198. Dynorphins: This Brain Chemical Is Why You’re Addicted to Junk Food

The same brain circuits involved in drug and alcohol addiction are hijacked by ultra-processed foods, and dynorphins are the key players. These peptides attach to kappa opioid receptors, initially reducing dopamine and creating dysphoria that drives you to seek more food rewards. Scientific research shows that blocking these receptors reduces binge eating in animal studies, offering hope for new therapeutic approaches to food addiction. Join the Ultimate Human VIP community for Gary Brecka's proven wellness protocols! https://bit.ly/4ai0Xwg Thank you to our partners H2TABS: “ULTIMATE10” FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/4hMNdgg BODYHEALTH: “ULTIMATE20” FOR 20% OFF: http://bit.ly/4e5IjsV BAJA GOLD: "ULTIMATE10" FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/3WSBqUa EIGHT SLEEP: SAVE $350 ON THE POD 4 ULTRA WITH CODE “GARY”: https://bit.ly/3WkLd6E COLD LIFE: THE ULTIMATE HUMAN PLUNGE: https://bit.ly/4eULUKp WHOOP: JOIN AND GET 1 FREE MONTH!: https://bit.ly/3VQ0nzW MASA CHIPS: 20% OFF FIRST ORDER: https://bit.ly/40LVY4y VANDY: “ULTIMATE20” FOR 20% OFF: https://bit.ly/49Qr7WE AION: “ULTIMATE10” FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/4h6KHAD A-GAME: “ULTIMATE15” FOR 15% OFF: http://bit.ly/4kek1ij CARAWAY: “ULTIMATE” FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/3Q1VmkC HEALF: 10% OFF YOUR ORDER: https://bit.ly/41HJg6S BIOPTIMIZERS: “ULTIMATE” FOR 15% OFF: https://bit.ly/4inFfd7 RHO NUTRITION: “ULTIMATE15” FOR 15% OFF: https://bit.ly/44fFza0 GOPUFF: GET YOUR FAVORITE SNACK!: https://bit.ly/4obIFDC GENETIC TEST: ⁠https://bit.ly/3Yg1Uk9 Watch the “Ultimate Human Podcast” every Tuesday & Thursday at 9AM EST: YouTube: https://bit.ly/3RPQYX8 Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3RQftU0 Connect with Gary Brecka Instagram: https://bit.ly/3RPpnFs TikTok: https://bit.ly/4coJ8fo X: https://bit.ly/3Opc8tf Facebook: https://bit.ly/464VA1H LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/4hH7Ri2 Website: https://bit.ly/4eLDbdU Merch: https://bit.ly/4aBpOM1 Newsletter: https://bit.ly/47ejrws Ask Gary: https://bit.ly/3PEAJuG Timestamps 00:00 Intro of Show 01:01 Role of Dynorphins on Our Health 05:30 Cause of Binge Eating/ Food Addiction 08:00 Impulsivity as a Personality Trait 10:30 Brain Chemistry and Dysphoria 13:00 How to Reduce Impulsive Eating 15:30 Join the Ultimate Human VIP Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not provide medical advice. It is not intended for diagnosing or treating any health condition. Always consult a licensed healthcare professional before making health or wellness decisions. Gary Brecka is the owner of Ultimate Human, LLC which operates The Ultimate Human podcast and promotes certain third-party products used by Gary Brecka in his personal health and wellness protocols and daily life and for which Ultimate Human LLC and / or Gary Brecka directly or indirectly holds an economic interest or receives compensation. Accordingly, statements made by Gary Brecka and others (including on The Ultimate Human podcast) may be considered promotional in nature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Gary Brecka?

  We all know that our favorite fast foods or processed snacks are bad for us. But for some reason, we keep going back to them. It turns out there might be a small, silent chemical reason for that. It's a special group of chemicals called dinorphins. We're going to explore these brain chemicals and see how they influence our eating habits, especially when it comes to tempting junk food and those addictive ultra-processed snacks. Dynorphins are powerful players in regulating when or how much we eat, and how our bodies manage that energy. Some new research found that injecting specific dinorphin into the brain of mammals caused them to eat more. But it didn't mess with anything else. Dynorphins's job is even more complicated than normal eating. It turns out they play a much bigger role in impulsive eating than you might think.

• 0:45Gary Brecka?

  So exactly what do dinorphins do?

• 1:01Gary Brecka?

  We all know that our favorite fast foods or processed snacks are bad for us. But for some reason, we keep going back to them. It turns out there might be a small, silent chemical reason for that. These peptides are found in our daily diet and play a huge role in why we keep eating junk food. I'm Gary Brecka, and you're listening to the Ultimate Human Podcast, where we dig into the real science of human performance, longevity, and disease prevention. Today, we're going over something quite fascinating. It's a special group of chemicals called dinorphins. Now, if you're wondering what dinorphins are, don't worry. We're going to explore these brain chemicals and see how they influence our eating habits, especially when it comes to tempting junk food and those addictive ultra-processed snacks.

• 1:44Gary Brecka?

  Spoiler alert: It turns out they play a much bigger role in impulsive eating than you might think. So what exactly do dinorphins do? They latch on to what are called kappa opioid receptors, or Coors for short. These receptors are sprinkled all over the brain, including areas that are very involved in reward and feeding. These areas are control centers for when and why we eat. Dynorphins aren't floating around aimlessly. They help regulate how much we want to eat and even how our body handles energy once that food gets inside. Some new research found that injecting specific dynorphin into the brain of mammals caused them to eat more, but it didn't mess with anything else they were doing, like moving around or resting.

• 2:26Gary Brecka?

  This told researchers that dynorphins play a targeted and specific role in triggering appetite without being involved in other behaviors. They also found that various parts of the dynorphin molecule and different dynorphins can stimulate appetite. That revealed the brain as a backup system to make sure that your feeding behavior gets activated properly. But the research has gone even further. Scientists bred special mice that don't produce dynorphins at all and then fed them high-fat diets, the kind of diet that's much more popular nowadays with these highly-processed options. These knockout mice ended up getting much heavier than the normal mice, despite eating the same amount or even less in some cases.

• 3:08Gary Brecka?

  This tells us that dynorphins are more involved than only making us hungry. They also play a part in how the body controls weight, metabolism, and how efficiently energy is used from food. Usually, if you burn more calories than you intake, you lose weight. That rule gets a little loose here. Without dynorphins, the body loses some of its ability to balance energy intake and weight gain, possibly because dynorphins affect how our cells produce and use energy. It's pretty striking, especially when you consider the environment we live in today, where junk food is everywhere and metabolic problems like obesity are on the rise. A dynorphin's job is even more complicated than normal eating. It's also involved in some unique eating behaviors, like binge eating.

• 3:53Gary Brecka?

  This is the urge to eat way more than you intended, driven by emotional states or cravings. Dynorphins are right there in the mix. It works on those kappa opioid receptors to influence how rewarding food feels, specifically how much we want or crave it. Animal studies have shown that when drugs block these receptors, binge or compulsive eating drops, especially in animals prone to obesity. This overlaps quite a bit with what we know about addiction because the same brain circuits involved in drinking alcohol or using drugs also respond to these signals. This supports the growing idea that some people develop food addictions where hyper-processed foods kickoff cycles of craving, binging, and withdrawal-like feelings. Blocking these dinorphin signals

• 4:38Gary Brecka?

  doesn't just reduce overeating, but it also calms the bad feelings. It breaks the cycle of needing food to feel better, only to feel worse when it's not available. This makes the dinorphin core system a promising target for new treatments aimed at controlling impulsive, compulsive eating patterns. Speaking of impulsive eating, let's talk a bit more about impulsivity itself. Impulsivity is a personality trait. You might know people who tend to act without thinking much or want rewards right away without waiting. These traits are often linked to greater chances of food addiction and overeating. Animal studies have shown us that those with higher impulsivity are much more likely to engage in rapid uncontrollable eating binges. Now, dinorphins and their receptors step in here as well.

• 5:23Gary Brecka?

  This system dampens the activity of brain areas responsible for self-control, especially the prefrontal cortex, which is the same brain region you rely on say no when you want that extra cookie, but you know you probably shouldn't have it. When dinorphins are in high quantity, the brakes on these self-control areas weaken, meaning the temptation to go back for seconds or thirds wins even more often. This creates a perfect storm for impulsive eating, especially fueled by ultra-processed foods that are designed to be irresistible. So if you ever wonder why those chips, cookies, or fast food grab your attention, dinorphins might play a part in making it harder to resist. Now, if we dig even deeper, let's touch on brain chemistry and reward.

• 6:07Gary Brecka?

  Ultra-processed foods are experts at hacking our reward system. They flood our brain with dopamine in the nucleus accumbens, the feel-good hub, making you want more and more. But here's where dinorphins add another layer of complexity. They actually attach to the receptors in the brain, which then actually reduce dopamine release. You're brought down from that feel-good state. This leads to feelings of dysphoria, a kind of mild negative mood or dissatisfaction. Because you feel a little off, you may be pushed to eat more ultra-processed food to chase that dopamine hit again. As this happens over time, the brain adapts, so the negative feelings from dynorphins ramp up while dopamine's positive effect slows down. This relationship creates a cycle

• 6:52Gary Brecka?

  where you keep chasing that reward, but it feels less and less satisfying. Dynorphin influences other neurotransmitters like dopamine, acetylcholine, and glutamate, which help regulate how rewards are processed and how impulses are controlled. These widespread effects mess with how your brain balances wanting food and managing cravings, ultimately contributing to binge eating and loss of control. So what are some real-life solutions that are currently being developed to implement into daily life? Well, thanks to ongoing research, pharmacological blockade of kappa opioid receptors is starting to look like a promising approach to reduce compulsive eating behaviors. In animal studies, drugs that block these receptors reduce binge eating and seem to restore healthier reward balance.

• 7:37Gary Brecka?

  Genetic differences in how dynorphins and core are expressed might explain why some people struggle with food addiction and why treatments might need to be tailored to individuals. Looking ahead, researchers want to better understand how lifelong consumption of ultra-processed foods impacts dynorphin systems in humans and how this relates to obesity risk and impulsive eating. Also, broadening our knowledge of how dynorphins interact with other brain chemicals involved in this reward and impulse control will help paint a fuller picture. All of this will be crucial to developing smarter, more effective treatments. Summing it up, dynorphins are powerful players in regulating when or how much we eat and how our bodies manage that energy,

• 8:22Gary Brecka?

  especially in the context of today's high-fat, ultra-processed diets. They play a big part in why binge eating and compulsive eating happen by influencing brain reward systems and impulse control. Ultra-processed foods exploit this system, leading to cycles of craving and overeating that are hard to break. But with new research targeting dinorphin pathways, there's hope on the horizon for better interventions that address impulsive eating and food addiction, which could also help slow down rising obesity and metabolic disorders. If you're someone who loves learning about the science behind health and you want access to deeper dives like this, but live, then I want to personally invite you to my VIP community. Every single month, I go live with our VIPs in an exclusive Q and A where you can ask me anything.

• 9:07Gary Brecka?

  No gatekeepers, no fluff, just real answers backed by real data. And the best part? Our VIPs get to submit topics for podcast shorts, just like the one you heard. If you want to be a part of that group, get exclusive content, join the monthly calls, and help shape what we cover on this show, click the link below in the show notes and join us. It's the best way to go from listener to insider. We're not waiting for the next wonder drug or some miracle breakthrough. We're looking at what's already in nature, what your body already recognizes, and giving you the tools to take back control of your health. And that's just science.