TITLE

Here’s Why You Can’t Stop Eating Halloween Candy

DESCRIPTION

Though this article is a few years old, it is timely in the sense that we have just passed the Halloween candy frenzy and are moving toward the Thanksgiving and December holidays.  And to be sure, we will be eating lots of candy, sweet treats, and desserts.  You might ask:  why do we overeat on these occasions and especially binge on the sweet salty fatty foods.  This article provides a great explanation in terms of the neurological circuitry involved.  “Studies have shown (see the NCBI research article)  that sweet or fatty foods can activate pathways in the brain associated with pleasure and reward, kicking off processes that can compete with or override signals that regulate normal hunger and satiety, sometimes causing people to overeat out of pleasure, not hunger”  The article provides details of the phenomenon in simple understandable language combining the brain circuitry with the context of pleasure from the past,  and also suggests some ways to overcome the urge to binge.  

SOURCE

Time,  October 30, 2018, By Jamie Ducharme

LINK TO RESOURCE

https://time.com/5433299/halloween-candy-binge/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=sfmc&utm_campaign=newsletter+health-friday+default+ac&utm_content=+++20201030+++body&et_rid=33411945

(Tiny URL)  https://tinyurl.com/yxkjunm6

CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

•According to the article, what is it about sweet, salty, and fatty foods, that cause us to binge?

•How are the pleasure/reward systems of the brain involved in the overeating?

•How does our past experiences interact with the pleasure/reward system?

•What are suggestions to break the pattern and establish new brain circuitry?