Comfort food can drive brain to crave due to chronic stress

Chronic stress can drive brain to crave comfort food. Stress can override natural satiety cues, leading to increased appetite and sweet cravings.

A high-calorie snack may seem like a relaxing go-to when you’re feeling stressed. But there is a negative aspect to this combo. Sydney scientists claim stress and calorie-dense comfort foods alter the brain, promoting overeating, sweet cravings, and weight gain.

A Garvan Institute study shows stress causes comfort food to override the brain’s normal fullness response. This resulted in constant reward signals that encouraged consuming more highly appetizing food. This happened in the lateral habenula, a region of the brain that, when active, generally muffles these reward signals.

According to Professor Herzog, senior author of the study and Visiting Scientist at the Garvan Institute, their research shows that stress may overcome a brain reaction that normally reduces eating, giving the brain ongoing reinforcement for doing so.

They demonstrated how a high-calorie diet and ongoing stress may lead to increased food consumption and a predilection for sweet, highly appealing foods, which can lead to weight gain and obesity. This study emphasizes how important eating well is under stress.

The study was released in the Neuron publication.

Stressed out brain leads to weight gain

While some people eat less while under stress, the majority eat more and select calorie-dense foods that are heavy in sugar and fat.

The scientists looked at how various brain regions responded to chronic stress under diverse diets in mouse models to determine what motivates these eating patterns.

They found that mice on a brief, high-fat diet had activity in a region of the brain called the lateral habenula, which is generally involved in turning off the brain’s reward response. Dr. Kenny Chi Kin Ip, the lead author and a researcher at the Garvan Institute, explains that when mice experienced chronic stress, this portion of the brain stayed silent, allowing reward signals to remain active and drive pleasure eating rather than reacting to satiety regulating signals.

In contrast to stressed mice on the same diet, they discovered that stressed mice on a high-fat diet acquired twice as much weight.

The scientists found that the chemical NPY, which the brain normally creates in reaction to stress, was at the root of the weight increase. In stressed mice fed a high-fat diet, the researchers inhibited NPY from activating brain cells in the lateral habenula. As a result, the mice consumed fewer comfort foods and gained less weight.

driving and comfort food

In the “sucralose preference test,” mice chose between drinking plain water or artificially sweetened water in the experiment.

Professor Herzog asserts that stress specifically creates a desire for sweet, appetizing food while also activating increased reward while eating. Stressed mice on a high-fat diet consumed sucralose three times more than those on a high-fat diet alone.

Crucially, they found no evidence of this preference for sweetened water in mice under stress who were eating normally.

Stress trumps a balanced energy level

Eating can provide a burst of energy during stress, as it’s easy to consume a lot of calories quickly. Additionally, the pleasure you have while eating may also help you feel calmer. Professor Herzog states that prolonged stress alters eating patterns, leading to long-term changes in behavior.

The study found that stress regulates eating patterns and disrupts the brain’s ability to balance energy needs.

According to Professor Herzog, “this research emphasizes just how much stress can impair a healthy energy metabolism.” Live a stress-free lifestyle; if experiencing chronic stress, prioritize a nutritious diet and avoid junk food.