HealthTree Blog

If you’re constantly struggling weight loss because you just can’t stop overeating, you may be suffering from the disease of addiction. Just as addicts who abuse drugs receive a high from illegal substances, you get a high from overeating. This satisfaction and comfort you get from your food, drives you to eat more, which generates the addiction.

Research on Food Addiction

Scientists examined food addiction in rats and have found that overeating affects a part of the brain that is also affected by addicts who use drugs. In a study published in the journal, Nature Neuroscience, Scripps Research Institute in Florida fed rats junk food (fatty, high-caloric foods) to see how they respond physiologically and behaviorally. Rats who were on this junk food diet wanted more food (equaling more calories) than the control group who received a “salad bar option”. When the junk food rats had a diet change to healthier choices and had their junk food removed, they refused to eat! They even starved themselves. What’s even more interesting is that when they were eating the junk food, the scientists tried to give them an electric shock to see if it would make them stop overeating but it didn’t, signaling that their behavior was uncontrolled.

The scientists found that when the rats ate junk food, it sparked a brain chemical called dopamine. Dopamine is responsible for giving you that feeling of pleasure when you have sex, take drugs or in this case, eat. As you overeat, you over stimulate the production of dopamine and it then decreases, which means that you have to eat more to achieve the same level of satisfaction. Just as drug addicts become immune to a dosage of their drug of choice and have to take more to get the same high they used to get when they first started using.

What This New Information Means

While this research has not been done on humans, it does make sense and it’s probably true of humans as well. This information is valuable to anyone who struggles with weight loss because of overeating. Stopping food addiction is extremely difficult but just as addicts recover from drug abuse, so can you with food abuse. The first step is acknowledgement and then the next step is support and willpower to make changes to your diet and exercise regimen.

Photo: skippyjon