Obesity and the Pleasure of Food

Low levels of dopamine in your brain will cause you to eat more food so that you feel good. New research shows that obese animals have half the dopamine¹ levels of normal, and it took much more stimulation to get an adequate release of pleasure. The drive to acquire food is essential for survival of the human race. However, there is a line, often a fine line, between one person's pleasure and another person's addiction. This mechanism is at the root of all types of addiction and related behaviors – and food desire may well be the foundation upon which any addiction is built.

Since just about anyone who is overweight has some degree of trouble with this issue, it is important to understand that the opposite of adequate dopamine is “brain pain.” This means that when stress happens you are more likely to feel a level of “brain pain” that makes you want to eat in order to feel a burst of dopamine so that you feel better. Or you may want to do something else that turns into an addiction in the typical meaning (drinking, drugs, gambling) or the less traditional meaning such as excessive shopping, playing video games, or net surfing endlessly.

The key to solving this problem is to have adequate brain nutrition that boosts up your dopamine levels more naturally. You need enough support to keep your mood up and able to tolerate the demands and stressors in your life. When trying to figure out how much nutritional support for stress you need pay attention not only to your energy and mood – but also the tendency to slip into any bad habits – whether eating too much in response to stress or some other addictive-like behavior. Thyroid Helper and Stress Helper are the best products for this purpose, though a comprehensive nutritional program to boost mood combined with aerobic exercise is needed by many to get out of a rut.