Stomach hormone turns hungry people into junkies

May 7, 2008 | Source: NewScientist.com news service

When volunteers received a dose of a natural hunger-inducing hormone called ghrelin, their brains responded to pictures of food in the same way that addicted people’s brains do to cigarettes or drugs, says Alain Dagher, a neurologist at McGill University.

Made in the stomach, ghrelin levels rise when people are hungry and wane after a meal. This mechanism probably helped humans to load up on life-saving calories when food was scarce–a likely scenario during much of evolutionary history. But with well-stocked supermarkets and a fast-food outlet on every corner, such brain signals can make food addicts of us all.