Here is an article that was in the news today. Basically, this group from Southwestern Med School was able to show that ghrelin, a hormone that's involved in hunger vs. satiety, is also involved in the reward and pleasure aspects of eating. In other words, the hormone is not just involved in hunger but also gives you pleasure for eating pleasurable foods - like high in fat ones.
Here is the abstract:
http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/bps/article/S0006-3223(09)01318-3/abstract
The article got me to think whether this same hormone could be associated with pleasure for eating healthy foods rather than high fat ones. While the experiments were conducted in mice I have to wonder whether in humans we can control to some degree our source of pleasure.
If you have ever felt pleasure or felt rewarded for eating healthy, I think you will know what I am talking about. In humans, can our reward centers be stimulated by healthy eating? I would hypothesize yes. The key it would seem, would be to be able to train yourself to feel rewarded for healthy eating - a kind of mind over matter scenario since our very nature may be to eat fatty foods, for instance.
I can only speak for myself, but I can say that when my diet is clean and healthy, and when my workouts are optimal, I feel the best and most rewarded. It makes me think that this hormone and/or others can also be involved in pleasure associated with healthy living. I hope you are able to find this same enjoyment! -cb
- Posted from my iPhone
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