HERSHEY, PENNSYLVANIA — Eating fatty foods like burgers and fried chicken can obviously lead to obesity, but not in the way you may think. Researchers say a high-fat diet and junk food rewires the brain, reduces our ability to regulate appetite and regulate calorie consumption.

The discovery could open the door to an anti-obesity pill that targets neurons in the brain. Experiments in rats show that cells called astrocytes control a chemical pathway to the gut. However, the study suggests that continuously gorging on fatty and sugary products disrupts that link.

“Calorie intake seems to be regulated in the short-term by astrocytes. We found that a brief exposure (three to five days) of high fat/calorie diet has the greatest effect on astrocytes, triggering the normal signaling pathway to control the stomach. Over time, astrocytes seem to desensitize to the high fat food. Around 10-14 days of eating high fat/calorie diet, astrocytes seem to fail to react and the brain’s ability to regulate calorie intake seems to be lost. This disrupts the signaling to […]