In this illustration, fat, sugar, and the combination of both (chocolate) navigate a gut-brain maze. The blue path represents the sugar route, the green path signifies the fat route, and the yellow path represents the combined impact of fats and sugars. Each path leads to the brain, but the combined route has a greater impact, triggering heightened dopamine release in the reward circuits, emphasizing the synergistic effect of fat-sugar combinations on neural responses.