Alcohol switches the brain into starvation mode, increasing hunger and appetite, scientists have discovered.
In tests on mice, alcohol activated the brain signals that tell the body to eat more food.
The UK researchers, who report their findings in the journal Nature Communications, believe the same is probably true in humans.
It would explain why many people say they eat more when they have had a few drinks.
Rather than loss of restraint, it is a neuronal response, the Francis Crick Institute team says.
The mice were given generous doses of alcohol for three days – a dose being equivalent to around 18 units or a bottle-and-a-half of wine for a person.
The alcohol caused increased activity in neurons called AGRP. These are the neurons that are fired when the body experiences starvation.
The mice ate more than normal too.
When the researchers repeated the experiment but blocked the neurons with a drug, the mice did not eat as much which, the researchers say, suggests that AGRP neurons are responsible for the alcohol-induced eating.
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-38562048