Fats Encourage Overeating

Maddi Sunshine
Dr. Boyd
Biology 1-2 Honors
Fats Encourage Overeating
Summary:
In a recent study, scientists fed fats to rats to learn more about overeating. The researchers were looking to find what kind of messages the fat would send to the brain or even other parts of the body. With the new data they could hopefully create new medicine that would help people lose weight. When the rats tasted fats, their bodies activated molecules called endocannabinoids. These are the molecules that tell the brain when it’s time to eat. The word endocannabinoids is a lot like cannabis. This is another word for marijuana. They are similar because endocannabinoids are like the molecule in marijuana that delivers the high. When people smoke marijuana it also activates endocannabinoids which makes someone have a desire to binge eat.
Critique & Impact:
I learned a lot from this article. I didn’t know that there was a molecule in fatty foods which was what made you want to keep eating. The same affect is also in marijuana which makes since. This is a great way to inform people about how they can control what they eat. It is also is a great experiment to help the people creating medicines to make to help people lose weight.
Reference: http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/2011/07/fats-encourage-overeating/