Guest guest Posted October 12, 2002 Report Share Posted October 12, 2002 " and Friends Newsletter " Never Give Up Vol. 7 No. 1 October 2000 Take 15 From the Time you eat, say, a burrito, it takes your brain 10 whole minutes to register to register the feeling of fullness in your tummy. That's according to researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San . Using a special scanning technique called fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging), the UT team could see the hypothalamus - an appetite gland in the brain - change color at the 10 minute mark, as it got the news that dinner had not only been served but was being eaten, too. (Actually, in this experiment a sugary drink was served.) The researchers suggest that this is when the hypothalamus sends you the signal to slow down with the eating. But there's just one teeny-tiny atch: This study was on *normal weight* folks. Earlier, the researchers had found that the brain's response to eating takes *more* than 10 minutes to kick in for some people. And who were those people> Yep, you guessed it - people who were overweight! Their responses took up to 15 minutes. And that's not all. " Obesity slows the hypothalamus, which increases obesity, which slows the hypothalamus even more, " says UT professor T. Fox, MD. In other words, you get more eatin' time till you feel full ... which means, well, you get the picture! The skinny ones get skinnier, and the heavier ones ... uh-oh. I'd say it's *never* been more important to take Dr. Fox's advice, which is to eat slowly until the " saiety signal " (also known as that I-feel-full feeling) arrives. So, c'mon, grab a seat at the dinner table! Let's take it nice and easy for at *least* 10 minutes and most likely more! some food, come conversation, some sips from your water glass ... we'll have your hypothalamus down to fightin' weight in no time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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