New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

Overeating and overweight? The weight-loss game may be rigged against you

Date:
March 23, 2015
Source:
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
Summary:
A researcher explains how food engineering has made it increasingly difficult for some to curb overeating and lose weight. For example, artificial sweeteners in diet soda is cited as one example of how foods may “trick” natural signals in the body, and how some snack foods are engineered to have “vanishing caloric density.” That is, one's body doesn't register those calories as they're being consumed, and as a result, he or she will overeat.
Share:
FULL STORY

A study that appeared late last month in Nature suggested that some common food additives affected some of the body’s natural processes, causing inflammation and higher rates of obesity. Food science has been big business for years; companies invest hundreds of millions of dollars each year on research and development, in an attempt to create food that people crave.

And therein lies the problem for many trying to lose weight, says Stacey Cahn, PhD, associate professor of psychology at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. “That science leads to the development of processed foods that trick our tastebuds and silence our satiety cues,” she says. “Whatever good intentions we may have, our willpower is often no match for that. The game is rigged.”

She cites artificial sweeteners in diet soda as one example of how foods may “trick” natural signals in the body, and how some snack foods are engineered to have “vanishing caloric density.” That is, one's body doesn't register those calories as they're being consumed, and as a result, he or she will overeat.

Dr. Cahn, a clinical psychologist who specializes in issues related to weight and body image, can offer other examples of the types of foods that can “trick” our bodies into wanting more, and how we can make informed food choices for weight control.


Story Source:

Materials provided by Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Cite This Page:

Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. "Overeating and overweight? The weight-loss game may be rigged against you." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 March 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150323142746.htm>.
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. (2015, March 23). Overeating and overweight? The weight-loss game may be rigged against you. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 29, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150323142746.htm
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. "Overeating and overweight? The weight-loss game may be rigged against you." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150323142746.htm (accessed March 29, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES