Episode 295: Dr. Thomas Sambrook | Why We Eat When We're Full - Food Cues & the Brain

Why do we keep reaching for food we don't even want? In this episode, Dr. Vera Tarman talks with Dr. Thomas Sambrook, lecturer in psychology at the University of East Anglia, about his research on how the brain responds to food cues within milliseconds, and why that response can keep firing long after we're full. Dr. Sambrook holds two PhDs, one in primatology from the University of St Andrews and one in cognitive neuroscience from the University of Plymouth. His work uses computational modeling and brain-tracking methods to study how we learn habits, make decisions, and respond to reward and punishment, most recently with a focus on primary reinforcers like food and pain. In his latest study, hungry participants learned to work for two foods, one sweet and one savory. Halfway through, they ate their fill of just one. They said they no longer wanted that food, but their brains still produced the same strong reward signal when they saw a cue for it. What we consciously want and what the brain does when it sees a cue can be two very different things. For anyone who has said "I don't even want this, so why am I eating it?", this conversation offers a clear, shame-free explanation rooted in biology. In this episode, we explore: Dr. Sambrook's path from primatology to studying reward, habit, and food What makes a behavior a habit, and where habit ends and addiction begins Devaluation insensitivity, and why it may explain eating in the absence of hunger The brain's reward signal firing just as strongly for a food you're full of as for one you still want Why a cue can be as rewarding as the food itself, and the evolutionary reasons for that Whether advertising and cues could override the "food noise" reduction from GLP-1 medications Why fast, cue-driven responses beat slow, deliberate decisions Incubation of craving, and why it may be a separate route from cue-driven behavior Individual differences in cue reactivity, including possible links to ADHD Why willpower-based "keep it in the cupboard and just resist" approaches tend to fail Policy parallels with tobacco: limiting the advertising and visibility of ultra-processed foods Key takeaways: You can't control the brain's first response to a cue. That response is automatic and inherited from millions of years of evolution. It is not a character flaw. Practice cue hygiene. Remove trigger foods from your environment and limit exposure where you can. In recovery language, this is people, places, and things. Replace the habit; don't just fight it. When a cue hits, redirect the action. Keep a satisfying, healthy alternative within reach, such as an orange that keeps your hands busy. Eat without multitasking. Eating while distracted trains automatic eating. When you eat, just eat. Let go of the shame. Watching yourself eat something you don't want is the old reward machinery at work, not a personal failing. 🔗 Connect with Dr. Sambrook: Thomas Sambrook - University of East Anglia 🔗 Connect with the Food Junkies Podcast: Find us on Apple Music, Spotify, and any other platform where you listen to podcasts. ✉️E