Killer carbs -- Monash scientist finds the key to overeating as we age

August 21, 2008

A Monash University scientist has discovered key appetite control cells in the human brain degenerate over time, causing increased hunger and potentially weight-gain as we grow older.

The research by Dr Zane Andrews, a neuroendocrinologist with Monash University's Department of Physiology, has been published in Nature.

Dr Andrews found that appetite-suppressing cells are attacked by free radicals after eating and said the degeneration is more significant following meals rich in carbohydrates and sugars.

"The more carbs and sugars you eat, the more your appetite-control cells are damaged, and potentially you consume more," Dr Andrews said.

Dr Andrews said the attack on appetite suppressing cells creates a cellular imbalance between our need to eat and the message to the brain to stop eating.

"People in the age group of 25 to 50 are most at risk. The neurons that tell people in the crucial age range not to over-eat are being killed-off.

"When the stomach is empty, it triggers the ghrelin hormone that notifies the brain that we are hungry. When we are full, a set of neurons known as POMC's kick in.

"However, free radicals created naturally in the body attack the POMC neurons. This process causes the neurons to degenerate overtime, affecting our judgement as to when our hunger is satisfied," Dr Andrews said.

The free radicals also try to attack the hunger neurons, but these are protected by the uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2).

Dr Andrews said the reduction in the appetite-suppressing cells could be one explanation for the complex condition of adult-onset obesity.

"A diet rich in carbohydrate and sugar that has become more and more prevalent in modern societies over the last 20-30 years has placed so much strain on our bodies that it's leading to premature cell deterioration," Dr Andrews said.

Dr Andrews' next research project will focus on finding if a diet rich in carbohydrates and sugars has other impacts on the brain, such as the increased incidences of neurological conditions like Parkinson's disease.

Monash University

---

---

	Free Radicals by Michael Brooks (Author) This is a bold expose of science's mavericks. For more than a century, science has cultivated a sober public image for itself. But as bestselling author Michael Brooks explains, the truth is very different: many of our most successful scientists have more in common with libertines than librarians. This thrilling exploration of some of the greatest breakthroughs in science reveals the extreme lengths some scientists go to in order to make their theories public. Fraud, suppressing evidence and unethical or reckless PR games are sometimes necessary to bring the best and most brilliant discoveries to the world's attention. Inspiration can come from the most unorthodox of places, and Brooks introduces us to Nobel laureates who get their ideas through drugs, dreams and hallucinations. Science...
	Free Radicals in Biology and Medicine by Barry Halliwell (Author), John Gutteridge (Author) Free Radicals in Biology and Medicine has become a classic text in the field of free radical and antioxidant research since its first publication in 1985. This latest edition has been comprehensively rewritten and updated (over 80% of the text is new), while maintaining the clarity of its predecessor. There is expanded coverage of isoprostanes and related compounds, mechanisms of oxidative damage to DNA and proteins (and the repair of such damage), the free radical theory of aging and the roles played by reactive species in signal transduction, cell death, human reproduction, and other important biological events. Greater emphasis has also been placed on the methods available to measure reactive species and oxidative damage (and their potential pitfalls), as well as the importance...
	Free Radicals: The Secret Anarchy of Science by Michael Brooks (Author) The thrilling exploration of the secret side of scientific discovery --proving that some rules were meant to be broken scientists have colluded in the most successful cover-up of modern times. They present themselves as cool, logical, and level-headed, when the truth is that they will do anything --take drugs, follow mystical visions, lie and even cheat --to make a discovery. They are often more interested in starting revolutions than in playing by the rules. In Free Radicals, bestselling author Michael Brooks reveals the extreme lengths some of our most celebrated scientists --such as Newton, Einstein, and Watson and Crick --are willing to go to, from fraud to reckless, unethical experiments, in order to make new discoveries and bring them to the world's attention.
	Butterflies Are Free To Fly: A New and Radical Approach to Spiritual Evolution by L&G Productions LLC When Nicolaus Copernicus discovered the Earth wasn’t the center of the Universe, everything changed. When Isaac Newton figured out the law of gravity from a falling apple, everything changed. When Benjamin Franklin harvested electricity from lightening and Thomas Edison made the first commercial light bulb, everything changed. Today, when quantum physicists realize our physical universe isn’t real, that it’s just a hologram, everything … wait! Nothing’s changed - yet. "Butterflies Are Free To Fly" offers a new and radical approach to spiritual evolution based on the recent scientific experiments in quantum physics and brain research outlined in Part One. Given that the physical universe which looks and feels so real to us is actually a unique holographic projection from...
	Free: The Future of a Radical Price by Chris Anderson (Author) The New York Times bestselling author heralds the future of business in Free. In his revolutionary bestseller, The Long Tail, Chris Anderson demonstrated how the online marketplace creates niche markets, allowing products and consumers to connect in a way that has never been possible before. Now, in Free, he makes the compelling case that in many instances businesses can profit more from giving things away than they can by charging for them. Far more than a promotional gimmick, Free is a business strategy that may well be essential to a company's survival. The costs associated with the growing online economy are trending toward zero at an incredible rate. Never in the course of human history have the primary inputs to an industrial economy fallen in price so fast and for so long. Just...
	Freedom from Disease: How to Control Free Radicals, a Major Cause of Aging and Disease by Hari Sharma (Author)
	Free books for Kindle: The secrets of how to get the world's greatest books for a radical price Everyone loves a freebie. And Kindle readers, like me and you, are no different. The great news is that there are hundreds of thousands of free books for your Kindle out there. Unfortunately the ebook revolution has spawned an avalanche of sites and other resources. Worse yet – some of the best of them are often beyond the reach of even the most seasoned Google searcher. In my quest for the best Kindle free books – I've checked through hundreds of sites so that I could bring the best of them to you. So save your brain some strain, save time and cash with my handy guide to free books for your Kindle: Great books to download at a radical price! The book includes: Ebook formats explained How to find around a million free books Some...
	The Knee of Listening: The Early-Life Ordeal and the 'Radical' Spiritual Realizationof The Divine World-Teacher and True Heart-Master, 'Da Avabhasa' (The 'Bright') by Da Free John (Author), Da Avabhasa (Author), Adi Da Samraj (Author) Avatar Adi Da's autobiographical account of the years from His Birth to His Divine Re-Awakening in 1970 - His Demonstration, in His own Life, of the Way to Realize Real God most perfectly. The book also includes His Revelation of how His Avataric Incarnation was made possible and His Confession of the nature and significance of the Great Events of Yogic Death that have occurred in His Life since His Divine Re-Awakening in 1970.
	The Spectra and Structures of Simple Free Radicals: An Introduction to Molecular Spectroscopy by Gerhard Herzberg (Author) The author of this book won a Nobel Prize for his contributions to the knowledge of electronic structure and geometry of molecules. In this classic text, he offers a concise introduction to diatomic radicals and ions, linear and nonlinear polyatomic radicals and ions, dissociation, predissociation, and recombination. 106 illustrations. 1971 edition.
	Mortgage-Free!: Radical Strategies for Home Ownership (Real Goods Solar Living Books) by Robert L. Roy (Author) This is a banker's worst nightmarea book that tells you how to live without being enslaved to financial institutions.Chelsea Green has produced a formidable series of books on innovative shelter. But every alternative building strategy, no matter how low-cost or environmentally benign, requires a complementary financial strategy. the accepted path is to go hat-in-hand to a big financial institution, such as a bank, to borrow a lump sum that is repaid over many years. By the time the loan is repaid, the homeowner will have paid several times the original amount in interest.The literal meaning of "mortgage" is "death pledge." Author Rob Roy is offering an escape route from a lifetime of indentured servitude. "Mortgage-Free! Radical Strategies for Home Ownership" is a complete guide to...