy milkshake over a Big Mac? A bag of M&Ms over macaroni and cheese? A red velvet cupcake with gobs of icing over a hotdog loaded with sauerkraut? If so, you've just proved a new theory. Sugar wins out over fat every time. According to Anahad O'Connor at The New York Times, " An intriguing new study suggests that what really draws people to such treats, and prompts them to eat much more than perhaps they know they should, is not the fat that they contain, but primarily the sugar." She notes that new research tracked brain activity in more than 100 high school students as they drank chocolate-flavored milkshakes that had the same amount of calories but were either high in sugar and low in fat, or vice versa. "While both kinds of shakes lit up pleasure centers in the brain, those that were high in sugar did so far more effectively, firing up a food-reward network that plays a role in compulsive eating," she reports. ...