14 DAY TRIAL // A new investigation has determined that pleasurable activities such as eating and having intercourse do not only provide pleasure, but also a means of reducing stress, by inhibiting neural pathways in the brain. These effects last for up to seven days, so they can be considered long-term.
Experts have known for a long time that such a correlation exists in the brain, but they didn't know that it was so obvious on anxiety-related neural pathways as well. Details of the new investigation appear in the November 8 issue of the esteemed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The conclusions were drawn following scientific experiments that were designed by experts at the University of Cincinnati (UC). Research assistant professor Yvonne Ulrich-Lai, PhD, and professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience James Herman, PhD, led the investigation.
Herman also holds an appointment as the director of the Laboratory of Stress Neurobiology at the university. The experts managed to devise experimental setups to test for changes in stress levels in a rigorously-controlled setting.
“These findings give us a clearer understanding of the motivation for consuming ‘comfort food’ during times of stress. But it’s important to note that, based on our findings, even small amounts of pleasurable foods can reduce the effects of stress,” explains ulrich-Lai.
The research was carried out on lab rats. One group was allowed access to a solution containing sugar for about two weeks, whereas the second, control group was not. The researchers then looked at the behavioral differences that developed.
They noticed that animals in the sugar group had lower levels of physiological and behavioral responses to stress, as well as the willingness to explore unfamiliar environments, and to interact with other rats. This did not happen in the second group, where levels of hormones associated with stress were more elevated.
What is also interesting to note is the fact that the same correlations could be established if the rats were fed a solution containing saccharin instead of actual sugar, Science Blog reports.
“This indicates that the pleasurable properties of tasty foods, not the caloric properties, were sufficient for stress reduction,” Ulrich-Lai explains. She adds that injecting sucrose directly into the stomach of rats did not change their stress response.
“Our research identifies key neural circuits underlying the comfort food effect. Further research is needed, but identification of these circuits could provide potential strategies for intervening to prevent or curtail increasing rates of obesity and other metabolic disorders,” Ulrich-Lai concludes.