In defense of pleasure: We need to rethink food reward and obesity

Is overeating driven by hedonism? We argue that the pleasure of eating food is not a driver of the obesity epidemic, but rather the regular consumption of an unhealthy diet blunts sensitivity to interoceptive signals that drive food reward.

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Publication Details

Journal
PLoS Biology
Published
2025-11-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003497
Primary Topic
Eating Disorders and Behaviors
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

In defense of pleasure: We need to rethink food reward and obesity

Dana M. Small, J.J. Sung
PLoS Biology
Eating Disorders and Behaviors
article

In defense of pleasure: We need to rethink food reward and obesity

Dana M. Small, J.J. Sung
article en

Abstract

Is overeating driven by hedonism? We argue that the pleasure of eating food is not a driver of the obesity epidemic, but rather the regular consumption of an unhealthy diet blunts sensitivity to interoceptive signals that drive food reward.

PLoS BiologyVol. 23(11)
McGill University Health Centre (CA), Centre for Research on Brain Language and Music (CA), Modern Diet and Physiology Research Center (US), McGill University (CA)
Openalex Percentile: Top 54%
Eating Disorders and Behaviors
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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