ABOVE: © ISTOCK.COM, MARTINA SIMONAZZI
Anticipating something tasty can lead to a watering mouth and grumbling stomach, but these familiar responses aren’t the only ways the body prepares for nourishment. According to a study published today (November 15) in Cell, sensing food primes mice to process incoming nutrients by directions from the central nervous system to the liver.
“It’s a great tour de force combining [several strategies] in one paper to then identify pathways by which food anticipation could alter hepatic metabolism,” says Christoph Buettner, a physician and researcher at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York who was not involved in the study. “It’s interesting that even before your food hits your tongue or ends up in your stomach, there are changes that prepare an organism for nutrient storage.”
Two types of cells in the brain’s hypothalamus have been shown in previous studies to play opposing ...
