Need an excuse for overeating at Christmas? Blame it on your hunger hormone

Need an excuse for overeating at Christmas? Blame it on your hunger hormone

By David Derbyshire

Last updated at 11:58 PM on 29th December 2009

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No matter how much you've eaten, or how full you feel, the prospect of an extra slice of cake can sometimes be too tempting.

Now scientists have discovered why some people crave sugary, fatty food - even when they are stuffed.

A study has shown that the so-called hunger hormone ghrelin - which the body produces when it feels peckish - encourages the brain to seek out high- calorie food, no matter how much you've eaten.

The finding helps explain why Christmas lunch all too often turns into an orgy of overeating and why many of us still find room for an after-dinner chocolate when we are fit to burst.

Full up? A study has show that the hunger hormone ghrelin encourages the brain to seek out high calorie food, no matter how much we have eaten

Ghrelin acts on the brain to make certain foods more attractive.

It has also been shown to intensify the pleasurable feelings animals get from cocaine or alcohol. Now a experiment at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre suggests ghrelin also makes people crave fatty foods when they are already full.

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Dr Jeffrey Zigman, a coauthor of the study, said: 'What we show is that there may be situations where we are driven to seek out and eat very rewarding foods, even if we're full, for no other reason than our brain tells us to.'

The researchers tested the role of the hormone on mice given a large meal.

Once the creatures were full, they tested whether they preferred a room where they had previously found high-fat food over one that had offered only regular, bland snacks.

When the mice were injected with ghrelin, they strongly preferred the room they associated with high-fat food.