Would You Get Tazered For Cake?

A recent study at the Scripps Research Institute shows that the brain’s reaction to junk food is just as addictive as one of the most addictive substances we know of–heroin.

The Cake is a Lie

Scientists fed a control group of rats low-calorie, high-nutrient rat chow, and a separate group of rats all junk food consisting of various foods such as bacon, cheesecake, and Ho-Hos.  The “junk food” group developed compulsive eating habits and became obese.

Further, just like an drug, the junk food rats ate more food the fatter they got, because they developed a tolerance to the pleasure “high” produced by the food.

The most surprising part of the study was near the end:

“To see how strong the drive to eat junk food was, the researchers exposed the rats to a foot shock when they ate the high-fat food. Rats that had not been constantly exposed to the junk food quickly stopped eating. But the foot shock didn’t faze rats accustomed to the junk food — they continued to eat, even though they knew the shock was coming.

‘What we have are these core features of addiction, and these animals are hitting each one of these features,’ Kenny says.”

[Source: The End of Overeating, by David Kessler.]

And guess what? Major restaurant chains and food manufacturers know all about this. Look at your local Wal-Mart some time: at both the entrance and the exit, they line the sides with junk–chips, cookies, and candy bars. They know that your heroin–I mean junk food–addiction will win out a certain percentage of the time and you’ll make them a little extra money.

No one cares about your health but you.  Learn about good nutrition and take control of your food intake.

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