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National Geographic
17-04-2025
- Health
- National Geographic
How junk food outsmarts our brains—by hiding in our memories
New research reveals that memories of fatty and sugary foods are encoded in the hippocampus, helping explain why some cravings feel impossible to resist. Cravings may feel impulsive, but new research suggests they're often rooted in memory. Scientists have found that the brain encodes high-calorie foods in a way that can quietly influence what we eat—even when we're not hungry. Photograph by Heather Willensky, The New York Times/Redux The next time you remember a chocolate bar in a desk drawer, your brain might not just be recalling it—it could be actively pushing you to seek it out. A recent study published in Nature Metabolism suggests that specific neurons in the hippocampus log the sensory and emotional details of calorie-rich food. In mice, these neurons triggered cravings, leading to overeating—even when the animals weren't hungry. When researchers silenced these neurons, the rodents reduced their sugar intake and avoided diet-induced obesity. 'Every animal needs to eat, so we get hunger drives to help with our survival,' says Guillaume de Lartigue, an associate member of the Monell Chemical Senses Center and co-author of the new study. Traditionally, scientists have distinguished between metabolic hunger—the body's need for energy—and hedonic hunger, which arises when food looks or smells tempting. But this study adds a third layer: memory-driven hunger. (Here's how ultra-processed food harms the body and brain.) Though the research was conducted in animals, it supports a growing body of evidence that memories of fat and sugar can quietly shape our eating behavior—often without our awareness. And in a world where high-calorie foods are everywhere, those neural patterns may help explain why some cravings feel impossible to resist. Why our brains are no match for junk food The job of any organism is to understand how to navigate and make the best choices to obtain food in their environment, says Dana Small, a psychologist, neuroscientist, and the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Metabolism and Brain. In early human history, when calories were scarce, we learned to use sensory cues—smell, sight, and location—to identify energy-rich foods, says Small. After eating, the brain stores that information along with how the food made us feel, creating a mental 'database' of flavors and their effects. Essentially, when we eat, we're subliminally 'integrating the external and internal worlds, which is what memory is,' says Small. These signals influence dopamine release in the brain's reward pathways. The brain then updates the value of a food based on this information and uses that data when you reencounter the flavor. So the next time you pass a bakery, for example, that internal record, or memory, activates, sparking a craving. (Here's what dopamine, the 'happy hormone,' actually does.) The Monell study also found that memories of fat and sugar are stored via separate pathways, both leading to dopamine. While most foods contain either fat or carbohydrates, ultra-processed foods contain both. Foods that combine these macronutrients can activate both paths simultaneously, as seen in the mice from the study, potentially triggering an amplified reward response, which may help explain why such foods are tough to resist. In today's world, these high-calorie foods that contain this powerful combination are everywhere and easily accessible, overwhelming our brain's natural decision-making systems and making it harder to choose healthier options. Can therapy or medication help you stop craving junk food? The good news is that the brain is adaptable. Just as it learns to crave certain foods, it can also learn new responses, says Amy Egbert, an assistant professor of psychological sciences at the University of Connecticut. The first step is to identify the cause of the craving. Is it based on hunger, emotion, or something else? Once you understand the trigger, you can begin to unlearn the craving loop. That's where therapeutic approaches can come in. 'Exposure-based therapies and cognitive techniques are some of the most effective tools we have,' Egbert says. These methods can help individuals unpack how they developed certain food relationships and retrain their responses over time. (Are ultra-processed foods as addictive as cigarettes?) Small agrees that exposure therapy can help but says it doesn't generalize across flavors. Each one must be addressed individually, making the process labor-intensive. She adds that medications like GLP-1 agonists—including Ozempic—show promise in dampening the brain's reward signals after eating 'It can reduce the conditioning, reduce the dopamine release, and help reduce cravings in the brain,' Small says. However, it's worth noting that while these medications may be able to manage appetite in the short term, they don't address the root cause of overeating. 'Having a drug that dampens that is great because it helps us to manage our food intake. But, once you come off of it, the underlying problem is still there,' says de Lartigue. While researchers are still exploring exactly how these medications affect the brain's reward and memory systems, the best bet is to focus on how and why we eat what we do and address that alongside any pharmaceutical interventions. How to train your brain to resist junk food Modern life makes resisting cravings especially difficult. Our daily lives work against us as well–in many cases, we don't have the resources, such as time or money, to make healthier foods that are just as delicious to our systems. And complicating matters further is that the brain can form a food memory after just one exposure, making cravings nearly impossible to resist. (Can't stop thinking about your next meal? That's 'food noise'—here's how to stop it.) Still, de Lartigue argues that simply knowing that memory can drive our food intake is powerful. 'The knowledge that memory itself is a trigger for overeating can help you change your behavior. A lot of these things are subconscious, so if you bring awareness to them, you can interrupt the cycle of memory and craving,' he says. Cravings may feel impulsive or indulgent, but they're often built on deeply ingrained neural blueprints. The more we understand those patterns, the better chance we have to reshape them—and take back control over what we eat.
New York Times
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Order the Big Slice of Cake
In the past, I've been known to rail against restaurants that don't commit to dessert. I'm sorry, but if I could make it at home — looking at you olive oil cake — then it's not worth my time. (Though how expensive is olive oil cake about to become with these tariffs?) But I do make one exception. If a restaurant serves a Big Slice of Cake, I'm on board. Because nothing, and I mean nothing, is grander than a slab of layer cake. Psychologically, I think this is because unlike pie or an ice cream sundae, layer cakes are almost exclusively reserved for special occasions: birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, showers, that one scene in the 1996 cult classic 'Matilda.' But I'm of the mind that there's no need for an occasion to enjoy a slice: Take it from me, the co-worker who has been known to bring an entire birthday cake to the office for no reason. Here are a few spots where you can go all-in on big cake. Image The chocolaty Guinness cake sits under a nearly inch-high layer of cream cheese frosting. Credit... Heather Willensky for The New York Times There are a few cake slices I keep pictures of in my phone. The giant chocolate cake slice for two at Claud, and also the Guinness cake ($14) at Vinegar Hill House near Dumbo, which has been on the menu forever and a day and simply never gets old. Sure, you have to venture to what the former Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni called a 'tucked-away restaurant' in 'a tucked-away neighborhood.' But it's so worth it, especially after you've tucked away into that $47 red wattle pork chop with Cheddar jalapeño grits that's been on the menu since the restaurant opened in 2008. (Albeit at about twice the price these days.) The crumb of the Guinness cake is light, yet rich and chocolaty, and sits under a nearly inch-high layer of cream cheese frosting. The fact that you can 'split the G' while forking at your cake is just the foam on top of the beer. 72 Hudson Avenue (Water Street) Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
13-03-2025
- New York Times
The Last of the Winter Salads
I'm not someone who usually seeks out salads in my daily life, mostly because I fear they won't be filling enough and, in part, because I think the greens that fuel the salad industrial complex — romaine, little gem, iceberg, subpar arugula — are so, so boring. But when I'm playing Nikita the Restaurant Writer, I always order a salad. This is usually my last chance to enjoy something 'light' before the heaviness of the rest of the meal falls on me like a ton of delicious, buttery bricks. Which brings me to my point: In the course of my recent restaurant outings, I felt moved to declare that the best salads are winter salads. These depend on chicories, arriving in hues of purple, red, pink, green and yellow, and are dressed to the gods with citrus, vinaigrettes, nuts and any number of accouterments. A winter salad on its worst day is better than any Caesar or wedge on its best. So, I invite you to savor the last of the winter salads while there's still time — or at least seek out the most interesting salads possible the next time you're cosplaying a restaurant writer. Image A welcome showering of peanuts makes the confetti salad at Pitt's in Red Hook a crunchy delight. Credit... Heather Willensky for The New York Times The first winter salad that left a lasting impression on me came from the kitchen at Pitt's, Jeremy Salamon's three-month-old restaurant in Red Hook. Here, the salad is your last stop on the road to Sleepytown, because the menu is meat-forward and Southern-leaning (fried Saltines and gouda pimento cheese, pork chops, lamb rumps and the world's best pancake soufflé). The confetti salad ($17) is a tasty array of purple and yellow-green endive topped with a 'confetti' of diced green apples, Cheddar, biting red onions and pickled peppers tossed with a bracing vinaigrette. But the best part is the crunch of the roasted peanuts showered on the salad, a stunning reminder of the power of a toasty legume. It's everything a salad should be and then some. 347 Van Brunt Street (Wolcott Street) Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
