Scientists believe they have discovered physiological underpinnings to the way some of us eat. They can now explain why some people struggle to lose weight or continue to gain more, and why many of us have such unhealthy eating habits.
1. Night Eating Syndrome A collection of scientists want to include NES among a list of potential eating disorders. Patients that suffer from it will often skip breakfast and eat minimal amounts of food during the daytime, before launching into a sustained eating marathon starting with dinner. People with NES cannot stop eating before bedtime and will even wake up during the night for more food. Scientists say it is not binging, but instead is little bites of ice cream, spoonfuls of peanut butter and other small snacks for a prolonged period of time. They estimate that 1.5 percent of the general populations suffers from the condition, though rates of occurrence are higher in those that are overweight. Unlike other eating disorders, like anorexia and bulimia, that occur more often in women, NES presents itself equally in both genders. Researchers also say that stress and anxiety make NES more likely, and that patients often times use food as a sleep aid. The condition was first identified in 1965 by Dr. Albert J. Stunkard.
2) Food Addiction: A study by Yale University researchers found that women with symptoms of food addiction respond to potentially delicious food in a manner similar to how drug addicts respond to taking drugs. The study, which was published in The Archives of General Psychiatry, devised a questionnaire to determine whether one is addicted to food. Based on a similar tool used for determining substance addiction, the Yale Food Addiction Scale identified 39 women with symptoms of food addiction who became the focus of the study. They varied in weight from lean to obese. Researchers took MRI images as the women were shown images of chocolate shakes and tasteless, clear formula (used because water can actually trigger some brain activity). Then, scientists took images as they actually sampled the drinks. Once the results were analyzed, they suggested that the women experienced similar reactions to drug addicts. The study acknowledges several problems including the small sample size and the fact that everyone studied was female, but it does suggest that there may actually a physical addiction to food.
What do you think of these new conditions?
Photo by Mr. T in DC
