Overeating Isn’t About Willpower: Science Shows It’s Manipulated by Food Design
Many of us suffer from overeating and keep blaming ourselves, as if we don’t have the strong willpower to control the habit. However, new research suggests that the triggers are far more complex than just willpower; this is actually a tactical hijacking of our minds.
Your brain offers natural stop signals, but the modern food design overrides the whole brain system. They hijack how the brain functions properly, so you don’t receive a signal, and continue eating. Will this pattern continue? Can’t we stop it? How to identify the triggers: Why am I overeating? Let’s break down all these questions.
What Stats Say About The Phenomena?
Before we dive deep into the core triggers, let’s have a closer look at the stats. According to many studies, an average American’s diet accounts for 57% of daily calorie intake from ultra-processed food.
While consuming ultra-processed foods, consumers consume at least 508 more calories per day, even when the macronutrient profile is identical for both. A 2025 study published in Cell Metabolism demonstrated this.
In a modern Japanese replication study, it was found that despite no increase in hunger, a surplus intake of over 800 calories per day was reached. If we compare the current global obesity rate to 1975, it has tripled, and ultra-processed food is considered a key contributor.
How Your Mind Has Been Hijacked and Why You Don’t Stop?
Scientific Mechanism: Satiety Override
Ultra-processed food usually comes in soft textures. When you eat such foods, you never feel full or experience a later stage of eating.
Such foods delay your brain’s satiety response. As they have high energy density, they make you feel energized and amped up for a limited time frame. With high dopamine release, you continue eating while experiencing a boosted mood and feeling happy.
This entire scenario creates a reward system:
- You eat
- You feel happy
- You eat more
This cycle continues just like a drug addiction.
According to scientific research, a hormone named GLP-1 suppresses appetite. However, the UPF’s early absorption disrupts the proper functional cycle of GLP-1, leading to uncontrolled hunger.
Dr. Filippa Jull, who is a nutritional epidemiologist, stated that “Ultra-processed foods are designed to hijack appetite regulation. They bypass fullness cues and foster addictive eating behavior.”
Neuroscience Breakthrough: Food Memory Neurons
A 2025 study from Monell Chemical Senses Center discovered some neurons. They named them hippocampal neurons, which are responsible for storing memories related to sugar and fat, meaning they help you recall your experiences with different types of food.
They store both emotional and spatial contexts linked to any food you eat, and then they reinforce the cravings and hunger, according to them. That’s quite dangerous, as it leads to habitual eating without considering the expected risks.
Dr. Guillaumme de Lartigue of Monell Center stated that “We’ve pinpointed a specific population of neurons in the hippocampus that not only forms food-related memories but also drives our eating behavior.”
In experiments on mice, when doctors silenced these neurons, the mice reduced their sugar intake by 40%. Ultimately, they didn’t gain more weight, but even reduced their existing weight, despite still eating a high-fat diet.
Behavioral Insight: Perception Drives Overeating
Leeds University conducted research involving around 3,000 UK adults and 400 foods. As a result of this study, they discovered one new phenomenon named perceived indulgence.
They noticed that foods perceived as “sweet” or “fatty” were more likely to trigger hedonic eating. They also observed that even the actual classification of all the foods was unclear, and no nutritional content details were provided.
People just choose the food that their brain signals to choose based on the brain’s “expectation, reward system”.
One Lead Researcher of the Behavioral Neuroscience Lab said, “The brain doesn’t just respond to nutrients, it responds to expectations. Packaging and perception can override biological satiety.”
Overeating Is Actually Designed By A Powerful Food Design
Your mind manipulates, but you don’t know. Food industries manipulate, but you don’t know. Now you have to consider how your brain can misinterpret things. Analyze how it forms preferences and dislikes. Make things simple, gain more control over your brain functions, and eliminate the curse of overeating.
