US EditionStudy reveals the psychological reasons for comfort eating
VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES, JUL 14 – A study of 214 participants found that boredom and expected emotional benefits drive comfort eating, highlighting potential targets for interventions to curb unhealthy habits.
- Researchers studied comfort eating by dividing 14 mice into two groups and observing food intake and social cues in a controlled setting.
- The study explored how watching others eat, especially palatable food, could cause overeating even without hunger, influenced by social and environmental factors.
- Mice significantly increased sucrose intake when observing fasted peers eating, and dopamine receptor inhibitors reduced this overeating, highlighting dopamine's role in reward-driven eating.
- Professor Yong Xu from Baylor College of Medicine highlighted that their research in animals found that observing others consume food—particularly appealing items—can lead to increased eating even without hunger, underscoring the impact of environmental and social triggers in today's food-rich environment.
- These findings suggest new avenues for treating eating disorders by targeting brain reward systems and support limiting visual food cues in media to improve eating habits.
Insights by Ground AI
Does this summary seem wrong?
36 Articles
36 Articles
Coverage Details
Total News Sources36
Leaning Left7Leaning Right6Center9Last UpdatedBias Distribution41% Center
Bias Distribution
- 41% of the sources are Center
41% Center
L 32%
C 41%
R 27%
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
