The first law of home economics states that the amount of food
in a supermarket trolley rises in direct proportion to the
shopper's hunger level. But while the danger is well known to
shoppers who venture out on an empty stomach, how the problem
arises in the brain has remained a mystery. In a new study of
hunger's effects on the mind, neuroscientists pieced together
what happens in the brain that makes us buy more food when we
are famished. The findings point to ways of overcoming the
temptations of the food aisles and throw fresh light on the rise
of obesity over the past 30 years. From a series of brain scans
on volunteers, the researchers showed that a hunger hormone
triggered activity in the brain that made people pay more for
junk food than usual. Equipped with this knowledge, shoppers
should be able to override the urge and stick to more healthy
shopping, the scientists said. "You should never make decisions
about food when you are starving. When you go to the supermarket
hungry, the food you are drawn