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Published on Thursday, Nov 20, 2008
The following editorial appeared in the Chicago Tribune on Sunday:
Do you notice a deep craving for, say, chocolate chip cookies when you settle in to write a college paper or a report for the boss? Do you find your hand reaching for the cashews when that perfect word won't come? Is your mouth suddenly filled with M&Ms while you're deep in concentration over a client presentation, a class project, a Sudoku?
You can get ravenous when you are doing nothing else but thinking hard about something. This has been a thesis of ours for years. See, that's why these few extra pounds crept up on us. It has nothing to do with lack of exercise or willpower or any of the other stuff that diet experts cite to flagellate us. Here's why many Americans are too fat: They think too much.
And now we have the proof! Or at least, we have someone who agrees with us.
Performing mental tasks stimulates the appetite so much that people tend to eat significantly more calories while doing so, according to a study published in Psychosomatic Medicine. Researchers found brain work ''destabilizes'' levels of insulin and glucose, two basic components in the body's energy-producing arsenal. Thus, the harder you think, the more the brain demands glucose — meaning sugar.
So here's the problem. The cure for thinking too much seems simple. Stop. Float through life without a thought in your head, your brain blissfully undemanding of glucose. (Could this explain how Paris Hilton, in previously unheralded wisdom, stays thin?)
But scientists also say an active brain is one that may not be as prone to Alzheimer's and other brain-damaging maladies. Mental exercise like reading the newspaper (hint, hint), attending a play or even playing checkers can ward off Alzheimer's, according to a study released last year by Rush University Medical Center researchers.
But there may be another way to keep the brain on but the pounds off.
Researchers now say that they often can detect brain activity changes that predict a person's choice before that person becomes aware of that choice. Apparently, there can be a 10-second lag between the time the brain starts forming a decision and a person becomes consciously aware of it and acts, according to a May 2008 study in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
So, what if that emerging decision, particularly if it involved eating, could be intercepted and canceled in the 10 seconds before a person becomes conscious of it and acts?
Belay that brownie order! Short-circuit that shortcake! No, you really don't want fries with that!
What a breakthrough for those who struggle on a diet. Think of the possibilities. But not too hard.
The following editorial appeared in the Chicago Tribune on Sunday:
Get the full article here.
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