How eating too much junk food can alter brain activity. Let’s know more!

Just five days of eating rich foods like chocolate bars, crisps and other junk food can result in lasting changes in brain activity, a new study has found. The new brain patterns are similar to those of people who are obese.

The results also indicate that these changes occurred even though body composition and weight were unchanged.

Released February 21 in Nature, study “A short-term, high-calorie diet has prolonged effects on brain insulin action in men”

Our bodies release insulin after we eat to help break down the food, and some of that insulin travels to our brain to reduce appetite. However, obesity weakens the brain’s response to insulin, which changes how the body breaks down food.

For the purpose of the study, the researchers have involved 29 healthy male volunteers for the test to see how insulin might influence the brain. For next five days, eighteen of them were put on a calorie-rich diet, eating 1, 500-calorie packs of fat and sugar-laden snacks. The men could increase their daily calorie intake by an average of 1, 200 calories.

Researchers visualized blood flow in the participants’ brains as a proxy for brain activity. Imaging was performed right after breakfast, lunch, dinner, and just before bedtime on the first day.

After just five days of bingeing, the men’s brains showed increased activity in areas that respond to dietary changes and food rewards, the researchers found. These patterns typically associate with insulin resistance or obesity, both of which raise the risk of type 2 diabetes.

The junk-food group's brain activity in two areas linked to memory and response to visual food cues was lower a week after they'd finished bingeing.

So, the brain response to insulin can adapt to short-term dietary changes before weight gain and may contribute to the development of obesity and associated diseases.