The No. 1 diet saboteur you NEVER saw coming

Memories of food can absolutely shape how and what you eat.

Just think about it…

Your comfort foods—the ones you crave the most—are likely the foods that made childhood a little brighter. And they’re all too easy to overindulge in.

Could that be the most dangerous diet saboteur of all?

The memory-metabolism link

I was an overweight child. And food was often used as a reward—or token of a special event. (Those memories still hold power over me today.)

For example, my mother would always make delicious cookies whenever we went to the shore. And now, years later, anytime I’m in the sea or at the beach, I still think about those cookies!

Like clockwork, the memory hits—I can smell them, taste them, and I definitely crave them.

Now, science helps explains why.

According to a recent report published in Nature Metabolism, our brain’s hippocampus encodes sugar and fat memories.

In mice, these memories directly influenced food intake and, therefore, body weight.

In fact, when those specific neurons were stimulated, the mice ate more. (Now, imagine this in humans—no wonder dieting feels impossible!)

Of course, the opposite also occurred—when the neurons were silenced, food consumption decreased.

Pretty impressive, huh?

Fight back against the “food noise”

As noted by the study’s lead researcher Guillaume de Lartigue, PhD, “while it’s no surprise that we remember pleasurable food experiences, it was long assumed that these memories had little to no impact on eating behavior.”

Turns out, that idea was all wrong—at least in mice.

But the results are intriguing enough that scientists are determined to test this theory in humans.

If we can crack the code, it could be a game changer in the fight against obesity.

After all, we don’t just eat because we’re “hungry.” We often turn to food out of boredom, for comfort, as a way to socialize… the list continues.

But if we can quiet those pleasure-seeking neurons, we might finally control cravings.

This is similar to what I’ve reported on before—about how drugs like semaglutide tamp down the “food noise.”

Clearly, there’s still more to learn, but the impact could be quite remarkable.

In the meantime, intermittent fasting is a dietary trick that I use to keep my cravings in check—and I recommend it often to those of you who also struggle.

To learn more about it, including how to discover your fasting style, check out the May 2020 issue of my monthly Logical Health Alternatives newsletter (“Boost your immunity and rejuvenate your metabolism… in 36 hours or less”). Click here now!

Source:

“Memory systems in the brain drive food cravings that could influence body weight.” ScienceDaily, 01/15/2025. (sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/01/250115125420.htm)