Hormone Causes Us to Overeat: Study

(MYFOX NATIONAL) - 'Tis the season for family, friends, holiday cheer ... and a whole lot of overeating. Turns out you can blame that overeating on a hormone.

The Daily Mail reports that scientists have found that the reason why some people keep eating sugary, fatty food even after they're full is because of ghrelin, the so-called hunger hormone.

"What we show is that there may be situations where we are driven to seek out and eat very rewarding foods, even if we're full, for no other reason than our brain tells us to," said Dr. Jeffrey Zigman, co-author of the study out of the University of Texas' Southwestern Medical Center.

Researchers injected mice that had already eaten big meals with ghrelin and found that they preferred foods that were high in fat and sugar compared to those that were bland.

Softpedia reports that previous experiments involving ghrelin found that the hormone boosted people's reward response and pleasure centers in people who consumed drugs and alcohol. Zigman and his team are arguing that the hormone stimulates reward centers when they eat pleasurable foods as well.

The team hopes that further research will lead to development into drugs that will help people stop eating when they are adequately full.

On Christmas Day, the average person consumes 7,000 calories, which is four times the recommended daily intake for women and more than three times for a man, according to the Daily Mail .