NewsMax Health and Wellness reports that high-calorie foods can become as addictive as cocaine or nicotine, and it could cause compulsive eating and obesity.
Understanding the condition and developing therapy to treat it is the concern doctors have now about fast foods. Also a concern is the extent to which these foods have captured the American consumer.
A study that involves rats found high-calorie foods can trigger an addiction-like response in the brain.
The study found that frequently overeating high-calorie foods cause decreased levels of a specific dopamine receptor, which is a chemical in the brain that allows a person to feel reward, has been reported in humans addicted to drugs.
“Obesity may be a form of compulsive eating. Other treatments in development for other forms of compulsion, for example drug addiction, may be very useful for the treatment of obesity,” researcher Paul Kenny of The Scripps Research Institute in Florida said in a telephone interview.
Obesity-related diseases cost the United States an estimated $150 billion each year, according to U.S. federal agencies. An estimated two-thirds of American adults and one-third of children are obese or overweight.
A group of scientists did a study of their own and bought all of the stuff that people really like. They bought Ding Dongs, cheesecake, bacon, sausage, the same things that you probably like as well but you know you shouldn’t eat them too often.
The doctors also bought healthy foods and devised a diet plan for three groups of rats. They wanted to understand how rats choose certain foods when given limited and unlimited access to high-calorie foods.
One group of rats ate a balanced and healthy diet. Another group had healthy foods but also had access to high-calorie foods for one hour of the day. Rats in the third group were fed healthy foods with unlimited access to high-calorie foods. The third group developed a desire for high-calorie food and munched on it all day. They quickly became obese.
The rats in this experiment had also been trained to expect a minor shock when exposed to a light. But when the rats that had unlimited access to high-calorie food were shown the light, they did not respond to the potential danger. Instead, they continued to eat their snacks.
This behavior is concerning because it suggests that people will behave the same way when they have unlimited access to high-calorie foods (fast foods) and will prefer those foods over healthy foods.
I noticed this type of behavior with my sister’s family. She worked and so often she bought fast food for dinner. While I was visiting her, she made a pot of stew that looked and smelled wonderful. I could hardly wait for dinner. However, her kids complained and ate very little of their dinner. She said they do that often because they would rather have fast food for dinner.
I noticed the same thing in myself when I was eating out often because of a busy schedule. I had to recognize my own addiction to fast food and make myself cook at home. Also, I had read several years ago that sometimes fast food places add some sort of an additive to their food that makes a person overeat and come back often for more of their foods.
With my own experience with fast food, my sister’s problems with her kids eating healthy food, and the report I read about food additives in fast foods to encourage overeating, I believe this study on rats and that high-calorie foods are addictive. You may find the same situation in your family. I welcome your comments or experiences with high-calorie foods.
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