You’re not fat, just manipulated: Delhi doctor proves how some foods hijack brain's reward system. What's the solution?

Cravings, especially for foods like pizza late at night, are often blamed on weak willpower. But senior Delhi surgeon Dr. Anshuman Kaushal—widely known on social media as The Angry Doc—says there’s more at play than just hunger. In a recent Instagram video, he explained how modern food engineering manipulates the brain’s reward system, making people eat even when they’re full.

The Brain’s “Food Noise”

“Wait, cravings? Yes or no? Have you ever wondered why your brain suddenly demands pizza at 11 p.m. right after dinner?” Dr. Kaushal begins, describing what he calls the “noisy neighborhood” of the mind.

He explains that this noise is not true hunger. “Food craving. But often it is not hunger, it's a neural drama. The human brain has a gossip network of hormones. Grein, the hunger hormone. It whispers. Leptin the satiety hormone tries to interrupt, but dopamine the pleasure king jumps in and says ignore them.”


This chatter between hormones and reward circuits, especially the hypothalamus and limbic system, creates what Dr. Kaushal terms “food noise.” Modern food companies have mastered this chaos, designing hyper-palatable foods with high sugar, fat, salt, and umami flavors that hijack the brain’s pleasure centers—similar to nicotine or cocaine.

Why the Brain Screams for More

In people dealing with obesity, binge eating, or insulin resistance, the dopamine response becomes desensitized. “So, the brain screams louder for the same pleasure hit. The noise increases. You are not eating because you are hungry. You are eating because silence feels uncomfortable,” Dr. Kaushal says.

Recent studies from Yale and Stanford confirm that this neural “volume” can be adjusted. GLP1-like interventions help stabilize hypothalamic signaling, not just by suppressing appetite but by quieting the mental FM channel that constantly plays food cues.

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A post shared by Dr Anshuman Kaushal MD FACS (@theangry_doc)

Outmaneuvering the Neural Drama

Dr. Kaushal likens the difference to behavior: “Earlier your brain was, you know, like a hungry toddler in a toy store. Now it is a calm adult scrolling Netflix without thinking about the food.”

He emphasizes that constant food thoughts are not a lack of willpower. “It is neurobiology. And now we are understanding that obesity is a neurometabolic disease. Follow to learn how your gut-brain hormones manipulate your cravings and how we can outsmart them scientifically because once you understand the noise you can control the volume.”


Understanding how hyper-engineered foods manipulate dopamine and hormonal signaling is key to regaining control over cravings. The first step is awareness: recognizing that late-night snacks may be the brain seeking a reward, not the stomach seeking nutrition. From there, targeted interventions—dietary, behavioral, and medical—can help “turn down the volume” of the brain’s constant food chatter.