-Caveat Lector- telegraph.co.uk
Junk food 'may lead to eating addiction' By Robert Uhlig, Food Correspondent (Filed: 30/01/2003) Eating hamburgers, chips and fat-loaded junk foods could be addictive, scientists said yesterday. They think that high-calorie fried foods could trigger hormonal changes that make it difficult to control eating. Suggesting that putting on weight may involve more than simply a loss of self-control, the findings could help explain soaring obesity rates and the phenomenal success of fast-food outlets. The studies indicate that a single fast-food meal could contain a dose of fat and carbohydrate large enough to cause changes in brain structure usually associated with addiction to drugs. As with heroin addicts, people who are denied their high dose of fat and sugar can experience withdrawal symptoms and need increasing quantities to feel the same level of satisfaction. By stimulating the release of natural opioids in the brain, sugar and fat could have a similar effect to addictive drugs such as heroin, according to John Hoebel, a psychologist at Princeton University in New Jersey. He fed rats a diet that was a quarter sugar. The rats were thrown into a state of anxiety when denied their sugar. Their symptoms, including chattering teeth and the shakes, were similar to those of people suffering nicotine or morphine withdrawal. "The implication is that some animals - and by extension some people - can become overly dependant on sweet food," he said. "The brain is getting addicted to its own opioids as it would morphine or heroin." Anne Kelley, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison, found that if rats' brains were stimulated with a synthetic version of the natural opioid enkephalin, they ate up to six times their normal intake of fat. They also increased consumption of sweet, salty and alcohol-containing solutions. Overindulging in tasty food led to marked and long-lasting changes in the rats' brain chemistry similar to those caused by extended use of morphine or heroin, she said. "This says that mere exposure to pleasurable, tasty foods is enough to change gene expression, and that suggests that you could be addicted to food." Caesar Barber, a middle-aged New York janitor, sued McDonald's, Burger King, KFC and Wendy's, claiming that their foods were partly at fault for causing his diabetes and double heart-attack. Although he lost his case, lawyers are preparing "Big Fat" class actions, which could see the fast food industry forced to contribute to the health care costs of obesity. Their cases will be bolstered by the new studies, which suggest regularly eating junk food can switch off the body's mechanisms for controlling appetite. © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003. Terms & Conditions of reading. Commercial information. Privacy Policy. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
