Pleasure eating sets off body's reward system and 'may lead to gluttony'

Washington, May 3 (ANI): When eating is motivated by pleasure, rather than hunger, endogenous rewarding chemical signals are activated that can stimulate overeating, a new study has claimed.

According to the recent study, the phenomenon ultimately affects body mass and may be a factor in the continuing rise of obesity.

"'Hedonic hunger' refers to the desire to eat for pleasure, and to enjoy the taste, rather than to restore the body's energy needs," Palmiero Monteleone. Lead author of the study from the University of Naples SUN in Italy, said.

"For example, desiring and eating a piece of cake even after a satiating meal is consumption driven by pleasure and not by energy deprivation. The physiological process underlying hedonic eating is not fully understood, but it is likely that endogenous substances regulating reward mechanisms like the hormone ghrelin and chemical compounds such as 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) are involved," Monteleone said.

In this study, researchers assessed eight satiated healthy adults, aged 21years, feeding them each their personal favourite food and, later, a less-palatable food of equal caloric and nutrient value.

They periodically measured 2-AG and ghrelin levels. The plasma levels of ghrelin and 2-AG increased during hedonic eating, with the favourite foods, but not with non-hedonic eating.

This increase suggests an activation of the chemical reward system, which overrides the body's signal that enough has been eaten to restore energy.

"Hedonic hunger may powerfully stimulate overeating in an environment where highly palatable foods are omnipresent, and contribute to the surge in obesity.

"Understanding the physiological mechanisms underlying this eating behaviour may shed some light on the obesity epidemic. Further research should confirm and extend our results to patients with obesity or with other eating disorders in order to better understand the phenomenon of hedonic eating," Monteleone added.

The study has been accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM). (ANI)