We’ve all been there. Stumbling home after a night out on the piss to find ourselves magnetically drawn to the nearest kebab shop.
You probably haven’t given it a moment’s thought. Eat first, ask questions later, right?
If anyone’s ever quizzed you about why this is the case – and frankly, why would they? – you’ve probably shrugged and just said ‘uh, science or something, I don’t know’.
Well, it turns out someone has looked into the ‘science or something’ behind it all.
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As reported by the BBC, tests on mice have found that alcohol tells the brain to eat more – essentially putting into effect a kind of survival mode.
There’s no kebab-specific finding in the study, but any foodstuff which is (a) flavoursome and (b) easily available will tick the necessary boxes when you’re in that sort of situation.
As the broadcaster explains:
‘The alcohol caused increased activity in neurons called AGRP. These are the neurons that are fired when the body experiences starvation.
‘When the researchers repeated the experiment but blocked the neurons with a drug, the mice did not eat as much which, the researchers say, suggests that AGRP neurons are responsible for the alcohol-induced eating.’
So, in short, that’s why you can eat a full meal and consume hundreds of calories in the form of alcoholic drinks, yet still have the urge to wolf down a doner on your way home.
