Women, attention! Diets eat your brain.
American scientists have concluded that in people on a diet, the brain is forced to absorb its own cells. At the same time, the feeling of hunger becomes even stronger.
Like other parts of the human body, brain cells begin to eat themselves to take advantage of the last source of energy to overcome the effects of starvation, according to a study conducted at Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in New York. This process is called autophagy, and the internal components of the cell are degraded.
The body, before sending an impulse to the brain indicating hunger, monitors changes in the composition of the blood and reacts to the amount of glucose, amino acids and fatty acids, after which it sends a signal about the need to eat.
According to the study, the results of which were published in the scientific journal Cell Metabolism, experiments on mice deprived of food showed that if the autophagy process is interfered with, the feeling of hunger will not increase. Chemical changes in the mice's brains caused the animals to become lighter and thinner during the fasting period.
Professor Rajat Singh, who led the study, believes the discovery could lead to the development of more effective weight loss methods. According to the scientist, efforts aimed at creating the necessary conditions for the cell using chemicals will help regulate appetite. This will allow a person to feel less hungry and at the same time maintain proper energy balance in the body.