Are you addicted to junk food? Well, a recent study has shown that your sweet tooth could be a result of your brain being rewired to prefer unhealthy treats. The study found that high levels of sugar and fat in our diet cause our brains to subconsciously crave such food.
The research, conducted by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Cologne in collaboration with a team at Yale University, analyzed the brain activity of two groups of participants. One group was given a daily dessert high in fat and sugar for two months, while the other group received a dessert containing the same number of calories but with less fat.
The results showed that the group given the high-fat and sugar dessert had significantly increased brain activity after eight weeks, particularly in the region responsible for motivation and reward, resulting in the release of dopamine.
So yeah maybe indulging in these foods will give us a temporary feel-good feeling, but the brain will take a little longer to forget our ‘learned’ behaviour.
