Why people get hungry when drunk

A new study by London's Francis Crick Institute suggests that alcohol activates a hormone in the brain linked to our appetites. In the experiment, mice were injected with alcohol in their abdomen once a day for three days. It was the equivalent of two bottles of wine, or 10 pints of beer to a human. They found that both male and female mice consumed up to 25 per cent more food than the sober control group. Agouti-related protein (AgRP) neurons, which has been previously linked to mice' feeding cycles, were also measured. The study showed an increase in the amount of electrical activity when the mice had consumed alcohol, suggesting a link.
Human hunger controls do also include AgRP but it has yet to be tested if the controls respond to alcohol in same way as mice. The existence of the link between overeating and booze is not new, but scientists are now one step closer to why. According to the study, the researchers were surprised to find the increased eating was more pronounced on the second day.
For more information, go to http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14014