01-14-2017, 10:58 AM
Got the munchies? Blame your gut, UC Riverside researchers say
<p class="">By <a data-ipb="nomediaparse" href="http://www.sbsun.com/health/20170113/got-the-munchies-blame-your-gut-uc-riverside-researchers-say#author1">Mark Muckenfuss</a>, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 01/13/17
Most people are familiar with the munchies, the urge to stuff ones face with (often junk) food brought on by marijuana use.
UC Riverside researchers have linked that same phenomenon with indulging in high-fat, high-sugar foods.
In essence, they have found that eating junk food stimulates some of the same cannabinoid receptors in the body that marijuana does, creating the urge to eat even more. And, there appear to be almost no other factors involved.
If the cannabinoid receptors are blocked, the urge to overindulge disappears.
At least it does in lab mice. Evolutionary biologist Nicholas V. DiPatrizio said its unknown whether the mechanism works similarly in humans, but elevated levels of endocannabinoids (the chemicals that stimulate cannabinoid receptors) have been reported in obese humans.
DiPatrizio said the experiment, led by PhD student Donovan Argueta, came out of studies examining the impacts of a high-fat western diet on mice. A group of mice that were given that diet were observed to be overindulging in food.
We said, We see this behavior. What neurological responses are responsible for driving this? he said.
That question remains unanswered, but what the researchers did find was that the mice consuming the junk-food diet had more than double the levels of endocannabinoids in their small intestines than the control mice. They also had the chemicals in their blood.
This is a local event in the small intestine that also spills out into the blood and may affect the brain as well, DiPatrizio said. In the small intestine, there are nerves that connect the small intestine to the brain. We suspect (the endocannabinoids) modify the nerves in the brain.
Its not the same as smoking pot, he said. Cannabis, which binds to the same cannabinoid receptors, travels throughout the body when ingested and is not limited to the gut.
But the effect on appetite is similar.
What surprised DiPatrizio was how big a difference the diet made in the production of the endocannabinoids a doubling is a pretty large increase and how completely they were able to reverse the effect by administering a chemical that blocked the cannabinoid receptors.....
<a data-ipb="nomediaparse" href="http://www.sbsun.com/health/20170113/got-the-munchies-blame-your-gut-uc-riverside-researchers-say">http://www.sbsun.com/health/20170113/got-the-munchies-blame-your-gut-uc-riverside-researchers-say</a>
<p class="">By <a data-ipb="nomediaparse" href="http://www.sbsun.com/health/20170113/got-the-munchies-blame-your-gut-uc-riverside-researchers-say#author1">Mark Muckenfuss</a>, The Press-Enterprise
Posted: 01/13/17
Most people are familiar with the munchies, the urge to stuff ones face with (often junk) food brought on by marijuana use.
UC Riverside researchers have linked that same phenomenon with indulging in high-fat, high-sugar foods.
In essence, they have found that eating junk food stimulates some of the same cannabinoid receptors in the body that marijuana does, creating the urge to eat even more. And, there appear to be almost no other factors involved.
If the cannabinoid receptors are blocked, the urge to overindulge disappears.
At least it does in lab mice. Evolutionary biologist Nicholas V. DiPatrizio said its unknown whether the mechanism works similarly in humans, but elevated levels of endocannabinoids (the chemicals that stimulate cannabinoid receptors) have been reported in obese humans.
DiPatrizio said the experiment, led by PhD student Donovan Argueta, came out of studies examining the impacts of a high-fat western diet on mice. A group of mice that were given that diet were observed to be overindulging in food.
We said, We see this behavior. What neurological responses are responsible for driving this? he said.
That question remains unanswered, but what the researchers did find was that the mice consuming the junk-food diet had more than double the levels of endocannabinoids in their small intestines than the control mice. They also had the chemicals in their blood.
This is a local event in the small intestine that also spills out into the blood and may affect the brain as well, DiPatrizio said. In the small intestine, there are nerves that connect the small intestine to the brain. We suspect (the endocannabinoids) modify the nerves in the brain.
Its not the same as smoking pot, he said. Cannabis, which binds to the same cannabinoid receptors, travels throughout the body when ingested and is not limited to the gut.
But the effect on appetite is similar.
What surprised DiPatrizio was how big a difference the diet made in the production of the endocannabinoids a doubling is a pretty large increase and how completely they were able to reverse the effect by administering a chemical that blocked the cannabinoid receptors.....
<a data-ipb="nomediaparse" href="http://www.sbsun.com/health/20170113/got-the-munchies-blame-your-gut-uc-riverside-researchers-say">http://www.sbsun.com/health/20170113/got-the-munchies-blame-your-gut-uc-riverside-researchers-say</a>