CAN LOOKING AT FOOD MAKE YOU FAT??
Have you ever heard about people that claim that just looking at food makes them put on weight? Maybe you are one of them?… What if it is true??
Recent studies show that looking at food could in fact contribute to your weight gain or at least prevent you from losing weight, and here is how it happens; When you look at food that you desire your body can respond by releasing insulin into the blood stream before glucose from the food is actually absorbed into the blood stream. This is known as early insulin response that is elicited by stimulation through your sight and smell of food. Insulin is a hormone that accelerates the intake of fat into the cells for storage and prevents the body from burning fat. Excess production of insulin is considered one of the major causes of obesity, and is usually associated with food intake that is high in simple carbohydrates. So if looking at food causes the body to release insulin it also means it could be contributing to your weight struggle. After all, one of the reason high protein diets work so well is because of the minimum insulin response.
Another reason is that when you look at food, your body responds by salivating. This is the first step in the digestive process and it usually begins prior to you tasting the food, just by smelling or thinking about the food. As you salivate, digestive juices are produced which make you both hungry and crave food. Having food around you all the time could therefore be causing you to eat more.
The conclusion is that having food, especially food that you crave, visible to you at all times might both be causing your body to release more insulin with earlier mentioned consequences and causing you to eat more unconsciously.
Helga Marin
Health Mind and Body