What foods are addictive? The expression “chocolate drinker” was coined for a reason

When someone says that he can not live without sweets, he is probably not lying. Addiction to certain products really exists. A good example of this is the episode “Medicinal Fried Chicken” from the animated series “South Park”, where the love for fast food is described as a drug addiction. One of the main characters is willing to drive to another state and even commit a crime just to eat another batch of breaded wings. Isn’t that a sign of withdrawal?

nutritionist, founder of GetVegetable, a meal delivery service.

Certain foods trigger a pleasure effect in the brain that you want to enjoy over and over again.

What do scientists say?

Just 10 years ago, scientists would have said food addiction was a myth. But now food addiction is confidently attributed to an eating disorder. And there is an explanation: some substances in the composition of food can cause addiction. They are mostly found in processed foods like pizza, chocolate and carbonated drinks. There is a logic here: for example, grapes themselves are not addictive, but they are used to make wine, which leaves few people indifferent. Another example is the harmless poppy, which is used to make a powerful narcotic substance, opium.

In addition, processed food tends to be high in fat, sugar, salt, the combination of which is rarely found in natural food. The combination of all three in a food can be compared to a time bomb. It stimulates the pleasure centers in the brain, gradually causing addiction. That’s why it’s easiest to get addicted to foods with a high degree of processing, speed of absorption in the gastrointestinal tract (GI tract) and the content of fats and carbohydrates.

Let’s take pizza, for example: except for refined carbohydrates (white flour and sugar), there is nothing useful in it – fiber and protein are most often destroyed during processing. This, in turn, increases the rate of breakdown of harmful substances in the body and is addictive. That is, the faster the food is digested, the more people get hooked on it. Scientists have even made a list of such products. It includes: chocolate, ice cream, pizza, cookies, pizza, cheeseburger, chips, bacon, fried chicken, nuts, eggs, banana, brown rice, cucumbers, broccoli and even water. You can see the full list here.

Cakes
Typically contain very little nutritional benefit and are addictive because they trigger the release of dopamine (also the joy hormone). Plus sugar releases opioids, substances that are involved in addiction.

Chips
This is a pure mix of salt and fat. Its effects on the brain are compared by scientists to those of drugs. Salt stimulates opiate and dopamine receptors: it affects the pleasure center, and a person experiences pleasure.

Elena: They add flavor enhancers to all chips: bacon, cheese, onions, shrimp. They activate the pleasure center in the brain and are addictive. This is similar to what alcoholics feel when they see wine or vodka. Have you ever noticed that it’s almost impossible to eat only half a bag of chips?

Cheese
It contains casomorphins, which are known for their opioid effect. The substance causes such a strong addiction that even a day without this product provokes withdrawal. And cheese is also a source of fat, sodium and sugar. This combination of three harmful substances causes addiction almost instantly.

Elena: All cheeses contain casein (a protein that is formed when milk is frozen). Casein releases opiates that have an almost narcotic effect on the brain. It makes you want to eat cheese again and again. But excessive consumption of the product can lead to heart problems and increase blood pressure.

Sausage
Contains addictive animal fats and chemicals, starch, salt, palm oil and stabilizers. If you eat sausage every day, it can not only become an addiction, but can also lead to obesity, hypertension or even cancer.