Junk Food takers addicted to the junk food – A report

Junk Food takers addicted to the junk food – A report

A new study has suggested dieters and those struggling with weight loss may find cutting back on the calories as fatty junk foods can be addictive in the same way that drugs are.

Scientists from the Scripps Research Institute in Florida have completed research to see how rats reacted when fed a diet of junk food and the results were alarming, to say the least. After three years, the team say that the rats became addicted to the food stuffs, even starving themselves when their preferred diet was not available.

While one group of the mammels were fed healthily, the other was provided with a diet that included cheesecake, frosting and bacon. When this group had their diet changed to that of the control group, the rats refused to eat at all.

The junk food group were also willing to undergo non-dangerous but painful electric shocks in order to receive high-calorie foodstuffs.

When the scientists examined their brains, they discovered that the rats’ brain chemistry had altered in the same way that the brains of crack cocaine users change. As in the brains of drug addicts, the rat’s brains D2 receptors, which deal with the release of the pleasure hormone dopamine, changed.

Dopamine is released when the body responds to a pleasurable experience, for example when someone eats a piece of cake, does drugs or has sex. However the scientists think that overstimulating the pleasure centres by overeating means that the receptors start to shut down and the only way to stimulate the release of the hormone is to constantly overeat.

Lead researcher neuropsychopharmacologist Paul J Kenny said, “When the animal over-stimulates its brain pleasure centres with highly palatable food, the systems adapt by decreasing their activity. However, now the animal requires constant stimulation from palatable food to avoid entering a persistent state of negative reward.”

The findings may go some way to explaining why obese or overweight people frequently find it so difficult to stick to a sensible weight loss plan.  Even though dieters may be aware of the dangers of not following their weight loss program, the addictive nature of bad foods means that their need for the food overrides logic.

A better understanding of the chemical reaction the body has to overeating could lead to better treatment plans and weight loss programs being created, as well as raising the possibility that a new medication could be developed to manage food cravings.