Businesses set to tuck into smart foods

Smart foods that tell the brain you have eaten enough are set to hit the market in Europe.

A Dutch team has already started work on intelligent foods with a chemical that mimics the message our gut sends the brain when it is full.

Scientists hope their snacks could trick people into thinking they’re full after just a few bites. By sending the message earlier, the brain can be fooled into not overeating.

“We know nutrients interact with gut cells, which dispatch chemical messenger hormones to the brain to signal ‘stomach full’,” says endocrinologist Jens Holst of the University of Copenhagen.

“This messaging from our food to gut to brain is now being decoded.”

Holst is trying to find out exactly how the gut tells the brain it is full.

Combating obesity remains a major priority in certain countries, Australia included, so perhaps there’s an opportunity to get involved in this research and take it further.