HHP faculty Dr. Tracey Ledoux was recently featured on UH news for her research on using blood glucose readings to learn signs of hunger and combat obesity. The study conducted at HHP's Texas Obesity Research Center equipped chronic dieters with blood glucose monitoring devices. Participants were required to use the device to confirm their hunger before eating. This prevented participants from using external cues or negative emotions as triggers for consuming food. By the end of the study, most participants had lost weight and were less likely to eat because of external reasons.

Dr. Tracey Ledoux

Below is an excerpt from UH News

“They don’t really know what hunger is. They confuse it with negative emotions, external eating cues or social cues,” said Tracey Ledoux, UH assistant professor and researcher with the UH Texas Obesity Research Center (TORC).  “It's thinking you’re hungry when you’re really just bored or sad. These negative cues may prompt them to sit down for a meal or a snack and feel compelled to overeat. It’s having feelings of ‘I know I shouldn't eat this, but.’”

Ledoux says many women and men who fit this category usually are chronic dieters, who lose and gain weight following structured diet plans, perhaps because the plans focus on improving restraint rather than on an internal strategy to eat only when hungry and stop when full.

Read the entire article on UH news

Visit the Texas Obesity Research Center (TORC) website