The Brain Vs. The Stomach

The attempt to lose and keep off weight is a problem many Americans struggle with. In fact, two-thirds of adults and one-third of children and adolescents are now considered overweight or obese. By these standards, normal weight no longer exists. However, if you’re lucky to harbor only small amounts of fat, you probably are a candidate for liposuction. A simple procedure performed at my Indianapolis plastic surgery practice, liposuction re-contours your body into the shape you’ve always wanted.

Unfortunately, most Americans are nowhere near their ideal weight; therefore they cannot undergo such a procedure. Instead, dropping weight is left up to the specific person. However, statistics show that doing so is not such an easy task. In fact, twenty five percent of men and forty three percent of women attempt to diet each year. Approximately five to twenty percent actually succeed in actually losing, and keeping off, the weight.

But before we blame dieters for not being able to go through with their plans, we must take into consideration that scientists now believe that the brain has a lot to do with overeating. In fact, the urge to eat is not so much wired into our stomachs, but in our brains. How many times has your stomach made clear that it was full, only to have you continue eating what’s in front of you? How often have you not been tempted to eat a burger until you saw someone else eating one? It seems that our brain is much more powerful than our stomach when it comes to delicious food. We can be as regimented as possible, and the brain can still talk us into sampling some tasty treat.

With this in mind, scientists are hoping to find a trigger in the brain that causes us to eat so much. If a trigger does exist, scientists hope to find a way to turn it off in order to regulate our over consumption. If this does occur, America could have a fighting chance in getting healthy again.

To your health and beauty,

Gregory Chernoff