According to research by the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, there is a “genetic switch” in the DNA of Europeans that induces the consumption of foods rich in fat and alcoholic beverages.
The study, published in the Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, points to a substance called galanin as the cause of some voracious Western inclinations at the table. This neuropeptide, which develops its work in the hypothalamus, in the appetite center, is what induces the individual to compulsively eat fatty foods and alcohol. In the words of Alasdair Mackenzie, leader of the research team, galanin “is produced in an area of the brain that controls fear and anxiety. Thus, changes in the levels of the substance affect the emotional state of the individual.”
The galanin of Europeans works too much compared to that of individuals from other continents , such as Asians, for example, in whose DNA there is a lower presence of the substance. For Mackenzie the explanation for this singularity could be that in prehistory, “during the long winter, individuals with a weak switch would not have survived in Europe as well as those with a strong switch.” During these periods of deficiencies and cold, individuals had to survive on foods rich in fats and elaborated drinks, with which this genetic tendency would favor their survival.
Not just genetics
However, and according to Mackenzie himself, the environment is fundamental in eating behavior. The adaptation to the European culture of Asians, for example, can favor the acquisition of eating habits and problems typical of Europeans.
For the doctor Scott Davidson, discoverer of the “switch”, the discovery will help in the future to “identify potential drugs that could be used to develop a new generation of antidepressants as well as others that reduce the craving for greasy food and alcohol.”
