Western Compulsion for Junk Food Linked to Climate?

A new study conducted by Scottish researchers suggests that climatic conditions have forced the genetic makeup of westerners to crave for more fatty food and alcohol compared to Asians.

Researchers from the University of Aberdeen revealed that they found the genetic switch which controls galanin gene, associated with hunger and thirst in the body, to be stronger among Europeans compared to Asians.

The researchers speculate that it was because of the colder climate in the region with only those who ate and drank more being able to withstand the harsher climate and live longer. Lead researcher Dr Alasdair MacKenzie said that historically people have always relied on fatty food and alcohol to provide them with extra calories.

"It is possible that during the winter individuals with the weaker switch may not have survived as well in Europe as those with the stronger switch and as a result those in the west have evolved to favour a high fat and alcohol-rich diet", Dr MacKenzie wrote in the report that has been published in the journal Neuropsychopharmocology.

Source: Medindia