Wednesday, 06 April 2011
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Food Addiction and Drug Addiction = The Same To Your Brain
It's official, maybe I am addicted to garlic like someone might be addicted to crack...
According to a new study, craving and trigger responses to certain foods can cause the brain to act the same way it would if a drug addict craved and/or got a fix.
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), two very interesting activities were discovered when presenting women with Häagen-Dazs milk shakes.
Two groups of women were focused on in this study: those who have a food addiction and those who do not. Both groups were shown pictures of chocolate milk shakes and the parts of the brain that show a lot of activity during drug cravings started to react heavily in those addicted to food and just a little in those not addicted to food.
Then when the women were actually given the milkshake, those who aren't addicted to food showed high levels of brain activity related to being rewarded. Meanwhile, those with food addictions actually showed a lot less. This same reaction also occurs in drug addicts and is possibly what contributes to the addiction in the first place.
For more information, check out the original article on CNN here.
If you ask me, I think it makes a lot of sense. I mean, addiction is addiction no matter what, right?
Are you surprised by the outcome of this study?
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- From: aliconklin
- Name: Ali Conklin
- Location: New York City, New York, United States
- About Me: I am a college student in New York City who loves to cook and be cooked for. There is nothing more satisfying than a delicious meal.
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Comments (33)
Nope. I'll tell you right now that Trader Joe's Joe-Joe's definitely contain some sort of crack in them.
Not surprising. There's certain foods that have this effect on me. Cheese being one of them.
@QueenofNervousThings@xanga - OMGosh YESSS. Those are so damn tasty. I try not to keep them in the house often because I will skip meals just to eat them. >.<
not surprised. I'm not into drugs or food that much, but I feel the same high towards shopping.
i'm addicted to food. i struggle to avoid sugar and once i eat some i have stronger cravings for 24 hours
Addiction is a addiction, it sure makes sence to me
I wouldn't doubt it at all. Makes perfect sense to me.
Not at all. I bet television also does the same thing. I want someone to do a study on that next.
Think about it this way; before fast food, before mass production of food, before a time when food science and capitalism exploited things we naturally crave (sugar and salt) food was much less attractive and much less available. Combine availability with appeal to taste...legal crack.
makes perfect sense to me, but then again I'm going to school for neuroscience so I expect weird things like this lol
Makes sense to me.
The meoslimbocortical dopamine pathway in your brain is the main reward system involved in addiction. Whether it's a drug or a food, the reward you get usually stems from the release of dopamine neurotransmitters (triggered by the substance you're consuming) that travel through this system.
I'm guessing people like "liquid_pain_523" have never seen a Psychology textbook before, judging by their quick decision to dismiss this.
No, it doesn't. It makes a lot of sense.
Two words. Thin mints.
Like I always say, "I'm addicted to food. Without it I'll go into withdrawal and die."
time to start dieting to cure it!
Thank you so much forRed Bull Hats explaining this. I was totally unaware ofAir Max 2009 this issue on Facebook. I was just checking some ofFox Hats my past blogs and found you there. My apologies for new york hatsnever seeing that. Awesome blog Lani, Will be checking back to you soon.
I binge eat and definitely agree to this :(
Not surprised at all.
Yep, doesn't surprise me. A lot of people think I'm full of shit when I tell them I think I had/sort of still have a food addiction, but it can be just like a drug, especially for someone who has an emotional eating problem and uses it as a way to deal with things or numb emotional pain. Sometimes it's not as simple as "just go on a diet."
@internal_insanity@xanga - I agree and that burger looks good! Too bad I am a pescetarian :p
Totally agree.
Not surprised, seeing as that I have an addiction to food, but at least I manage to burn it off.
eggggggggggs :) yummm.
I have an addition to being fat. :( I know I want to be thin, but I also know I want to eat until I enter a food coma.
Makes sense to me. I get really annoyed by people who are all like, "It's easy to eat healthy, fatass!" I'm an emotional eater. You'd think it would be an easy thing to overcome, but it's not.