Is Junk Food Addictive?

You’re in withdrawal, experiencing everything from mood swings and anxiety to headaches and insomnia. Perhaps you’ve quit smoking or stopped your regular marijuana usage. Or maybe, just maybe, you’ve cut back on those greasy fries, burgers, and other highly processed food. A study published in the September 2018 issue of Appetite reported that people who reduced their consumption of highly processed foods experienced some of the same physical and psychological symptoms as those withdrawing from cigarettes or marijuana usage. While studies in mice have shown that reducing junk food can trigger withdrawal symptoms, lead study author Erica Schulte stated that this recent experiment offers the first evidence that these withdrawal-like symptoms can occur in people when they cut down on highly processed foods. Based on self-reporting, the participants’ withdrawal symptoms were most intense between the second and fifth days after attempting to reduce junk-food consumption. It’s interesting to note that this is the same time span typically experienced during drug withdrawal. For the study, the researchers developed a new tool modeled after the withdrawal scales used to assess symptoms related to quitting smoking or marijuana usage. This new questionnaire was given to 231 adults who had attempted to reduce their intake of junk food over the past year. Results indicated that symptoms of withdrawal from tobacco, marijuana, and highly processed foods were similar. Schulte sai...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Binge Eating Eating Disorders Health-related Research Source Type: blogs