Decoding Weight Gain: The Neuroscience Behind It

Ever feel like you're fighting a losing battle against the number on the scale? 

You're not alone! Decoding weight gain can feel like deciphering a complex code, leaving you frustrated and unsure where to start. But what if the key to lasting success lies not in willpower, but in understanding the hidden forces influencing your weight?

 
Join clinical nutritionist and lifestyle medicine specialist Anthony Hartcher on this eye-opening episode of me&my health up! Together, we'll delve into the fascinating world of neuroscience and its surprising connection to weight gain. 

Discover: 

• The surprising truth about your brain's reward system: Why do certain foods light up your brain like fireworks, making them oh-so-hard to resist?
• The gut-brain connection: how your "second brain" might be influencing your cravings.
• Practical strategies to rewire your brain for sustainable weight management: forget willpower, learn how to create new, healthy habits that stick.
• The role of emotional eating and mindset in your weight journey: uncover the hidden emotional triggers that sabotage your progress.
• Expert tips and resources to empower your transformation: gain valuable insights and actionable steps to achieve your health goals.

Stop feeling stuck and unlock the secrets to lasting weight management! Listen to this episode and discover how to decode your own weight gain, rewire your brain for success, and finally achieve the healthy, happy you that you deserve.

 
Bonus: This episode is packed with practical tips and strategies you can implement immediately. Start your journey towards lasting weight management today!


P.S. Want personalized guidance on your weight management journey? Connect with Anthony Hartcher at https://meandmywellness.com.au/


Remember, you have the power to change!


About me&my health up & Anthony Hartcher
me&my health up seeks to enhance and enlighten the well-being of others. Host Anthony Hartcher is the CEO of me&my wellness, which provides holistic health solutions using food as medicine and a holistic, balanced, lifestyle approach. Anthony holds three bachelor's degrees in Complementary Medicine; Nutrition and Dietetic Medicine; and Chemical Engineering.

Podcast Disclaimer
Any information, advice, opinions or statements within it do not constitute medical, health care or other professional advice, and are provided for general information purposes only. All care is taken in the preparation of the information in this Podcast. [Connected Wellness Pty Ltd] operating under the brand of “me&my health up”..click here for more

Transcript

Anthony Hartcher: 0:08

Welcome back to another insightful episode of me&my health up. I'm your host, Anthony Hartcher. I'm a clinical nutritionist and lifestyle medicine specialist. The purpose of this podcast is to enhance and enlighten your well-being. And today, I'm going to be doing that just for you. We're going to be talking about decoding weight gain and the neuroscience behind it. Yes, weight gain. It's something that I constantly see in my clinic, lots of clients wanting to lose weight and wondering why they gain it. And so I've decided to dig deep into the literature around the neuroscience behind it. Is there something that we have hardwired in our brain? Is it a genetic predisposition to weight gain? Well, it's probably all of the above, it's multifactorial, as I've seen through the research. And there's so many factors incorporated or involved, or associated with weight gain, there's over well over 108 driving factors behind weight gain. And so it's not only just the environment that we live in, but it's the wiring within us as well. And obviously, there's genetic factors that give us a predisposition and a tendency to probably gain weight. But at the end of the day, we have more control over that we can rewire our brain, we understand neuroplasticity. So yes, as much as it may have been hardwired, since you were a kid, the associations around food and how great certain foods are and how much how enjoyable they are and in what context you love having them in, and how much you desire to have them in those contexts as you get older. And so these can become hardwired within us. And we can become very unconscious of our behaviours, and they become habits and we just keep doing them. And as a result of keep doing these habits that are associated around foods, we can gain weight. And I'm going to be talking about some of these areas of the brain that lit up when they've done studies on people that are obese compared to people that aren't obese. And they've given them visual cues such as a chocolate milkshake. And certain areas of the brain have lit up on the MRIs, the Magnetic Resonance Imagery. So yes, certainly you show someone a chocolate milkshake, what areas of the brain are going to light up? Well, let's start with what we saw in one study was the orbital frontal cortex and you're probably wondering, where is that? it's the forebrain. It's our executive function. So I'm going to point to the where it is on our brain, it's our, you know, the forehead like behind the forehead, okay? That's the prefrontal cortex. And particular area in that prefrontal cortex is the orbital frontal cortex. And that area is lit up and well and truly lit up. When has when you see this visionary sensory information. So they lit up a whole lot more, that area of the brain lit up a whole lot more when a chocolate milkshake was showing to people that have carried large amounts of weight or have large amounts of weight and carrying them around. So what is that error? The part of the brain? What does it do? It's heavily involved with decision-making. Okay, so yes, decision making. So whether we're going to drink that chocolate milkshake, or whether we're not going to have that chocolate milkshake, it's, it's very much linked to that as a strong link to olfactory sensory information, which is from our nose. Okay, so the smells and from our visual area of the brain, the visual cortex, is heavily linked, and associated with this area of the brain. So it has the sensory inputs, the smell, and the site. And this area, the brain responds accordingly. And it makes a decision based on what it sees whether it sees more gain, and more advantage, the disadvantage. And so what do you think the decision is going to be? Well, it's going to be have the chocolate milkshake. And so it's part of that brain, it's also provides us some sort of initiative to want to fit in. So that social connection, either so when those areas of the brain are heavily lit up, it means that we want to fit in, we want to feel that we can relate to others, and associated with others, and be part of the larger group. Those that area of the brain isn't strongly functional, it's strong, it functions but it isn't strongly associated with fitting in socially. So some people can be more comfortable standing out in terms of this area of the brain and its amounts of activity around this area of the brain. So those that don't carry large amounts of weight, this area, the brains not heavily lit up or not as strongly lit up on the MRIs. And so that, I guess these people can make it as you know, they don't get as excited over the chocolate milkshake as those those have put on weight. Now, the other area of the brain that is lit up in obese people, or people that are carrying large amounts of weight is the hippocampus. Okay, what's the hippocampus? Oh sorry, it's not the hippocampus. It's actually the hypothalamus. Okay, so I'm just getting a bit carried away there. But the hippocampus is associated with memories. So this is past memories of good times around having foods. So yes, they would get lit up. But in terms of this study that I'm referring to, it's the hypothalamus. And the hypothalamus sits below the thalamus. The thalamus is where all the sensory information comes in. And we filter it, right, we filter it in the thalamus. And the hypothalamus sits below the thalamus. And this hypothalamus is there to regulate. So it helps us regulate our body, it regulates temperature, it helps keep us in a safe operating temperature. So when we get too hot, it will obviously activate areas of the body to help cool us down such as our sweat glands. And it will, you know, helps regulate respiration, heartbeats and all those areas that are important that we have that regulation and obviously regulates appetite. So that's what are the so the hypothalamus regulates appetite. And what they're found in obese people is that this is enlarge, okay, this is an enlarged part. And they're thinking, okay, is inflammation and that and, and what they've found is, yes, it's, it's inflamed. This part of the brain, the hypothalamus is inflamed in obese people. So people carrying weight, this part is inflamed. And they've also found strong correlations between a high saturated fat diet and a inflamed or a enlarged hypothalamus. So it goes, we don't know, what leads to the other where, you know, does the person have a enlarged hypothalamus that then leads to that, you know, they're not having the ability to regulate what they eat, as well, or as efficient as others. And so therefore, they eat more saturated foods, or is it the fact that because they eat some more saturated foods, so sort of that chicken in the egg, which one came first? We don't know. Okay. So that's another area of the brain, the hypothalamus, the orbital frontal cortex is two areas of the brain that get lit up. And obviously, you know, when I mentioned the hippocampus, then it would bring up past experiences. So when we see this chocolate milkshake, then if we have strong associations with past experiences, having a chocolate milkshake in a good setting and good times associated with that chocolate milkshake, then obviously, it would retrieve memories from the hippocampus. So yes, yeah, Brian is linked. And what they found is in another study, that there was a strong association linkage between the basal electric frequency. So that's our enteric nervous system. It's the nervous system that is around the gastrointestinal tract. Okay, so yes, we have a second brain, you've, you've sometimes heard of that gut brain. That's the enteric nervous system. And this in third nervous system contains anywhere between 200 and 600 million neurons. And it's yeah, it's its own brain, it takes in sensory input and gives out motor output, motor function. So this gasal, that gastric, the gastric basal electric frequency is strongly linked to brain activity. So obviously, people with obesity have a strong connection between the second brain the gut brain, and their brain, okay. And what they found is that less ability in the brain to go up and have multi modality connections or associations. So as we go up in our brain, we've got more associations, more linkages, more pathways, and more things that we can take into consideration before making a decision. Okay, what they found was in this study was the strong correlation between the gut brain and brain activity, lower level brain active like lower down in the brain. So that's the right, the midbrain, it doesn't go much up to the prefrontal cortex in terms of what they found in this study. So therefore, there's less pathways that you think, okay, I know that eating this food has this negative health consequence, you're not sort of doing that assessment, it's probably more that desire to want it and not to think too much about it, that it drives. So there's, there's sort of three studies that I dug up in terms of decoding weight gain, and what areas of the brain are strongly correlated or are associated with gain of weight. So what can we do about it? You're probably wondering how at this moment, I've shared all this theory and the latest research and what parts of the brain light up? Well, yes, we can, we have the ability to rewire our brain, we have this neuroplasticity, which we can, we can break down old wiring. And we can create new wiring through neurons. So associating neurons, having new associations, get them to fire together, they wire together, and the more we get them to fire together, wire together, the stronger the wiring, the more hard the wiring. So obviously, with people that have this strong propensity to gain weight, they have a strong linkage, strong hard wiring between food and the benefits it brings them. And another study showed that people with obesity or have, you know, carrying large amounts of weight also need more food to get the same feeling or the same outcome as to having that like, so. When we eat food, we get a boost of serotonin and dopamine. And so what happens is, the more food we eat, we our body desensitises the effect of it, because it wants to keep you alive and surviving. And so it's thinking, Well, I don't want to have too much strong hard wiring and too much positive desiring towards this, because we need to keep you alert to other things and do other functions and keep you alive. And so you're going to have to have more of that in order to get the same hit because it was it turns it into white noise, so to speak. So it turns that buzz that you used to get, you need more of it in order to get that buzz. So it's like with anything. So same with drugs. So when you're taking drugs, you will need more and more of that drug because the body gets better at breaking it down and produces the enzymes that break it down to get excessive quantities out of the body. And also with our cells, they become more and more desensitised, they don't become as strongly activated by that. And same with the neurons. So the neurons require more of the input or linkage to that food, the more of the food, you have the I guess you're going to need more serotonin and dopamine in order to get the same hit as what you originally got. So that essentially our body is the desensitising becoming more and more desensitised, the more and more of things, we have common things. So the more, it's probably it's the same as exercise, obviously, to get the same hit with exercise to get that same high, you need to keep exercising more and more. Okay, it's in order to get that same elevated high. So there's a desensitising effect. And that also causes people to like food and have strong associations with food to eat more of it in order to get the same hits or the same feeling as before. So what can we do about it, we can rewire the brain. How do we start out about that? Well, it's working out what benefits you are getting from eating particular foods. In this case, it's probably highly calorific foods. So you might have a propensity to eat highly fatty foods or highly sugary foods. And so you've got this hardwiring to want eat more and more of that because of the positive associations you have with eating that food. So what you want to start listing down is what of all the benefits you get from eating that food. What you know, what does it bring to you and how is it serving you because there's obviously benefits there's, there's more pros than cons, hence why you keep doing it. And it's become such this automated behaviour, but you keep doing it because it brings benefits to you it makes you feel better. It gives you a sense of a way of managing stress could be one of the things one of the benefits, so list down all the benefits of what it brings you in terms of eating those foods. And then what you want to do is then look at other ways you can get those benefits. So how else could you get that serotonin that dopamine feeling or uplifting? How else could you uplift yourself? How else could you bring that what what else bring you fulfillment? what else brings you that inner sense of joy? What else does that for you? So start thinking about the other things that can bring you that sense of fulfillment in terms of what the food is doing, such as the saturated fats, or the highly sugary foods. So what else can bring you those other than foods, what else can bring you that it might might be connection with friends, it could be exercise, it could be playing a, you know, particular sport game or doing a particular hobby, whatever it is, start listing out the things that can give you the same benefit, but it's doing something else. So I get you know, joy from doing these podcasts. Okay, it brings fulfillment within. What else brings out fulfillment within? Going for a walk in nature is another way in which I can get that fulfillment. What else brings that fulfillment? Hanging out with, you know, playing with my children, or spending time with my children. Or my partner, my wife, Adriana. So how else can you get this fulfillment? So that's what you want to think about and list those that are the other ways you can get the fulfillment, okay, so we're now creating an alternative to the current hardwiring pathway of eating, and then how that new way is going to further enhance the outcomes that you are seeking in relation to health. So that alternate way, so that alternative way of getting that fulfillment. How is that going to provide a stronger benefit, so look for all the benefits it's going to provide, in addition to that feeling of fulfillment, so it's going to bring you health benefits, and what is the health benefits going to bring you it will, being healthier, will bring you more energy, it will, you won't feel as tired, you'll be able to do more, you'll be able to do more of the things you love doing, you'll be able to spend time, quality time without being tired, or you know, around people that you want to hang out with, you'll be able to, you'll have more time at the end of the day or more energy at the end of the day in order to do your hobbies. So start listing all the primary benefits associated with you adapting this new habit that brings the same fulfillment as eating, and start stacking them up, start stacking up those associations. And then what are the secondary benefits of that? Okay, so if I'm spending more time with my friends, because I have more energy, and I'm developing a deeper connection with them, how else is that helping me? How else is that providing further fulfillment? You know, I get to know them, we get to spend more time together. And how else does that help you fulfill what's important to you? So there's that element that you get to talk about your day, you get to be you get to relate to someone, someone else can relate to what you're going through. What else? What are the other benefits? So there's a mental health benefit associated with this additional connection. Is that you feel connected, it gives you a sense of further connection, it starts uplifting you because you're spending time with someone else. And you get energised from this and that additional energy, what can that bring you now? So what else can that what you know, what's another benefit of now, the benefit of the mental health? So it means that you will be stronger, more resilient. And how is that serving you in terms of being more resilient, more adaptable? Or you can, you're more adaptable to stress. So the task, yeah, so you start looking at all these additional, first start with the primary benefits of this new behaviour, then go to the secondary benefits of this new behaviour, and how it serves the areas that are important to you. So if your mental health is improved, and you're more resilient, then how does and you value your family? Then how does that flow onto your family? Well, you're going to be more upbeat and more positive, and you'll be happier. And you'll bring that energy into your relationships within the family dynamic. So the family dynamic will improve. You'll develop stronger bonds within the family, better connection within the family, and then how does that benefit your health? Okay, and then, you know, start linking. So what you're doing is finding all these additional associations, beneficiary associations, to adapting this new behaviour that brings fulfillment that's not eating that's not eating the saturated fats or sugar. So you want to start stacking them up. And what you're doing is creating more neural pathways and lighting them up in your brain. And the more associations you find, the more pathways you're lighting up. And the more you can visualise how this is going to better serve you and what's important to you, and bring equal fulfillment then you start to, and then you start acting on that you start doing these new behaviours, then the older pathways will start to untangle they'll start to unwrap, they'll start to dissolve, and you'll start to adapt these newer habits and how you can fast track that is then look at the old habit and look at how it doesn't serve you. What are the disadvantages of the old habit and continuing doing the old habit? What are the disadvantages? And start stacking up the disadvantages of the old habit. And so you've got this new habit that you're going to go on and enact and apply and start hardwiring that pathway. And at the same time, you're stacking up the disadvantages, or the negative associations with the old habits. So eating those saturated foods and how it's not serving, what's important to you. And so you start stacking them up to a point where you think now I really don't want to get that fulfillment by the old pathway, I want to get that fulfillment in this new pathway that's going to have that has more associations to what I value, to what's important to me. And it's going to bring me more overall fulfillment than going down that old that old hardwiring pathway. And what the brain does is start to untangle that, it starts to unlink that and and eventually that habit will be broken. And the more you start enacting these new habits, and so after this, so after doing all this visual association of how it's benefiting you these new habits, what you want to do is then start putting down the action steps you're going to take in order to start acting out these new and start, you know, further adding more hardwiring to these new ways of getting that fulfillment. So start putting down your to-do list as to what you're going to do. And then what you'll want to do is start thinking about where is it that you typically trip off and then start having ways in which you can say, okay, that's a visual cue to enact the new pathway. Okay, once I, once I get this sort of link then okay, I'm going to jump on and do this. So I see that chocolate milkshake. Okay, I don't want to do that. What I'm going to do is I'm going to go and play with my children instead. And that's the cue is the milkshake is now a cue to go and play with the children as opposed to drinking the milkshake. So I hope that helps in terms of decoding weight gain, and you know, explaining the neuroscience behind it, and how you can rewire your brain. And if you need help with this, please reach out to me, anthony@meandmywellness.com.au my link will be in the show notes so please reach out to me go to the show notes if you want some further help in this area in terms of reprogramming your brain and until next time, take care and continue to tune in and health up.

Podcast Disclaimer: 23:03

This podcast and any information, advice, opinions, or statements within it do not constitute medical, healthcare, or professional advice and are provided for general information purposes only. All care is taken in the preparation of the information in this podcast. [Connected Wellness Proprietary Limited] operating under the brand "me&my health up" does not make any representations or give any warranties about its accuracy, reliability, completeness, or suitability for any particular purpose. This podcast and any information, advice, opinions, or statements within it are not to be used as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, psychiatric, or any other mental health care or healthcare in general. me&my health up recommends you seek the advice of a doctor or qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Inform your doctor of any changes that you make to your lifestyle and discuss these with your doctor. Do not disregard medical advice or delay visiting a medical professional because of something you hear in this podcast. This podcast has been carefully prepared on the basis of current information. Changes in circumstances after publication may affect the accuracy of this information. To the maximum extent permitted by the law, me&my health up disclaims any such representations or warranties to the completeness, accuracy, merchantability, or fitness for purpose of this podcast and will not be liable for any expenses, losses, damages incurred indirect or consequential damages or costs that may be incurred as a result of the information being inaccurate or incomplete in any way and for any reason. No part of this podcast can be reproduced, redistributed, published, copied, or duplicated in any form without prior permission of me&my health up.