What one eats can be a factor in the fight against obesity. Certain diets can either help against it or else lead to it. A Western diet can cause overeating and obesity, as a study shows.
Diet is an important part of health. What one eats is just as important, if not more so, as how much one eats. Diet is especially important today, as a sedentary lifestyle is increasingly becoming a health issue.
It has been the result of a number of studies that two in three American adults are obese. That is much cause for concern. A consumption of too much sugar and fats have been found to be cause of obesity. This has been found out by researchers from the University of California Riverside.
Nicholas V. DiPatrizio is the assistant professor of Biomedical Sciences and the lead author of the study. He has said that the study has found a way to treat overeating. This is through inhibiting cannabinoid receptors with pharmacological inhibitors. He said that this is a therapeutic approach that has much promise over traditional drugs which could affect the brain and cause side effects.
The study has also shown that overeating has been associated with a Western type of diet, according to UCR Today. To study the effect of endocannabinoids, DiPatrizio and co-author Donovan A. Argueta, bioengineering Ph.D. have used a mouse that has been on a Western diet.
The mouse with a Western diet began to gain weight within 60 days as compared to those that are into a low far and low sugar diet, as Science Daily reports. The mouse on a Western diet continued to consume larger meals. This has led then to its obesity.
Western diet has also led to more release of endocannabinoids in the small intestine. By blocking the endocannabinoids with pharmacological inhibitors, food intake has been normalized in the obese mice. DiPatrizio did say that the results have yet to be verified with human subjects.
The research has so far shown that a Western diet can lead to obesity. A Western diet can cause overeating and obesity. Another study also shows that a sedentary lifestyle can be imitated by kids.
