Can food urges be irresistible?

body has a physiological predisposition to balance its energy needs with its desire for food. The hormones and brain communicate to determine when an individual is full, with the brain issuing the signal that says "Stop eating" with the help of information it receives from hormones. But prolonged food shortages, chronic stress, prenatal nutrition, early exercise patterns and other factors can affect how the brain orchestrates this balance. In places where food is scarce, the brain may encourage higher consumption, especially of high fat and sugary foods, even when the food supply becomes more abundant. That's an adaptive response that helps the body weather periods of food shortages

brain may also respond to stress in the same way, encouraging the intake of high fat and sugary foods - comfort foods - that can result in obesity that is nearly impossible to reverse.