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Alcohol Switches the Brain Into Starvation Mode In Mice, Increasing Hunger and Appetite, Study Finds (bbc.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the late-night-munchies dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from BBC: In tests on mice, alcohol activated the brain signals that tell the body to eat more food. The UK researchers, who report their findings in the journal Nature Communications, believe the same is probably true in humans. The mice were given generous doses of alcohol for three days -- a dose being equivalent to around 18 units or a bottle-and-a-half of wine for a person. The alcohol caused increased activity in neurons called AGRP. These are the neurons that are fired when the body experiences starvation. The mice ate more than normal too. When the researchers repeated the experiment but blocked the neurons with a drug, the mice did not eat as much which, the researchers say, suggests that AGRP neurons are responsible for the alcohol-induced eating. The study authors, Denis Burdakov and colleagues, say understanding how alcohol changes the body and our behavior could help with managing obesity. Around two-thirds of adults in the UK are overweight or obese.

12 of 130 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Munchies by p51d007 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Explains why you see a line of cars at taco bell, white castles, McDonald's around 1-3am most nights, especially Friday/Saturday.

  2. All the best research is done in Europe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    All the best research on addiction, consumption and rehabilitation of all drugs is done in Europe.

    Here in the States, it's treated as a character flaw and research pales in comparison. And rehab is mostly ineffectual 12-Programs that were created 80 years-ago by a drunken religious kook. But when one fails a 12-step program, it's all on them and not the fact that 12-programs are quackery and thinly disguised religion.

    1. Re:All the best research is done in Europe by Maritz · · Score: 2

      The AA never releases studies or co-operates with rigorous studies. I suspect this is because they know their approach is largely bullshit.

      --
      I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
    2. Re:All the best research is done in Europe by squiggleslash · · Score: 4, Informative

      Here in the States, it's treated as a character flaw and research pales in comparison.

      As someone who's lived in both countries - though fortunately had a body type that wasn't seen to be overweight in either country (technically I am overweight right now, but nobody I know thinks so) - I can honestly say I question this. In the UK, I routinely witnessed overweight people mocked and verbally abused. In the US, there's at least a general recognition that losing weight isn't easy, and gaining it is. Which is not to say that there are no assholes in the US either.

      I'd always assumed it was due to the environment. The UK is generally urban, which means people get plenty of exercise, and spend 20 minutes getting to and from work leaving more time in their day for healthy food preparation. In the US, which is more suburban, a combination of barriers to walking (some, like bizarre zoning, legally enforced) means people have to seek out exercise, do not get it naturally, and the 30-45 minute each way commute leaves even less time for food preparation, leading to widespread consumption of relatively unhealthy premade meals.

      That leads to a situation where people in the UK weigh far less than the average American, which means there's less empathy - fewer people in your circle are likely to be overweight, so you're allowed to make more negative judgments AND the fact that so few people are overweight makes you more likely to treat them as doing something "wrong", as obviously they're "doing something" that the vast majority of people aren't (which, ironically, is less likely to be true in an environment with fewer overweight people - you're more likely to find people in that environment who do the same things as you, but have biological/genetic/medical/etc reasons for gaining weight.)

      Is there better research in Europe? No idea - if there is, it probably has to do with a willingness of governments to fund research that has no agenda beyond better health, while I'm willing to bet most American research into obesity has an end goal of selling more Nutrasystems and Slimfasts. (That said, I'd love to be proven wrong on this.)

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    3. Re:All the best research is done in Europe by kamapuaa · · Score: 2

      That is you stating your personal opinion while ignoring science, ironically enough. Your accusations of withheld information don't really make sense, because there isn't like "The Association of 12 step programs" keeping all their records secret. It's a group of unaffiliated organizations using a similar approach.

      Scientific studies and meta-studies, on the other hand, say 12 step programs have a "robust medium-size effect." Per a scientific study.

      How large is the relationship between AA exposure and abstinence? As shown in Figure 1, which draws on a longitudinal study of male inpatients in Veterans Administration programs, rates of abstinence are about twice as high for those who attended a 12-step group such as AA following treatment. One-year follow-ups considered 12-step group attendance and abstinence from alcohol and drugs, while the 18-month results reported AA attendance and alcohol abstinence. Results are remarkably similar, at 1-year and 18 months, for these different exposure and abstinence measures. About 20%–25% of those who did not attend AA or another 12-step group (or receive any other form of aftercare after the inpatient stay) were abstinent from alcohol and drugs at 1 year [15], and from alcohol at 18 months (combined alcohol and drug abstinence were not reported at 18 months) [16]. The rates of abstinence were about twice as high among those who had attended AA or another 12-step group (but no other form of aftercare). In terms of effect sizes, this translates to a robust medium-size effect (h=.5) [17, pp.181–p.185].

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    4. Re:All the best research is done in Europe by rahvin112 · · Score: 2

      Almost all US government funded research into nutrition is done through the department of Agriculture and up until about a decade ago was completely focused on pushing American's to a diet that prioritized foods grown in America. This resulted in diets pushed to consume grains, something America produced in great excess. It's this push that caused the shift in American eating habits that prioritized cold breakfasts composed of cold cereals instead of the prior tradition of high protein/fat breakfasts using bacon, eggs, ham and even steak. On top of this the DoA was a primary instigator, often providing all the research in the creation of most of the junk foods you love.

      There are quite a few people in the nutrition and medical fields that now believe this shift is one of the factors that has caused America's obesity issues which are only exacerbated by the reduced exercise. American diets contain massive amounts of carbs due to this push by the DoA. Even with the shifts we've seen towards less carbs it's probably going to take a decade or several, maybe a whole generation to restore proper protein/fat consumption and reduce america's obesity epidemic.

  3. Laboratory mouse life by codeButcher · · Score: 4, Funny

    The mice were given generous doses of alcohol for three days ... equivalent to around ... a bottle-and-a-half of wine for a person. ... The mice ate more than normal too.

    See, being a lab mouse is not all bad. All that free booze and food!

    --
    Free, as in your money being freed from the confines of your account.
    1. Re:Laboratory mouse life by sinij · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yes, but the WiFi is lousy, so only 2/5 stars.

  4. Dehydration by zifn4b · · Score: 5, Insightful

    These findings are not surprising because alcohol causes dehydration and dehydration is often confused with hunger. A lot of people who are chronically dehydrated aren't even aware of it and confuse it with hunger and thus try to resolve by eating when what they really need is a glass of water.

    --
    We'll make great pets
  5. Re:You need a study for this? by beelsebob · · Score: 5, Informative

    Uhhh... Yes.

    If you actually read, you'll see that the study isn't about the fact that alcohol triggers you to eat more, it's about how it does it, which parts of your brain are affected, and why. That's important information if you say.... wanted to make drugs that suppressed your starvation response to help you lose weight.

  6. Re: Obesity causes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Or as other researchers have already proven sugar is alcohol in disguise, same metabolithic pathway, just no receptors to feel the buzz. YouTube sugar: the bitter truth

  7. Re:Munchies by cayenne8 · · Score: 2
    I've never found that drinking gave me the *munchies*...in fact, if I drink much before time for a meal, I really lose my appetite and don't eat much.

    HOWEVER, the next day, if hungover, my food choices become dismal I will admit.

    If I'm hungover, I often don't feel like getting up and cooking a healthy meal with lots of veggies, etc. THOSE are the times I reach for the phone for a pizza....or if I can manage to get up and out just for a quick run...fast food like Taco Bell.

    But that's more alcohol withdrawal related than alcohol consumption.

    --
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