Scientists Discover Hormone That Controls Liking For Food

It seems that a recent study has relived the hormone that controls ones liking for food. The hormone leptin which is known to control the hunger and feeling full seems also to be controlling the liking for food via a separate but linked pathway to the brain. So whats the big deal about this ? Scientists seems to believe that further research in area and they will be able to find out the complex reasons and causes for obesity.

Eating behavior is controlled by an interconnected complex of physiological, neural, cognitive and hormonal processes, each of which can be triggered by seeing, tasting, or even just thinking about food. In order better to understand what regulates eating behavior, scientists have to unravel each process at a time and also try to find out how they work together.

For instance, although hunger affects what people eat and how much they eat, other factors are also involved. The act of eating is a pleasurable and rewarding experience in its own right, and a liking for food can override the biological cues that control feeling hungry and feeling full.

The scientists scanned the brain when the patient was shown images of foods they liked and there seems to be activity in the brain regions that were responsible for emotions of reward and desire. Leptin is made in fat cells and when it gets to the brain through the bloodstream it reduces feelings of hunger and increases feelings of fullness.