This article is short and worth reading. Anyone who has ever talked to me (or read this blog in recent weeks) knows that I am a bit obsessed with food reward. My interest started when I was looking for an easy and comprehensive explanation for my eating habits. Why was I always turning to fatty and processed foods when stressed? Why did poor eating habits begat poor eating habits?

There is enough out there on food reward that I don't really need to rehash it here. I will say that I suspect there are ways to rewire our sense of food reward such that we begin to receive some moderate reward from otherwise low-reward foods.

Highlights of the above referenced article:

"Scientists in California and Italy reported last week that in rats given fatty foods, the body immediately began to release natural marijuanalike chemicals in the gut that kept them craving more."

"Other studies have shown that the body’s brain reward centers are strongly affected by the foods we eat.

For example, when obese women were shown pictures of high-calorie foods, their brains showed greater activity in regions associated with anticipating reward than did the brains of normal-weight women. “Reward centers were activated just by saying the words ‘chocolate brownie,’” said Dr. Carnell of Columbia.

The question is whether some people are born more responsive to certain foods, or whether a lifetime of overeating leads to brain and body changes that promote a stronger food response. To shed light on that issue, Dr. Carnell is conducting studies looking at normal-weight teenagers who have obese parents, and as a result are at risk for becoming obese themselves. 'I’m interested in whether the brain is responding differently even before they become obese,' she said."