Discovery how brain cells control appetite may help improve dieting, curb obesity

A chicken tikka dish, Photo Umair Mohsin from Karachi/Wikimedia Commons

A landmark discovery shedding light on how brain cells control appetite is expected to establish a key way for humans to dictate their diet intakes.

The discovery of cells called Tanycytes in part of the brain that determines energy levels within human body has been hailed as a breakthrough, revealing specifically that they detect nutrients in food and inform the brain about the food intake.

The success in learning how dietary information passes from the belly to the brain is the result of research and experimentation at the University of Warwickshire in Coventry, United Kingdom.

How does it work?

Each time humans eat,  brain cells Tanycytes have a response to amino acids in the intake. Tanycytes detect the amino acids in food with the same receptors that taste the flavor of amino acids with taste buds of the tongue.

What does this mean for the human dietary control?

The tremendous new discovery means that activating Tanycytes could help humans control their diet, even without intake by the Sstomach.

This is how researchers explain the key finding in their article in published in Molecular Metabolism:

“Amino acids have been long known to be the most efficient type of nutrient at satisfying hunger and providing an extended period of satiety [1]. “Some well understood reasons for this effect are slower digestion of protein-rich foods, as well as their ability to keep blood glucose levels relatively constant, thus reducing food cravings that can otherwise occur soon after a meal.
“However, it has become evident over the past few decades that the brain is a key player in energy homeostasis, and amino acids can have a satiating effect even when the digestive system is bypassed.”

Aerobics, Photo Bro. Jeffrey Pioquinto, SJ/Wikimedia Commons

So how will the finding help us control diet and obesity?

Nicholas Dale, who is Ted Pridgeon Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Warwick, says the new finding will help people control their body weight.

“Amino acid levels in blood and brain following a meal are a very important signal that imparts the sensation of feeling full. Finding that Tanycytes, located at the center of the brain region that controls body weight, directly sense amino acids has very significant implications for coming up with new ways to help people to control their body weight within healthy bounds,” he said, according to Science Daily.

The discovery coincides with disturbing obsesity trends in several countries of the world with all its negative effects on health of the populations.

In the United States obesity rates have been increasing in recent years.

“Despite growing recognition of the problem, the obesity epidemic continues in the U.S., and obesity rates are increasing around the world. The latest estimates are that approximately 34% of adults and 15–20% of children and adolescents in the U.S. are obese,” says an article in The National Center for Biotechnology Information.

What should we expect next?

While we cannot sketch out the way forward in absolute terms, it is certain that scientists will be at work to see how can humans control their body weight by stimulating the cells in the brain but the key watchword will be “withing healthy bounds,” as described by Nicholas Dale.

Of particular interest will be how fitness experts, doctors and scientist advise humans to go about maintaining their fitness and intake of food since it is beyond any shadow of doubt now that just one kind of activity, dietary habit or control cannot curb obesity or keep human body healthy and in good shape.

A successful approach has to include a variety of ways to stay healthy, smart and strong.

But at the moment, it is important to recognize the significance of the discovery about what controls our appetite.