Junk Food Turns Rats Into Addicts....Junk food elicits addictive behavior in rats similar to the behaviors of rats addicted to heroin, a new study finds. Pleasure centers in the brains of rats addicted to high-fat, high-calorie diets became less responsive as the binging wore on, making the rats consume more and more food. The results, presented October 20 at the Society for Neuroscience’s annual meeting, may help explain the changes in the brain that lead people to overeat. Read the full article here.Is it sad that I don't find these scientific findings shocking? Anyone that has ever ridden the sugar-salt roller coaster knows that junk food is addicting. No One Can Eat Just One. Right? Perhaps it's the conspiracy theorist in me that rolls my eyes and and wants to scream "duh!!!!" at the world? I also know that industrial food corporations (Kraft, Nestle, General Mills, Kellog etc.) are simply looking out for their bottom line.
Unfortunately, their bottom line is a fiduciary responsibility to their share holders. That duty is to make the share holder's wallet fat. Making the waistline of the American public fat, the corporations are raking in the dollars. I can pretty much guarantee if it were possible to file a Freedom Of Information Act request to review the files of the top corporations you would find that ever elusive needle in a haystack pointing the direction to a fat wallet. I can only imagine there are years of corporate scientific findings stating additives, such as high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils lead to excess eating and therefore higher sales and a better investment return. Just as heroin addicts require more and more of the drug to feel good, rats (Americans!??) needed more and more of the junk food.
On a side note, when I googled "junk food" for an image for this blog entry, the image that I found (and used) was originally from a post about National Junk Food Day, which apparently took place on July 21st this year. Serioulsy? I mean....SERIOUSLY? Do Americans really need a day actually designated to eat more junkfood? BAH! Do you know what the kicker is? The BIG RED weight loss advertisement right below it reading "Do you try diet after diet only to have your lost weight come right back?"
I might add "make eating kale a national day" on to the 3HC to do list. I should contact the people at EatMoreKale.com.
As for me, I am going to munch on a little junk food provided by Mother Nature. It's round, red, crisp, sweet and goes by the name of McIntosh.
Keep it Fresh!
3HC