DailyDirt: Playing Some Games With Hunger

Studies

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The problem with hunger isn’t limited to not having enough to eat — other hunger issues arise with over-active cravings that lead to obesity and other health problems. For many people, it’s not so simple to just “eat less and exercise more” despite how simple that formula sounds. Here are just a few links on the topic of watching what you eat and trying to control caloric intake.

• Dietary research increasingly suggests that not all calories are equivalent, and there is some evidence that high-glycemic foods (from processed carbohydrates) can cause blood sugar spikes and stimulate hunger. It’s not clear if the cravings caused by refined carbohydrates can be reduced to fight obesity, but avoiding high-glycemic foods could be part of a strategy (along with an exercise regime) to help people lose weight. [url]
• Panera Bread CEO Ron Shaich tried to eat on a budget of $4.50 a day for a week — to raise awareness for hunger. The average amount allocated to individuals in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is just $31.50 per week, and it’s not an easy diet to live on without getting hungry. Good thing Panera has some ‘Pay What You Want‘ locations…. [url]
• Some genetically modified mice developed brain cells that could respond to light — one group had neurons that were activated by light and another group of mice had neurons that were de-activated with light. Using these mice, researchers were able to control how much the mice ate by shining light on particular areas of the brain — making mice eat when they were beyond full and preventing mice from eating when the mice were hungry. [url]

If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: carbs, diet, eating, food, gmo, hunger, obesity
Companies: panera