Weight Loss & the Thalamus Gland

Many dietitians and medical researchers have looked for connections between the brain and weight loss to explain the reason why even drastic changes in eating habits may not be effective for some obese patients. The hypothalamus, also called the thalamus gland because of its function in releasing hormones in the brain, holds the key to a number of questions about how the body responds to dieting, both in terms of food cravings and weight loss, but still leaves many questions for researchers to continue to study.

Identification

• The hypothalamus is a portion of the brain located beneath the thalamus and is responsible for regulating a number of other functions of the body's systems. The hypothalamus, or thalamus gland, and weight loss are closely related as a result of the hypothalamus' regulation of both the brain's desire to consume food and drink and the body's ability to process the food and drink consumed. The hypothalamus also regulates the overall homeostasis of the body, or the body's ability to maintain its normal level of functioning, and is sometimes referred to as the master brain for this reason.

Function

• The brain and weight loss are intimately connected in the way that the hypothalamus processes sensory inputs such as taste and smell to determine appetite. The thalamus gland releases hormones that regulate not only feelings of hunger and fullness, but also how foods taste and whether or not foods and drinks are satisfying.

Time Frame

• Because the hypothalamus takes up to 20 minutes to trigger the body feeling full after eating, some diet pills try to take advantage of the relationship between the brain and weight loss by shortening the time needed for the hypothalamus to recognize feeling full. Other nutritionists recommend eating more slowly to allow sufficient time for the brain to stop sending impulses to eat.

Effects

• The brain also regulates the connection between metabolism and weight loss. The set-point theory of the hypothalamus activity explains why changes in eating habits may not necessarily result in a change in weight, but instead are neutralized by shifts in metabolic rate. Overfeeding in laboratory mice has been found to trigger the release of the protein leptin from fat cells, which stimulates the metabolism and reduces appetite, while underfed mice experience a lower metabolic rate and increased appetite. The hypothalamus regulates the changes in metabolism and appetite, while the OB gene (which exists in both mice and humans) triggers the release of leptin. A defective OB gene has been found to be the cause of obesity in some patients.

Considerations

• The relationship between metabolism and weight loss can also be influenced by a number of irregularities or external factors. Thalamus gland disorders, as well as pituitary gland tumors, may cause a malfunction in the brain's regulation of eating and drinking impulses. Such disorders may cause either increased or decreased feeling of need for food, sleep or sexual activity. Other factors that may influence the behavior of the hypothalamus (and thus weight loss) are stress level, natural daylight, steroids, stimuli in the blood (such as insulin) or external to the body (such as smells) and illness.