Chapter 12 - Hunger, Eating, and Health

Question 1

Set point

Answer 1

The value of a physiological parameter that is maintained constantly by physiological or behavioral mechanisms; for example, the body’s energy resources are often assumed to be maintained at a constant optimal level by compensatory changes in hunger

Question 2

Digestion

Answer 2

The process by which food is broken down and absorbed through the lining of the gastrointestinal tract

Question 3

Gut microbiome

Answer 3

The bacteria and other organisms that live inside our gastrointestinal tract

Question 4

Lipids

Answer 4

Fats

Question 5

Amino acids

Answer 5

The building blocks of proteins

Question 6

Glucose

Answer 6

A simple sugar that is the breakdown product of complex carbohydrates; it is the body’s primary, directly utilizable source of
energy

Question 7

Cephalic phase

Answer 7

The metabolic phase during which the body prepares for food that is about to be absorbed

Question 8

Absorptive phase

Answer 8

The metabolic phase during which the body is operating on the energy from a recently consumed meal and is storing the excess as body fat, glycogen, and proteins

Question 9

Fasting phase

Answer 9

The metabolic phase that begins when energy from the preceding meal is no longer sufficient to meet the immediate needs of the body and during which energy is extracted from fat and glycogen stores

Question 10

Insulin

Answer 10

A pancreatic hormone that facilitates the entry of glucose into cells and the conversion of bloodborne fuels to forms that can be stored

Question 11

Glucagon

Answer 11

A pancreatic hormone that promotes the release of free fatty acids from adipose tissue, their conversion to ketones, and the use of both as sources of energy

Question 12

Gluconeogenesis

Answer 12

The process by which protein is converted to glucose

Question 13

Free fatty acids

Answer 13

The main source of the body’s energy during the fasting phase; released from adipose tissue in response to high levels of glucagon

Question 14

Ketones

Answer 14

Breakdown products of free fatty acids that are used by muscles as a source of energy during the fasting phase

Question 15

Set-point assumption

Answer 15

The assumption that hunger is typically triggered by a decline in the body’s energy reserves below their set point

Question 16

Negative feedback systems

Answer 16

Systems in which feedback from changes in one direction elicit compensatory effects in the opposite direction

Question 17

Homeostasis

Answer 17

A stable internal environment

Question 18

Glucostatic theory

Answer 18

The theory that eating is controlled by deviations from a hypothetical blood glucose set point

Question 19

Lipostatic theory

Answer 19

The theory that eating is controlled by deviations from a hypothetical body-fat set point

Question 20

Positive-incentive theory

Answer 20

Theories holding that the primary factor in most cases of addiction is the craving for the positive-incentive (expected pleasure-producing) properties of the drug

Question 21

Positive-incentive value

Answer 21

The anticipated pleasure associated with a particular action, such as taking a drug

Question 22

Satiety

Answer 22

The motivational state that terminates a meal when there is food remaining

Question 23

Nutritive density

Answer 23

Calories per unit volume of a food

Question 24

Sham eating

Answer 24

The experimental protocol in which an animal chews and swallows food, after which the food immediately exits its body through a tube implanted in its esophagus

Question 25

Appetizer effect

Answer 25

The increase in hunger that is produced by the consumption of small amounts of food

Question 26

Cafeteria diet

Answer 26

A diet offered to experimental animals that is composed of a wide variety of palatable food

Question 27

Sensory-specific satiety

Answer 27

The fact that the consumption of a particular food produces greater satiety for foods of the same taste than for other food

Question 28

Ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH)

Answer 28

The area of the hypothalamus that was once thought to be a satiety center

Question 29

Lateral hypothalamus

Answer 29

The area of the hypothalamus once thought to be the feeding center

Question 30

Hyperphagia

Answer 30

Excessive eating

Question 31

Dynamic phase

Answer 31

The first phase of the VMH syndrome, characterized by grossly excessive eating and rapid weight gain

Question 32

Static phase

Answer 32

The second phase of the VMH syndrome, during which the obese animal maintains a stable level of obesity

Question 33

Aphagia

Answer 33

Complete cessation of eating

Question 34

Adipsia

Answer 34

Complete cessation of drinking

Question 35

Lipogenesis

Answer 35

The production of body fat

Question 36

Lipolysis

Answer 36

The breakdown of body fat

Question 37

Paraventricular nuclei

Answer 37

Hypothalamic nuclei that play a role in eating and synthesizing hormones released by the posterior pituitary

Question 38

Arcuate nucleus

Answer 38

A nucleus of the hypothalamus that contains high concentrations of both leptin receptors and insulin receptors

Question 39

Duodenum

Answer 39

The upper portion of the intestine through which most of the glucose and amino acids are absorbed into the bloodstream

Question 40

Cholecystokinin (CKK)

Answer 40

A peptide that is released by the gastrointestinal tract and is thought to function as a satiety signal

Question 41

Prader-Willi syndrome

Answer 41

A neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by insatiable appetite and exceptionally slow metabolism

Question 42

Diet-induced thermogenesis

Answer 42

The homeostasis-defending increases in body temperature that are associated with increases in body fat

Question 43

Basal metabolic rate

Answer 43

The rate at which energy is utilized to maintain bodily processes when resting

Question 44

Settling point

Answer 44

The point at which various factors that influence the level of some regulated function (such as body weight) achieve an equilibrium

Question 45

Leaky-barrel model

Answer 45

An analogy for the settling-point model of body-gat regulation

Question 46

Nonexercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT)

Answer 46

Nonexercise activity thermogenesis, which is generated by activities such as fidgeting and the maintenance of posture and muscle tone

Question 47

Gut microbiome

Answer 47

The bacteria and other organisms that live inside our gastrointestinal tract

Question 48

Leptin

Answer 48

A protein normally synthesized in fat cells; it is thought to act as a negative feedback signal normally released by fat stores to decrease appetite and increase fat metabolism

Question 49

Ob/ob mice

Answer 49

Mice that are homozygous for the mutant ob gene; their body fat produces no leptin, and they become very obese

Question 50

Subcutaneous fat

Answer 50

Fat stored under the skin

Question 51

Visceral fat

Answer 51

Fat stored around the internal organs of the body cavity

Question 52

Neuropeptide Y

Answer 52

A gut hunger peptide

Question 53

Melanocortins

Answer 53

A class of peptides that includes the gut satiety peptide α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone

Question 54

Melanocortin system

Answer 54

Neurons in the arcuate nucleus that release melanocortins

Question 55

Gastric bypass

Answer 55

A surgical procedure for treating obesity in which the intestine is cut and connected to the upper portion of the stomach, which is isolated from the rest of the stomach by a row of staples

Question 56

Adjustable gastric band procedure

Answer 56

A surgical procedure for treating obesity in which an adjustable band is implanted around the stomach to reduce the flow of food

Question 57

Anorexia nervosa

Answer 57

An eating disorder of underconsumption that results in health-threatening weight loss

Question 58

Bulimia nervosa

Answer 58

An eating disorder characterized by periods of not eating interrupted by bingeing followed by purging