Lead
I don't know how many times the phrase "my stomach is full, but my mouth still wants to eat" appears in the lives of ordinary people, and many people will complain that their mouths are "really greedy".
It's not really a mouthful, it's a struggle between two sets of brain cells in the human body – one group thinks the body is full and doesn't need to eat anymore, while the other group thinks the body needs to eat for energy.
So what are these two groups of brain cells?
Why is this happening, and why?
1. The body needs glucose for energy.
The main function of our three meals a day is to provide the body with various nutrients, and among these nutrients, glucose is an important source of "energy" for the human body.
After eating, the body breaks down carbohydrates, fats, and proteins in food, and carbohydrates are nutrients that can be absorbed by the body and converted into energy.
Carbohydrates are broken down to produce sugars, which can be absorbed by the body, the most important of which is glucose, which is the most important source of energy for the human body, which can be directly used by the body after a series of reactions to convert carbohydrates into energy and store them as fat.
In the human body, glucose produced by the breakdown of sugar is the only substance that can directly provide energy to the brain and nervous system, and the brain is the energy consumer of the whole body, often consuming about 20% of the body's energy.
When the body is short of energy, the brain feels it first.
When the brain senses that it is running low on energy, it tells the body that it needs to eat to consume more glucose for energy.
And there is an important monitoring mechanism in the body is to monitor the glucose level in the blood, when the glucose level is low, the body will feel hungry, so the hunger and hunger level are mostly related to the blood sugar level.
When a person eats, the blood sugar level will rise, at this time the body will feel full, stop eating, and the body will not take too long to digest the food, when the nutrients in the food are absorbed and consumed by the body, the blood sugar level will drop again, then the body will feel hungry, this is the principle of the human body to eat and stop eating.
2. The feeling of pleasure when eating.
Eating is a very pleasurable activity, and this pleasure comes from two aspects, the first of which is the feeling of satisfying the mouth and stomach.
When eating, the taste buds of the human body can feel the sweetness of the food and make judgments about the taste of the food, and the body's chewing and swallowing actions will also make the stomach feel full, both of which will make people feel happy and happy.
The other aspect is the activation of the brain's reward system, during eating, the body releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter that activates the brain's reward system, and the brain will produce a feeling of happiness after feeling dopamine.
The pleasure of eating is due to the fact that people like to eat, so that the body can consume enough sugars for the body to get enough energy from them.
Three, the struggle of two groups of neurons.
The balance between eating and stopping is controlled by a group of cells in the brain called neurons.
In the hypothalamus of the brain, there are two groups of neurons called POMC and AgRP, which interact with each other to influence the body's eating behavior.
POMC neurons sense signals such as insulin and gastrointestinal hormones to feel how full the body is, but also feel changes in blood sugar levels, and when blood sugar levels rise, POMC neurons produce a series of signals to make people feel full, so as to stop eating.
AgRP neurons, on the other hand, sense the hunger signals generated when the human body is short of blood sugar, and it will inhibit the inhibition of eating signals generated by POMC neurons, and also produce a series of signals to stimulate the human body to forage for food.
The relationship between POMC neurons and AgRP neurons is similar to that between a "fire brigade" and an "arson team", POMC neurons are the "fire brigades" responsible for preventing the human body from overeating, and AgRP neurons are the "arson brigades" that stimulate the human body to produce signals to eat.
When there is a fierce fight between the two teams, there is a situation where "the stomach is full but the mouth still wants to eat".
In this case, it is possible that POMC neurons sense a signal of satiety and therefore produce a signal to inhibit eating, but AgRP neurons sense a signal that the blood sugar level is insufficient, which stimulates the production of a feeding signal, resulting in a feeling of fullness and hunger in the body.
epilogue
The balance between eating and stopping is the cornerstone of human health, and excessive eating may lead to health problems such as obesity.
Establishing healthy eating habits can effectively avoid these health problems and improve the quality of life.
Therefore, when eating, you should listen to your body's demand signals, eat in moderation, eat in moderation, and don't hurt your body because of gluttony.