Why Do We Eat? A Neurobiological Perspective. Part V

In previous posts, I explained that food intake is determined by a variety of factors that are detected by the brain, and integrated by circuits in the mesolimbic system to determine the overall motivation to eat.  These factors include 'homeostatic factors' that reflect a true energy need by the body, and 'non-homeostatic factors' that are independent of the body's energy needs (e.g. palatability, habit, and the social environment).

In this post, we'll explore the hedonic system, which governs pleasure.  This includes the pleasure associated with food, called palatability.  The palatability of food is one of the factors that determines food intake.

The Hedonic System

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Why Do We Eat? A Neurobiological Perspective. Part IV

In this post, I'll follow up on the last post with a discussion two more important factors that can affect energy homeostasis and therefore our food intake and propensity to gain fat: age and menopause.

Age

Although it often isn't the case in non-industrial cultures, in affluent nations most people gain fat with age.  This fat gain continues until old age, when many people once again lose fat.  This is probably related to a number of factors, three of which I'll discuss.  The first is that we tend to become less physically active with age.  The second, related factor is that we lose lean mass with age, and so energy expenditure declines.

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Garlic Red Pepper Cauliflower Hummus (Our Fifth House)

Y'all are in for a treat today because one of my favorite people, Carmel of Our Fifth House, finally caved and agreed to share a healthy recipe with us today. Carmel's blog is definitely one of my daily reads and if you don't know her, I encourage you to stop by and say hello.  Tell her I sent ya! :)

I'm a little bit in love with Carmel's living room and bedroom, see why?!

Carmel's family eats gluten-free and has recently gone Paleo too.  In light of the Super Bowl this Sunday, she's sharing a healthy Garlic Red Pepper Cauliflower Hummus that you can snack on while you watch the commercials and halftime show game.

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Hi, healthy peeps, I'm Carmel from Our Fifth House.  As you may have guessed from the name of my blog I write about home related projects  - diy, design and organization.  While I'm definitely passionate about creating a home, I'm also a big lover of good, healthy food.  In fact, eating healthy is one of my biggest goals for 2013.  I've been gluten free since August of last year and made the full conversion to a paleo lifestyle in January.  I call it a lifestyle because that's what it is to me  - a lifestyle - not a diet.  If you're not familiar with "paleo eating" this is a great place to start to learn more.  Very basically eating paleo is about eating good healthy unprocessed food - meats, veggies, fruits, nuts and healthy fats.

What you might notice is missing from the above list other than grains is legumes.  Giving up grains is not a huge issue for me but legumes??  That was much harder.  I've always been a big fan of legume rich foods and my all time favorite healthy snack pre-paleo was hummus, which is traditionally made from chickpeas.  After doing a little research and kitchen taste testing, I've found a great alternative to chickpea hummus using cauliflower.

This hummus is soooooo good and it packs a major veggie punch - dipping veggies in veggies.......who knew it could taste so good?!

The trick to using cauliflower in this recipe is to steam it until it's pretty soft  - like when you can fork through it easily.

It's so easy to make, and I like it even better than chickpea hummus which is why I wanted to share it here.  Even if you're not paleo you will love this!   I've been making it on the same nights that I make mashed cauliflower (replacement for mashed potatoes) for dinner.  Making dinner and making snack food for the week at the same time cuts down on the work time in the kitchen and helps me to make good snacking choices throughout the week.  When your trying to eat healthy it is so helpful to plan ahead!

Snacking has always been a problem area for me, so having a healthy, easy-to-grab tasty snack ready to go in the fridge is so important for me!

How do you deal with the snack monster?

Thanks so much Megan for having me over to share a recipe today!  You're such an inspiration for us all!

Why Do We Eat? A Neurobiological Perspective. Part III

In the first post, I explained that all voluntary actions are driven by a central action selection system in the mesolimbic area (the reward system).  This is the part of you that makes the decision to act, or not to act.  This system determines your overall motivation to obtain food, based on a variety of internal and external factors, for example hunger, the effort required to obtain food, and the sensory qualities of food/drink.  These factors are recognized and processed by a number of specialized 'modules' in the brain, and forwarded to the reward system where the decision to eat, or not to eat, is made.  Researchers divide food intake into two categories: 1) eating from a true energy need by the body (homeostatic eating), e.g. hunger, and 2) eating for other reasons (non-homeostatic eating), e.g. eating for social reasons or because the food tastes really good.

In the second post of the series, we explored how the brain regulates food intake on a meal-to meal basis based on feedback from the digestive system, and how food properties can influence this process.  The integrated gut-brain system that accomplishes this can be called the satiety system.

In this post, we'll explore the energy homeostasis system, which regulates energy balance (energy in vs. energy out) and body fatness on a long term basis.

The Energy Homeostasis System

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Blueberry Almond Scones (The Chronicles of Home)

Today, our food contributor Jennifer is sharing a healthy recipe for blueberry almond scones.  I really want to try these because my son loves blueberries!

I can't even tell you how much I look forward to Jennifer's recipe posts.  You may know Jennifer from her decor and DIY blog, The Chronicles of Home.  If you haven't visited or aren't a follower, I'm sure she'd love to have you!

Blueberry Almond Scones

For the most part, I'm a creature of habit when it comes to breakfast.  Weekday mornings my daughters and I usually eat one of three things - (1) smoothies and whole grain toast with peanut butter, (2) egg on whole grain toast with fresh fruit, or (3) whole grain hot cereal with dried fruit.  And, honestly, I'm okay with this routine.  All of those things work for me on harried weekday mornings and I feel good about eating them and feeding them to my daughters as often as I do.  

Then the weekends roll around and the last thing I want are any of these things since I've just spent five days in a row eating them!  That's where the more "special" breakfast dishes come in, like multigrain pancakes or sweet potato hash.  Scones are another of my weekend favorites and I've been tinkering with my recipe lately to try to make it a little healthier.

In this version I used a double shot of blueberries - both fresh and dried - to get a variation in flavor and texture and to double down on all the antioxidant goodness.  I added sliced almonds for some crunch and protein.  I often use half whole wheat and half white flour in baking recipes to get some whole grain worked in without totally sacrificing the light texture of white flour.

I also played with coconut oil here in place of the typical butter in scones.  Here's my take on coconut oil, and keep in mind that I'm not a nutritionist, just a health-minded home cook who's done a little research.  Coconut oil is a heavily saturated fat just like butter.  There's some research that suggests the kind of saturated fat in coconut oil may be better for those with cholesterol issues than butter.  But for me, there are a lot of "may be's" in the research that's out there and in the end I think it's best to use some moderation in your consumption of coconut oil just like you would with butter.

I liked the use of coconut oil in this recipe because it added a very light, subtle undertone of coconut flavor to the scones and still gave them the flakiness of a regular scone made with butter.  These scones will be heartier and a bit more dense than one you might get at your local Starbucks, but I've found I actually like the healthy-indulgent version better!

Ingredients
3/4 c. white flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
3 tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. refined coconut oil (butter can be substituted)
1/2 c. fresh blueberries
1/4 c. dried wild blueberries
1/4 c. sliced almonds
1/3 c. buttermilk
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 400º.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.  Cut coconut oil in with a pastry cutter until it's the consistency of coarse sand.

Gently stir in fresh blueberries, dried blueberries, and almonds.

In a small bowl whisk the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla to blend.  Pour over dry ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula until just combined.

Drop batter in 8 mounds onto prepared baking sheet (about 1/2 c. of batter each).

Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving.

Thank you Jennifer!

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Why Do We Eat? A Neurobiological Perspective. Part II

In the last post, I explained that eating behavior is determined by a variety of factors, including hunger and a number of others that I'll gradually explore as we make our way through the series.  These factors are recognized by specialized brain 'modules' and forwarded to a central action selection system in the mesolimbic area (the reward system), which determines if they are collectively sufficient cause for action.  If so, they're forwarded to brain systems that directly drive the physical movements involved in seeking and consuming food (motor systems).

The term 'homeostasis' is important in biology.  Homeostasis is a process that attempts to keep a particular factor within a certain stable range.  The thermostat in your house is an example of a homeostatic system.  It reacts to upward or downward changes in a manner that keeps temperature in a comfortable range.  The human body also contains a thermostat that keeps internal temperature close to 98.6 F.  Many things are homeostatically regulated by the body, and one of them is energy status (how much energy the body has available for use).  Homeostasis of large-scale processes in the body is typically regulated by the brain.

We can divide the factors that determine feeding behavior into two categories, homeostatic and non-homeostatic.  Homeostatic eating is when food intake is driven by a true energy need, as perceived by the brain.  For the most part, this is eating in response to hunger.  Non-homeostatic eating is when food intake is driven by factors other than energy need, such as palatability, habitual meal time, and food cues (e.g. you just walked by a vending machine full of Flamin' Hot Cheetos).

We can divide energy homeostasis into two sub-categories: 1) the system that regulates short-term, meal-to-meal calorie intake, and 2) the system that regulates fat mass, the long-term energy reserve of the human body.  In this post, I'll give an overview of the process that regulates energy homeostasis on a short-term, meal-to-meal basis.

The Satiety System (Short-Term Energy Homeostasis)


The stomach of an adult human has a capacity of 2-4 liters.  In practice, people rarely eat that volume of food.  In fact, most of us feel completely stuffed long before we've reached full stomach capacity.  Why?

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Why Do We Eat? A Neurobiological Perspective. Part I

As with all voluntary movements, eating food is an expression of activity in the brain.  The brain integrates various inputs from around the body, and outside the body, and decides whether or not to execute the goal-directed behaviors of food seeking and consumption.  Research has uncovered a lot about how this process works, and in this series I'll give a simplified overview of what scientists have learned about how, and why, the brain decides to eat.

The Gatekeeper of Voluntary Behaviors

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