Being able to blame addiction as the reason you can't give up junk food seems like a handy idea. It might explain why you can't give up your daily McDonald's burger and fries. It might even help explain why you're overweight or have high cholesterol. While it might seem like an easy way out, scientists are now finding proof that fast food addiction is not only real, but also very dangerous.
How Fast Food Addiction Works
According to endocrinologist Michael Schwartz, who works at the University of Washington, fast food numbs the body response to leptin, the hormone that tells your brain you're full and should stop eating.
Early Evidence
Some of the earliest evidence that fast food could be addictive came out in 2003, when a number of class-action lawsuits against fast-food restaurants were filed. The lawsuits alleged that fast food was as addictive as tobacco and just as damaging. A 2003 study at Princeton University in New Jersey also showed that sugar -- abundant in fast food -- can be addictive, and you might experience anxiety if you have to give it up.
More Scientific Proof
A 2011 study published in the "Archives of General Psychiatry" showed that for some people, eating fast food causes the same brain reaction that substance dependence. This study shows that giving up fast food is not as simple as "just do it." A previous 2010 study from Scripps Research Institute showed that people addicted to fast food have the same brain chemical reaction as do people addicted to cocaine or heroin.
How the Break the Addiction
According to nutritional biochemistry professor Dr. Robert S. Harris, fast food addiction is hard to break because the foods are "nurturing." They make you feel satisfied, both physically and emotionally. They often also remind you of your childhood, when you probably ate junk food as comfort when you felt sad or as a reward when you "were good." A good way to break the addiction is to find other ways to reward yourself. Those ways should be just as satisfying, or the system won't work. Don't look for foods, as you're unlikely to find healthy foods as satisfying. Instead, reward or comfort yourself with visits to the spa, coffee with a friend or a favorite magazine.
References
- That's Fit; Fast Food As Addictive As Heroin, Study Confirms; Amber Greviskes; March 2010
- The Scripps Research Institute: Scripps Research Study Shows Compulsive Eating Shares Same Addictive Biochemical Mechanism with Cocaine, Heroin Abuse
- "The Independent"; Junk Food Addicts Show Same Brain Activity as Drug Addicts; April 2011
- "Archives of General Psychiatry"; Neural Correlates of Food Addiction; Ashley N. Gearhardt et al; April 2011
- BBC News; Fast Food as Addictive as Heroin; January 2003
- "New Scientist"; Burgers on the Brain: Can You Really Get Addicted to Fast Food?; 2003
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