145
Brain's Weight Switch Found: May Let Us Eat What We Want, Finally
(neurosciencenews.com)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
145 points (100.0% liked)
Science
12941 readers
74 users here now
Studies, research findings, and interesting tidbits from the ever-expanding scientific world.
Subcommunities on Beehaw:
Be sure to also check out these other Fediverse science communities:
This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
But where does all the excess energy go? You can't cheat basic physics
Believe it or not, what you swallow has almost nothing to do with your weight. The only place the body absorbs energy from food is in the intestines, and the brain controls that process.
The digestive tract is a tube, open at both ends, through which food passes. The process of extracting energy from that food is complex and highly tunable: the brain controls the production and secretion of hundreds of enzymes and other chemicals, as well as the physical action of the muscles lining the tube.
The 'basic physics' here begins at the intestinal wall, not the mouth.
I mean technically, if it's a tube, the mouth is part of the basic physics brain process. As in, if you don't eat it, it won't be added to the calories. The decision to eat is a brain process, too.
We've got drugs that play with that decision.
It's also easy easier to discriminate against far people if you can define it as a moral failure of just not putting food in your gob.
Unlike close people. Those are always bastards invading personal spaces.