Blame appetizing food ads for obesity epidemic

In what can come as a setback for the junk food industry which depends almost completely on advertisements, researchers have found that the food ads are a contributory factor in the obesity epidemic. According to the scientists working at Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, just by looking at the picture of a tempting food the levels of ghrelin hormone, that is responsible for controlling people’s appetite, increases. The result is that people become hungry unnaturally or prematurely.

One of the finding of the research is that the impact of a tempting food picture can be so intense that it can make you want to have a slice of cake even two hours after breakfast. The team of researchers advised that those looking to shed their weight should avoid the pictures of tempting foods.

They based their conclusions on the experiment in which the reaction of healthy men to images of food were monitored. The hormone levels of the subjects before and prior to showing them images of appetising food were tested. The finding clearly showed an increase in the level of ghrelin after the men saw images of tempting food.

According to lead researcher Petra Schussler, the experiment has shown beyond doubt that the release of the ghrelin hormone in the body is determined by external factors. The level of this hormone in the blood regulates the food consumption pattern in people. The brain processes the external stimuli of food and the physical processes that control our appetite perception get initiated involuntarily.