Countless neurological pathways help dictate when we need to eat; but ultimately three pathways are the major players. The one that I specifically looked at was the leptin pathway which helps us figure out when we should and should not eat. In over 90% of all people with obesity of any degree some type of leptin resistance exists, making it so a higher concentration of fat is required to make us feel full. This cycle then has positive feedback where eating more is required to feel full, but then more leptin is released and then ultimately increases the leptin resistance which then makes us need to eat more… This process can continue almost indefinitely, which can increase our body fat ratio.
Does this mean that weight gain is at least partially out of our control? Yes. Does this mean that it’s okay to indulge ourselves because we know that more food is required to feel full? No. By doing that we continue to exacerbate our pleasure centres in the brain and start to cede our self-control simply because it’s hard. Weight gain is not outside of the realm of possibility to attribute to physiological issues, but that is the simple route. A healthy diet in combination with exercise can help regulate leptin levels, and the hunger (and these neurological pathways) because the body is adaptable. It will eventually adjust to the new diet and the new energy demands of working out.
This process is by no means easy, but ultimately it is our responsibilities as humans to be above our baser desires of food. This is easier said than done, but it is unfortunately the thing that is required in order to help end the obesity that exists within our society. Accepting it as both a genetic, physiological and psychological disorder is incredibly important to reducing the number of obese people in the world.
Obesity and the Brain
