Foods with refined carbohydrates and added fats, such as chips, donuts or ready-made pizza, are experienced as very rewarding and attractive by our brain, in a way that is similar to how addictive substances such as nicotine are experienced.
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Added fats and refined carbohydrates make foods as addictive as tobacco for smokers. Experts are calling for more restrictions on such ultra-processed foods due to their potentially addictive effects and the link between these types of foods and obesity.
Of study in the trade magazine BMJ calls ultra-processed food possibly as addictive as smoking. According to the researchers, this is because foods with refined carbohydrates and added fats, such as chips, donuts or ready-made pizza, are experienced as very rewarding and attractive by our brain, in a way that is comparable to how addictive substances such as nicotine are experienced. become.
The combination of refined carbohydrates and fats even seems to have a strengthening effect on the reward systems in the brain, the study authors note.
When people exhibit compulsive eating behaviors for this type of food, the consumption can sometimes meet the criteria for the diagnosis of a substance use disorder, the experts said.
Compulsive eating
For their analysis, the study authors looked at 281 previous studies from 36 countries. That data was weighed against the Yale Food Addiction Scale, a standardized questionnaire designed in 2009 to accurately assess signals of compulsive eating. What turned out? 14 percent of adults and 12 percent of children score high on addiction symptoms for ultra-processed foods.
The Yale Food Addiction Scale assesses eating behavior against eleven symptomatic criteria for a substance use disorder, including impaired control, craving, or the continued use of some substances despite negative experiences.
Food addiction according to the Yale Questionnaire is also associated with other common mechanisms that make people vulnerable to addiction: dysfunction in the brain’s reward system, impulsivity, impaired emotion regulation, impaired physical and mental health, and lower quality of life.
Genocerovar
The researchers say that not all types of food have an addictive effect, but this is especially true for ultra-processed foods that contain many refined carbohydrates and added fats. These lead to ‘similar levels of dopamine in the brain as with addictive substances such as nicotine and alcohol’, the researchers say.
Also read
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter produced in the brain and involved in the experience of pleasure. That is why dopamine is also called the happiness or pleasure hormone.
Dopamine is produced when you do things that the brain believes deserve a reward, such as exercising, eating, sex or falling in love. However, that nice feeling does mean that you will want to repeat the dopamine-inducing behavior.
Better alternatives
It is not necessary to completely cut out all carbohydrates or fats from your diet. It is important to know that ultra-processed foods are defined as industrially produced foods that contain ingredients that are generally not available in the home kitchen.
Homemade pizza or pastry with ingredients such as unrefined sugar or vegetable fats, for example, are a better alternative.
Doctor Sue Inonog says Medical News Today that she finds the research an “illuminating call to action” “given the alarming and growing rates of obesity around the world.”
She also considers the research particularly relevant because of the differences in obesity among certain ethnic and/or disadvantaged groups that have less access to healthy food.
2023-10-24 03:04:25
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