Instead of the complex procedure that would be required to suppress that naturally produced hormone, why don’t we just pass legislation to ban tasty food so that all food tastes yuky and we immediately spit it out instead of swallowing it. Better yet, why not a Big Pharma pill to totally suppress our appetite, Big Pharma vitamins and proteins to keep us alive, Big Pharma vaccins to act on that section of the brain that controls pleasure, Big Pharma anti-depressants to help us cope with the lack of pleasure, and if we’re good little obedient citizens maybe we can get a reward once a month with a single serving of genetically grown fruit for our sweet tooth making sure that tooth is thoroughly brushed and flossed immediately after our treat.
They call that progress!
May 06, 2008 Spectator wire services
Obesity researchers are targeting a sneaky hormone that makes that makes food irresistible.
A McGill University study has discovered that ghrelin - a naturally produced hormone - makes us respond to the sight of food. It literally makes us want to eat, even if we’re not hungry.
The study, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, scanned the brains of people who had been given the hormone as they looked at pictures of food. Neurologist Alain Dagher said the brains of volunteers who received the ghrelin resembled those of addicts looking for a fix.
It stimulates the reward centres of the brain in the same was as drugs or alcohol.“I think it’s the most powerful appetite stimulant that’s ever been found,” said chief researcher Dagher.
The hormone increases in the human body before meals. It’s likely a trigger prompting people to eat that developed at a time when food was scarce.
The study found that not only does food look better when the hormone is high, we see it more clearly. Even our memory of a meal is enhanced.And that’s a problem in a fast-food world where obesity has become an epidemic.“It’s reasonable to think of high-calorie foods as having addictive potential,” said Dagher.
Researchers are looking at ways of blocking the hormone to treat or prevent obesity.
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