Junk Food

National Junk Food Day!

Go ahead.

You know you wanna.........

Ever wonder why you can't eat just one Cheeto®???

Well, scientists have have worked out why it's so difficult to walk away from tasty but unhealthy foods. The fats in these snicky-snacks may trigger a biological mechanism that likely drives our gluttonous behavior. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine say that all of these "junk foods" cause the body to create natural marijuana-like chemicals called endocannabinoids.

They discovered that when rats tasted something fatty, cells in their upper gut started producing endocannabinoids. Sugars and proteins, the researchers noted, did not have this effect, sorry candy bars.

The process starts on the tongue, where fats in food generate a signal that travels first to the brain and then through a nerve bundle called the vagus to the intestines. There, the signal stimulates the production of endocannabinoids, which initiates a surge in cell signalling that prompts the wanton intake of fatty foods. This most likely occurs by initiating the release of digestive chemicals linked to hunger and satiety that compel us to eat more.

So, I guess that it wasn't all of those "bong hits" after all.......