Binge eating is a type of eating disorder. This is where a person would eat lots of food, even to the point where one cannot take in more. Afterwards a sense of shame or guilt might overcome the person for eating so much. A new method to stop binge eating, however, has been found.
A receptor called Trace Amine-Associated Receptor 1 or TAAR1 can bind itself to molecules in the brain called trace amines. This receptor could be used as a way to change the behavior of those who are into binge eating.
To test it, researchers have made an experiment that simulates binge eating behavior to sugary, chocolate-flavored food, as Science Daily reports. This group also was prone to cues on food while a control group does not have these cues. The test research then applied a TAAR1 agonist to see binge eating behavior could be minimized.
The test result showed that the TAAR1 agonist, RO5256390, could block the cues associated to food as well as block compulsive food eating, as study co-author Antonio Ferragud and a postdoctoral fellow at the Laboratory for Addictive Disorders (LAD) said.
In the experiment, it has been observed that the TAAR1 acts as a brake in the areas of the brain that involved such activities such as decision making, Medical Express reports. For those who are into binge eating, this brake seems to be missing, as noted by study main author and master fellow at LAD Adam Howell.
With the study researchers then could make a treatment based around a TAAR1 agonist that could help those who often fall into binge eating. Currently there are treatments used for binge eating but success has been elusive, at best, for those who have the disorder.
The study has been conducted with researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM). Another member of the study is Pietro Cottone, co-director of LAD and an associate professor of pharmacology and psychiatry at BUSM.
In connection to eating and health, researchers have found that exercise releases a hormone that fights fat.
