Visual Food Cues Can Affect One's Eating Behavior Whether Presented Consciously or Unconsciously

Unconscious neural processes have a vital role in one's eating behavior, making it harder for one to control their food intake, according to a new study.

Controlling Food Behavior Also Involves Unconscious Neural Processes

Scientists from Osaka, Japan, discovered that visual food cues could influence one's eating behavior even if they are unaware of it.

Obesity is one of the major conditions that constitute lifestyle-related diseases. It is associated with myocardial infarction, stroke and carcinogenesis. There are different approaches to regulating eating behavior to reduce the rate of obesity. However, a previous report said that half of those who received dietary guidance gained back the weight they lost within five years, Science Daily reported.

Dietary guidance targets conscious neural processes. However, due to its limited efficiency, some hypothesize that unconscious neural processes may have played an important role in one's eating behavior. Unfortunately, there were no studies to validate the hypothesis at the time.

The research team, led by Professor Takahiro Yoshikawa from the Graduate School of Medicine at Osaka Metropolitan University, found that neural activity differs in the inferior frontal gyrus, a region of the brain's frontal lobe that controls eating behavior in response to visual food cues or pictures of food.

They used a questionnaire to assess the participants and found that the difference was associated with their eating behavior scores, including emotional eating and cognitive restraint of food intake.

The findings suggest that it is necessary to consider both unconscious and conscious neural processes to understand eating behaviour.

Yoshikawa was optimistic that they could combine their future discovery of how eating behavior is controlled by unconscious neural processes with their current knowledge of conscious neural processes to develop more effective methods for regulating eating behavior.

ALSO READ: Food Resources Might Completely Be Wiped Out in 27 Years, Affecting Humans Faster Than Climate Change

Eating Behavior and Obesity

One's eating behavior plays a significant role in weight gain. What you eat, how often you eat and how much you consume are all factors that could determine if the number on the scale will drop or rise.

Eating behaviors involving consuming high energy-dense foods and large portions reportedly cause weight gain, overweight and obesity. A fat-rich diet, frequent snacking and eating quickly are also associated with an increased prevalence of obesity.

Lifestyle also contributes to one's obesity risks. A sedentary lifestyle like prolonged television viewing, lack of physical activities and unhealthy eating habits can elevate the risks of developing obesity.

Obesity poses a major health concern because it increases one's risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, gall bladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, infertility and some form of cancer. It is also associated with pregnancy complications, hirsutism and hyperlipidemia.

Obese kids also tend to live a lower quality of life and are likely to demonstrate negative self-perceptions, low self-worth and increased behavioral problems.

According to a study, the prevalence of obesity is more common among females than males. There is also a positive association between one's number of meals per day and consumption of fatty food and fast food with obesity and overweight in Iraqi subjects.