Interior design
Interior Design

Sunday, August 23, 2009

The Sensing Stomach

The stomach communicates with the brain through the ANS, and the nerve of interest to our story is the vagus nerve (see illustration). In Latin, vagus means "wandering," an accurate description of how this vitally important nerve travels from the brain to the stomach. When filled with food or liquid, the stomach’s stretch receptors send a message via the vagus nerve to the brain that says, "I’m full!" Have you ever noticed that eating a large, heavy meal can cause you to perspire? That’s the vagus nerve working overtime. As discussed, the autonomic nervous system prepares the body for fight or flight by raising your heart rate, increasing your blood pressure, and causing you to sweat. So by eating too much, you’ve made your body ready for fight or flight, even though you’re just sitting at a table eating dinner!

Not surprisingly, most weight-loss aids (in addition to surgeries) focus on fooling the body’s natural tendency to hold on to weight, mostly by manipulating levels of brain chemicals. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, dieters took amphetamines, which speed up metabolism by boosting the activity of the sympathetic nervous system. But they’re also addictive and have many unpleasant side effects, including paranoia and heart problems.

(For more information on weight-loss medications, see the Appendix).

Source: George L. Blackburn, M.D., Ph.D., "Break Through Your Set Point: How to Finally Lose the Weight You Want and Keep It Off," 2008

No comments:

Post a Comment

 
Interior Design