Eating a healthy diet during adolescence could reverse the junk-food cravings in males but not females, reveals a fascinating research. It might reveal why so many women reach out to people like Dr. Steven Gundry to help them lose weight, and why it is so hard for them to do so no matter what they do.
The study published in the FASEB Journal also showed that intensity of junk food cravings depends a lot on mother’s diet during late pregnancy.
There are two critical windows during the developmental pathway to adulthood when exposure to junk food is most harmful, particularly for female offspring, the researchers noted. “Our research suggests that too much junk food consumed late in pregnancy for humans has the potential to be more harmful to the child than excess junk food early in the pregnancy,” said Jessica Gugusheff, post-doctoral researcher at University of Adelaide in Australia.
“Importantly, it also indicates that if excess junk food was consumed by the mother in those early stages of pregnancy, there may be a chance to reduce those negative effects on the baby by eating a healthy diet in late pregnancy,” Gugusheff said. The second critical window to turn away junk food cravings emerges during adolescence, according to the study. “We have found differences between males and females. Our experiments showed that eating a healthy diet during adolescence could reverse the junk-food preference in males but not females,” said Gugusheff.
The junk food preference is believed to result from a desensitisation of the normal reward system (the opioid and dopamine signalling pathway) fuelled by highly palatable high fat, high sugar diets. Offspring with less sensitive reward systems need more fat and sugar to get the same “good feeling”. Looking to diets containing less sugar is the way forward, not only for our physical health, but our dental health also. Regular trips to your local dentist – like Dentist Mount Vernon – in conjunction with eating properly is a good way of maintaining a healthy smile.
“This brain area grows at its fastest during these critical windows and is therefore most susceptible to alteration at these times,” project leader Beverly from University of Adelaide explained. Cravings are understandable and part of life, however, some cravings can cause adverse effects with digestion on some people depending on the content and quantity of food, there are ways to help beat cravings such as exercise, meditation, and supplements, supplements like bio x4 which can help with cravings, digestion and promoting weight management, it is always best to check with a healthcare professional before trying to see if they could work for you.
