I don't think anyone wants to be told they're an addict — the word conjures up images of drugs, uncontrollable needs, and interventions. Oh, and add to that potato chips, cookies, and candy bars. Sound odd? A new study says that eating junk food can fuel an addiction that is on par with what a cocaine or heroin junkie feels.
The study, conducted by the Scripps Research Institute, followed the behavioral patterns of lab rats that were given an unlimited supply of junk food. Over time, the rats had less sensitivity in their brain's pleasure centers and needed to up the amount of high-fat and high-calorie foods they were eating, in effect, to get high. Not surprisingly, the rats got really fat too — doubling their initial weight.
To find out what this study means for people, read more.
To see how dependent the rats became on junk food, the scientists decided to punish them with an electric shock whenever they ate foods high in fat. The rats who had been eating the junk food for at least five days chowed down despite the electric shocks, and rats not exposed to junk food quickly stopped. I can't imagine any kind of food that's good enough to get electrocuted over!
Perhaps the biggest telltale sign happened when the rats were deprived of junk food. Instead of eating the healthy food replacement, they stopped eating altogether, and some went two weeks without food — can you say withdrawals? In the end, scientists concluded that the brain responds to junk food in the same way it responds to drugs.
Obviously, rats aren't people, but scientists say the study may be extremely telling about the effect a person's diet has on their brain. The fear is that a continuous diet high in fat and calories can permanently alter how a person responds to food. Just another reason to put down the doughnuts.
Schuh
This is scary! I'm so glad I don't eat fast/junk food!
1This doesn't surprise me.
Also, on an unrelated note, I hate animal testing. I wish they would have done this study on humans, instead.
2I still maintain that junk food eaters are making a consciousness choice to do so. Maybe people are wired different but telling someone they can't control their eating is dangerous, IMO. I am interested to see how this study translates to human subjects.
3Hmmm. Just read more about the study in the link above, and the scientist fed the rats with "typical Western fare, including Ho Hos, sausage, pound cake, bacon and cheesecake." Now I'm wondering how the controls were done in this study...isn't it possible that the results are from the sugar content of the foods? Or the high sodium? Or other common preservatives found in these 'junk foods'? It's interesting nevertheless, but I think there could've potentially been some confounding factors.
Obviously in people, there are many other factors at work, including the psychology of eating unhealthily - emotional eating, guilt issues, body image issues, etc. Not to mention hormonal differences between men and women.
Still, anyone who has ever had a really bad craving for junk food can relate to the idea that it can activate the brain's pleasure centers. I know, in my case, that when I occasionally fall off of the 'healthy eating wagon,' it can spiral for a while with bad food choices until I see the scale start to creep up and then I get my wake-up call and go back to lower-calorie eating. I love fruits & veggies, and I was raised on a virtually no-junk-food diet until I was in college, so I have no problem eating healthy, but I still have those weeks where I slide into higher fat foods and the associated blissful ignorance of what I'm doing. I'm inclined to believe that that's some brain chemistry at work.
4Wow, longest post ever. Sorry guys
5Maybe they were traumatized from being electrocuted.
6I can see this happening. Food manufacturing companies' R&D departments are PAID to make foods that are super-appealing by combining fat, sugar, salt, and umami flavor to get people addicted to certain foods. Nacho Cheese Doritos are actually considered to be one of the most "addictively good" flavors out there. You stimulate so many sensory areas at once that your brain doesn't know what to do...it's very similar to a drug effect. Once you stop with the manufactured food, you won't have the problem.
7I will never ever get how anyone connects lab rats with humans.
8mm maybe choc mud cake... or crème brulée lol
9There is no suggestion in that article that junk food is "as addictive as heroin"; only that junk food "may be addictive", as is heroin. Flashy writing on their part, bad reading on yours.
I take exception to your opening line as well. Americans long to be told that they are addicts. Anything that gives them a special excuse for their behavior.
10While I am skinny and athletic, I am horribly addicted to fast food. Ive had a taste for it since I was little, and I literally eat it almost everyday. This story does not surprise me in the least.
11I'm not sure this is true. Yes, there is an obesity problem, but there's plenty of people who eat junk food and don't get addicted. I think comparing junk food to heroin is slightly ridiculous, and it will only add fuel to the fire for those types of people who want junk food banned/taxed. People can make their own decisions about what they eat. In fact, I read a book called Junk by Christopher Largen in which junk food, in the future, is actually considered as bad as drugs, and it has been made illegal--you could go to jail for having a donut, for instance. These types of studies make me wary; I wouldn't want that kind of future.
12Funny thing is that just as the rats do...I try to kick the junk food and its easier to eat nothing than to try and eat healthy food.
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