More than two in three adults in the United States are considered overweight or obese, with substantial biomedical and clinical evidence suggesting that chronic overconsumption of a “western diet” – foods consisting high levels of sugars and fats – is a major cause of this epidemic.
New research by scientists at the University of California, Riverside now shows that chronic consumption of a western diet leads to overeating and obesity due to elevations in “peripheral endocannabinoid signaling.”
The endocannabinoid system is located throughout the mammalian body, including the brain and all peripheral organs, and participates in the control of many physiological functions in the body, including food intake, energy balance, and reward. It is comprised of lipid signaling molecules called endocannabinoids—which can be thought of as the body’s own “natural cannabis”—that bind to cannabinoid receptors located on cells throughout the body.
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