Many people assume that being successful at dieting just requires some discipline. However, a new study found that the ability to lose weight while dieting is not entirely something we can control, since it largely depends on a person’s individual brain structure.
In a study published in the journal Cognitive Neuroscience, a team of scientists from Dartmouth College and Ohio State University examined a group of 36 chronic dieters using fMRI machines. The scientists then looked at the connections between the executive control and reward systems in the participants’ brains. They found that participants with lower body-fat percentages had an improved white matter pathway that connected the two systems in the brain, according to a statement.
“Individuals with reduced [white matter] integrity may have difficulty in overriding rewarding temptations, leading to a greater chance of becoming obese than those with higher structural integrity,” the study authors wrote.
At least now you know that dieting to lose weight isn’t totally dependent upon staying away from the free snacks at work.
