Go to JCI Insight
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Neuroscience
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • Vascular biology
    • All ...
  • Videos
    • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
    • Video Abstracts
  • Reviews
    • View all reviews ...
    • Complement Biology and Therapeutics (May 2025)
    • Evolving insights into MASLD and MASH pathogenesis and treatment (Apr 2025)
    • Microbiome in Health and Disease (Feb 2025)
    • Substance Use Disorders (Oct 2024)
    • Clonal Hematopoiesis (Oct 2024)
    • Sex Differences in Medicine (Sep 2024)
    • Vascular Malformations (Apr 2024)
    • View all review series ...
  • Viewpoint
  • Collections
    • In-Press Preview
    • Clinical Research and Public Health
    • Research Letters
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Editorials
    • Commentaries
    • Editor's notes
    • Reviews
    • Viewpoints
    • 100th anniversary
    • Top read articles

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • Reviews
  • Review series
  • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • Video Abstracts
  • In-Press Preview
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Research Letters
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Editorials
  • Commentaries
  • Editor's notes
  • Reviews
  • Viewpoints
  • 100th anniversary
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
Was Feuerbach right: are we what we eat?
Giovanni Cizza, Kristina I. Rother
Giovanni Cizza, Kristina I. Rother
Published July 25, 2011
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2011;121(8):2969-2971. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI58595.
View: Text | PDF
Commentary

Was Feuerbach right: are we what we eat?

  • Text
  • PDF
Abstract

Food and stress are powerful modulators of the body-mind connection, which is imbalanced in obese individuals. Why do we choose chocolate over an apple when overworked and stressed, and why does comfort food make us feel better? Two independent studies in the JCI, one in this issue, home in on the role of stress on gut hormones and food choices and, conversely, on the effect of the intestinal system on modulation of brain activity by sadness. These studies broaden our understanding of the ties between food and mood and underscore promising targets for obesity treatments.

Authors

Giovanni Cizza, Kristina I. Rother

×

Figure 1

The body-mind connection: how emotions modulate food intake, and how food modulates emotions.

Options: View larger image (or click on image) Download as PowerPoint
The body-mind connection: how emotions modulate food intake, and how foo...
Left: Van Oudenhove et al. show in humans that gastric infusion of a fatty acid solution decreases experimentally induced sadness, as indicated by visual analog scores and neuroimaging (2). The underlying mechanisms may in part depend on CCK, as shown by a previous study (5). Right: Chuang et al. report that psychosocial stress in mice increases levels of ghrelin and corticosterone, while stimulating high-fat food–seeking behavior (3). Taken together, the results of these two studies underline the importance of bidirectional interactions between the gastrointestinal system and the brain.

Copyright © 2025 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

Sign up for email alerts