Overeating is an issue that millions of people struggle with.

It can be so hard to enjoy smaller portions because the foods taste so good, right? Well, according to a recent study, the foods taste may not actually be what is driving you to eat more of it.

It likely isn’t the smell either.

Instead, the study says that it is the act of swallowing.

The paper was published in the journal Current Biology and found that swallowing causes a release of serotonin (the happy hormone), which makes your brain want to do it more.

The paper explains by saying:

“We identify a gut-brain feedback loop in which Piezo-expressing mechanosensory neurons in the esophagus convey food passage information to a cluster of six serotonergic neurons in the brain. Together with information on food value, these central serotonergic neurons enhance the activity of serotonin receptor 7-expressing motor neurons that drive swallowing.”

Apparently the esophagus has a ‘stretch receptor’ that can detect when food is being swallowed. When this occurs, it sends signals to the brain to say that it is processing the food.

In a press release, it is said that this is an important finding that may have an impact on the treatment of eating disorders and other issues:

“If [that “stretch receptor”] is defective, it could potentially cause eating disorders such as anorexia or binge eating. It may therefore be possible that the results of this basic research could also have implications for the treatment of such disorders.”

This really calls into question a lot of why people overeat, and it could be instrumental in being able to treat diseases like obesity, anorexia, diabetes, etc, in the future.

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