Energy balance
Modern obesogenic environments override physiological homeostatic controls by overwhelming evolutionarily conserved cognitive, reward, and emotional neural systems that evolved to secure food in sparse conditions.
Recognize that your brain is wired to seek high-calorie foods because of evolutionary history, not just lack of will. In a modern environment with constant food availability, this drive is maladaptive. Effective management requires acknowledging these powerful neural drivers (reward, stress, habit) and structuring your environment to reduce cues, rather than relying solely on conscious calorie counting.
A changing environment and lifestyle on the background of evolutionary engraved and perinatally imprinted physiological response patterns is the foremost explanation for the current obesity epidemic. However, it is not clear what the mechanisms are by which the modern environment overrides the physiological controls of appetite and homeostatic body-weight regulation.
Why this rating
The paper is a comprehensive review citing numerous animal and human studies, though it acknowledges gaps in understanding specific gene interactions.
Source
Central and Peripheral Regulation of Food Intake and Physical Activity: Pathways and Genes
Natalie R. Lenard et al. · Obesity · 2008
DOI 10.1038/oby.2008.511
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