Stop calling food addictive | Kima Cargill

But our processed foods are full of highly engineered additives. Let ’s call them drugs. And these really are addictiveMany of my colleagues – researchers who study overeating – now routinely use the term food addiction, andadvocate for its recognition as a psychiatric diagnosis.It ’s true that rats, monkeys and humans show addiction-like behaviour when exposed to highly palatable, calorie-dense foods,sometimes even preferring them to drugs such as cocaine. But I ’ve come to see that nearly all the foods that elicit addictive behaviour share one thing in common: they have been significantly altered or enhanced through manufactured flavour chemicals and ingredients – also known as drugs.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Food science & drink Life and style Food safety World news Source Type: news