Research
Hormonal
High-protein diets inhibit the activation of opioid and GABAergic neurons in the nucleus accumbens, thereby reducing the hedonic (reward) response to food.
High-protein diets may reduce the 'craving' or 'wanting' aspect of eating by dampening reward signals in the brain. This can help overcome emotional or hedonic eating triggers.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
In addition, HP diets inhibit the activation of opioid and GABAergic neurons in the nucleus accumbens, and thus inhibit food intake by reducing the hedonic response to food, presumably because of their low palatability.
Why this rating
The paper states this as a finding but notes the role of palatability is unclear, suggesting some ambiguity.
Source
Peripheral and central mechanisms involved in the control of food intake by dietary amino acids and proteins
Gilles Fromentin et al. · Nutrition Research Reviews · 2012
DOI 10.1017/s0954422411000175
narrative_reviewCited 171×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Dietary protein and amino acids suppress food intake through redundant peripheral and central mechanisms, including vagal signaling via gut peptides (CCK, GLP-1, PYY) and central metabolic sensing (mTOR/AMPK) in the hypothalamus.Good
- Leucine is a specific amino acid that modulates food intake centrally by activating mTOR and suppressing AMPK in the hypothalamus, mimicking the effects of high-protein diets.Good
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