Let food be thy medicine. Just don’t let it be thy drug.
Can’t resist a slice – or two or three – of pizza? You may well be addicted.
Researchers from the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan and the New York Obesity Research Center at the Mount Sinai – St. Luke’s Hospital in New York wanted to know what foods felt addictive to real people.
They posited that highly processed foods may trigger an addictive response in some people that leads to unintended overeating. And they observed that these foods share common traits with highly addictive drugs.
Like other drug problems, they say, “food addiction“ is characterized by:
- Loss of control over consumption;
- Continued use despite negative consequences; and
- Inability to cut down despite the desire to do so.
And neuro-imaging studies show similar brain patterns in “food addicts” and drug addicts. In particular both show increased activation of the reward regions of the brain in response to food cues – just like other addictions.
