For some people, refusing a chocolate chip cookie or a piece of cake seems relatively easy, while for others it is a huge mental battle.
Now experts have discovered that people with a higher BMI really do need a bigger shift in brain activity to choose healthy foods over their favorite snack.
Researchers from Queen’s University in Ontario analyzed data from three MRI studies involving 123 participants who indicated what they would prefer to eat in different scenarios.
They compared brain activity patterns shown when participants chose to focus on healthy eating after being instructed.
Experts have found that people with a higher BMI really need a bigger shift in brain activity to choose healthy foods over their favorite snack. Researchers from Queen’s University in Ontario analyzed data from three MRI studies involving 123 participants who indicated what they would prefer to eat in different scenarios
Analysis revealed that people who were better able to regulate their food choices required relatively small shifts in brain state to achieve their goals – and this was very evident in those with a low BMI.
However, participants with a high BMI could not rely on this mechanism and required larger shifts in brain activity to make healthy food choices.
Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the researchers said: ‘More than 18 percent of the world’s adult population is expected to be obese by 2025, indicating widespread problems in adopting healthy diets.
‘We investigated how brain states change when making natural and regulated food choices in an established food task.
‘Individuals with lower weight status could successfully modify their eating behavior while maintaining similar types of brain activity.
‘Individuals with higher weight status could not rely on this mechanism.’
The team said their findings may help explain why some people have trouble controlling their diet while others do not.
However, they said they are unable to determine whether a difficulty in making healthy food choices leads to gaining weight, or whether gaining weight leads to changes in the brain that make it more difficult to choose healthy options.