Hormone makes food more appealing

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Hormone makes food more appealing, study suggests
[Excerpts]
Updated Tue. May. 6 2008 11:02 PM ET

A hormone produced by the stomach makes people want to eat by making food
more appealing, which could be a factor in overeating and obesity, a new
Canadian study suggests.

As well, stress encourages the stomach to produce more ghrelin, which
could explain the link between stress and obesity, Dagher said.

Judging the value of food by how it looks may have once helped humans
adapt during times when food was less abundant, Dagher said.

These findings could have an impact on the current obesity epidemic by
leading to treatments that curb the effects of ghrelin. However, the side
effects of such treatments could include mood imbalances, because the
hormone works in the brain's pleasure centres.

On the other hand, ghrelin injections could help make food more appealing
to people who suffer from anorexia. Boosting ghrelin levels could also
help cancer patients whose treatments have made them stop eating.

Dr. Mehran Anvari of McMaster University said that the fact that ghrelin
levels increase when we are hungry may explain why diets have high failure
rates.

"When people diet and lose weight, ghrelin levels go up, and it makes
people feel more hungry and every food is more appealing," Anvari said

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More on ghrelin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghrelin