The premise that hunger makes food look more appealing is a widely held belief – just ask those who cruise grocery store aisles on an empty stomach, only to go home with a full basket and an empty wallet.
Prior research studies have suggested that the so-called hunger hormone ghrelin, which the body produces when it’s hungry, might act on the brain to trigger this behavior. New research suggests that ghrelin might also work in the brain to make some people keep eating “pleasurable” foods when they’re already full.
Scientists previously have linked increased levels of ghrelin to intensifying the rewarding or pleasurable feelings one gets from cocaine or alcohol.
Researchers observed how long mice would continue to poke their noses into a hole in order to receive a pellet of high-fat food. Animals that didn’t receive ghrelin gave up much sooner than the ones that did receive ghrelin.
Humans and mice share the same type of brain-cell connections and hormones, as well as similar architectures in the “pleasure centers” of the brain.
[Source]
Chapter: Health :: 1 February 2010
