Females May Be Hard-Wired For Weight Gain

Gene-Jack Wang, along with his colleagues at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, have tested and concluded the female brain may be hard-wired to eat when foods are too accessible.

Could female hormones play a role in why, when during two PET scans (brain scan that tests blood sugar) administered to 10 men and 13 women as to why the women showed no difference in activation to the limbic and Para limbic systems; regions of the brain involved in awareness of hunger, while men showed less activation?

Both sexes fasted for 17 hours after which favorite foods were introduced, smelled and tasted. Although hungry, the participants were told to suppress their hunger by the use of cognitive inhibition; ignoring thoughts of food and to think of something besides food.

Although both sexes were able to suppress their appetites to a degree, brain activity suggested men were better at the task.

The female menstrual cycle, although known to influence the brains response to food, was not taken into consideration during the PET scans. In addition, women, throughout history take a traditional role providing nutrition for children and in addition, societal changes has made once seasonal foods more readily available compared to our ancestors.

A direct test has yet to be given that will prove whether or not female hormones act directly to the same specific parts of the brain.

In the meantime, could exercise change the brain circuitry that suppresses hunger? Or maybe change the hard-wiring for food intake in women. Wang seems to think so. He believes an increase in exercise may help a person control their desire to eat. Prevention and treatment of obesity should use a "multimodal approach," to weight loss claims Wang. "Since exercise generates a number of metabolic, hormonal and neuronal signals that reach the brain, a high level of fitness is associated with decreases in all causes of mortality in both obese individuals and those whose weight is normal," he adds.

While women may be hard-wired for hunger, exercise appears to help suppress the multisensory overload that tells the stomachs it's time to eat.

Jody Gore is a freelance writer

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