{"id":484656,"date":"2010-03-26T18:57:41","date_gmt":"2010-03-26T22:57:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greenrightnow.com\/?p=10213"},"modified":"2010-03-26T18:57:41","modified_gmt":"2010-03-26T22:57:41","slug":"a-big-question-is-our-love-of-sweets-and-high-fat-food-an-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/484656","title":{"rendered":"A big question: Is our love of sweets and high-fat food an addiction?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Is<\/p>\n

Is America\u2019s obesity problem really a problem of addictive behavior?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

By Barbara Kessler<\/a><\/strong>
\n Green Right Now<\/strong><\/p>\n

Could it be that Overeaters Anonymous got it right? That our modern love of fatty, sugary foods is not just a fleeting affair but a fatal attraction \u2013 or more precisely, an addiction?<\/p>\n

If this were the case, it would place America\u2019s obesity problem in a whole new light, one that cries out for solutions to help people avoid slipping into an addictive behavior that leads to a host of medical problems, from heart disease to diabetes.<\/p>\n

In a study published Sunday in the online journal Nature Neuroscience<\/em>, researchers at Scripps Research Institute in Florida, looked at the biological underpinnings of unhealthy eating by giving lab rats unlimited access to high-fat, high-sugar foods.<\/p>\n

The rats settled into a pattern of snacking on these foods — Ding Dongs, cheesecake, frosting, pound cake, bacon and sausage \u2013 throughout the day. And their weight ballooned.<\/p>\n

By contrast, rats given only occasional \u201ctasty\u201d treats, did not become obese; nor did the control rats that were maintained on the diet of balanced nutritional food they\u2019d been raised on.<\/p>\n

The obese rats quickly exhibited two hallmark features of addiction, said researcher Dr. Paul J. Kenny of Scripps. First, they displayed a \u201ccrash\u201d of their brain reward network. Specifically, their pleasure receptors became overwhelmed by the constant influx of excessively satisfying sweet and high-fat treats, causing a breakdown in the system.<\/p>\n

This is akin to what happens to those (people and rats) who become addicted to drug substances; their brains demand more and more of the pleasure-producing substance to receive the same effect. Hence, the rats began to overeat.<\/p>\n

The second way in which the rats acted like addicts was that they were undeterred by a \u201cnegative stimulus\u201d \u2013 the threat of a minor electric shock to the foot \u2013 in seeking out their fatty and sweet foods.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, when the rats were re-introduced to healthy food, they refused to eat it. It was almost as if they had become adverse to the food they\u2019d been raised on, Kenny said.<\/p>\n

This sort of behavior has been demonstrated in other studies, the associate professor said. But it was still shocking to witness. \u201cI was surprised with the magnitude of the effect,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey voluntarily starved themselves. They didn\u2019t want to eat that anymore. They wanted their cheesecake and Ding Dongs,\u201d Kenny said.<\/p>\n

The rat study was set up to replicate the situation Americans face \u2013 having virtually unlimited access to sweet, fatty foods. And it has clear ramifications for policy makers as well as those who are obese.<\/p>\n

The Scripps research team, lead by Kenny and graduate student Paul M. Johnson, expects to continue its work, looking next at the neurobiology of why the rats did not want to shift back to the healthier food (they did eventually when the treats were withdrawn longterm). This field of endeavor could help point the way for millions of Americans who find themselves \u201chooked\u201d on unhealthy food.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019d rather starve than eat a salad,\u2019\u2019 Kenny said. \u201cThat\u2019s got huge implications for people who are trying to diet and lose weight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2010 Green Right Now | Distributed by GRN Network<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is America\u2019s obesity problem really a problem of addictive behavior? By Barbara Kessler Green Right Now Could it be that Overeaters Anonymous got it right? That our modern love of fatty, sugary foods is not just a fleeting affair but a fatal attraction \u2013 or more precisely, an addiction? If this were the case, it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-484656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484656\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}