tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92093403586351419.post7244400385627456570..comments2023-06-13T08:57:27.041-04:00Comments on Elle (as in "swell"): Betty Page-CrockerLindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12878867755707023587noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92093403586351419.post-76003686045225942672007-03-10T12:18:00.000-05:002007-03-10T12:18:00.000-05:00I think we learn to make a very direct connection ...I think we learn to make a very direct connection between food and love when we're nursed as infants. Breastfeeding stimulates oxytocin in the mother -- and presumably, looking at her baby while she bottlefeeds does, too. Her feeling of peace, contentment and love is transmitted to the baby, and the baby releases her own oxytocin, creating a bond and also just a very good feeling.<BR/><BR/>There's another connection between oxytocin and food, a more direct one. Oxytocin is directly related to satiety, that happy full-tummy feeling, which goes a long way toward explaining why we turn to food when we're lonely or sad.<BR/><BR/>When fat in food reaches the small intestine, it secretes a digestive hormone called cholecystokinin (CCK). CCK stimulates the vagus nerve, a major pathway sending messages back and forth between the body, the autonomic nervous system and the brain. Nerves from the mammary glands, uterus and skin, especially the chest, also connect to it. <BR/><BR/>CCK sends a message via the vagus nerve to the hypothalamus, which shoots down some oxytocin. The gut has as many oxytocin receptors as the brain, so the hormone causes its smooth muscles to contract, creating that replete feeling we call satiety or satisfaction. <BR/><BR/>The fattier the food, the more CCK and oxytocin is released. Potato chips, anyone?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com