These days, it seems to be easier to choose unhealthy, processed foods than to cook meals from scratch or choose healthier options. It is convenient to just eat out at a restaurant, where foods served are loaded with sodium, calories, and cholesterol.
An unhealthy lifestyle is largely a product of habit, and according to researcher Susan Roberts, is a result of conditioning. "We don't start out in life loving French fries or hating whole wheat pasta," she said. This conditioning is due to repeatedly choosing and therefore eating toxic, unhealthy foods.
Roberts is a co-corresponding author of a study that examined brain activity and diet. This study was recently published in the journal Nutrition and Diabetes. The method involved putting a group of obese individuals through a six-month weight loss program and measuring their response to different kinds of food. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was utilized to scan areas of the brain where learning and addiction take place.
Results of the study revealed that after the six-month diet, the brains of the participants displayed more active responses to healthier food cues, and were less sensitive to foods categorized as unhealthy and highly caloric.
Sai Krupa, Roberts' co-author, said that the six-week weight loss program was designed to alter people's reaction to various food types. According to her, the participants showed an increase desire for healthy foods and a dercreased excitement for unhealthy ones. "These combined effects are critical for sustainable weight control," she said.
This study is arguably the first of its kind, showing how the brain can be retrained and conidioned to eat healthier and shun unhealthy options. Such findings give hope to people who desire to lose weight, live healthier, and say goodbye to sickness.
The researchers add that factors instrumental to the "reversing" process of addiction and preference include high fiber and low glycemic foods, and behavior change education.