Scientists at the University of Georgia have discovered why people tend to overeat when chowing down on fatty food.
According to The Daily Mail, the researchers found that an unhealthy diet causes a change in the balance of the bacteria that dwell in the stomach. When more fatty food is consumed, the bacteria that thrive on fat tend to overpopulate and kill off other bacteria.
The imbalance in turn damages the nerves that tell the stomach that it is full. The inflamed nerves are no longer able to signal the brain to stop eating.
University of Georgia researchers discovered the effects of fatty food in their experiment on rats.
"When we switch the rats to a high-fat diet, it reorganizes brain circuits," Dr. Krzystof Czaja said.
"It induces inflammation in the brain regions responsible for feeding behavior. Those reorganized circuits and inflammation may alter satiety signaling."
The researchers explained that the human body is meant to consume food derived from natural sources. The introduction of junk food is seen as the cause of an immediate imbalance in the bacteria in the stomach.
"In the regular physiological state, many different strains of bacteria live in a balanced environment in the intestinal tract. They don't overpopulate," Dr. Czaja said. "There are little shifts, but in general this population is quite stable."
He reveals that a new diet caused a drastic change. "When we start feeding the rats a different diet, there is an immediate effect," Dr. Czaja said. "Suddenly, different nutrients are changing the microenvironment in the gut and some bacteria begin to overpopulate. Some sensitive bacteria begin to die and some populations may even vanish."
The researcher concluded, "So introducing a significant change in the gut microenvironment triggers a cascade of events that leads to this population switch."
According to Dr. Czaja, they have yet to find out whether the damage is permanent.
