Can’t resist another potato chip? Pot-like chemicals in our body are at fault
Submitted by Jamie Williamsonon Tue, 07/05/2011 – 09:22
Washington, July 5: Have you ever wondered why you can”t eat just one chip or a single fry?
Turns out that that fats in these foods make them nearly irresistible and trigger a surprising biological mechanism that likely drives our gluttonous behavior, scientists have found.
UC Irvine researchers Daniele Piomelli, Nicholas DiPatrizio and colleagues found that when rats tasted something fatty, cells in their upper gut started producing natural marijuana-like chemicals in the body called endocannabinoids.
Sugars and proteins, the researchers noted, did not have this effect.