This is what Happens to the Brain When hooked to Eat Junk Food

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Eating junk food is not just to make the numbers on the scale to increase, but also can change your brain. This is what happens in the brains of people who are fond of eating junk food.

According to a recent research conducted in experimental animals, foods that contain high sugar and fat, can cause chemical changes in the brain, which in turn makes eater anxiety, depression to addiction.

"Changes in brain chemistry by diet associated with depression. Changes in eating patterns then cause withdrawal symptoms and a greater sensitivity to stressful situations, leading to a vicious cycle of poor eating," explains Dr. Stephanie Fulton, researchers from the University of Montreal, as reported by Huffingtonpost, Sunday (23/12/2012).

The research results have been published in the International Journal of Obesity, compared the two groups of experimental animals, which were fed a diet that is low in fat (fat made ​​up 11 percent of the calories in food), and the animals were fed a high-fat diet for 6 weeks (fat comprises 58 percent of the calories in the food).

At the end of the study, the high-fat group had increased by 11 percent the size of the waist. Researchers then analyzed the brain, as well as the emotions and behaviors after eating.

Researchers found that the group of animals fed a high-fat diet more easily anxious, increased CREB molecule, which is known to play a role in the production of dopamine.

"CREB is more active in the brains of mice fed a high-fat diet, these mice also had higher levels of cortisol, a hormone associated with stress. It describes the cycle of depression and negative behaviors," said Dr. Fulton.

Source:  Huffingtonpost