Food Addiction: How Ultra-Processed Foods Hijack Our Brains

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Food Addiction: How Ultra-Processed Foods Hijack Our Brains
FOOD ADDICTIONULTRA-PROCESSED FOODSDOPAMINE
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This article explores the growing concern of food addiction, highlighting how ultra-processed foods are designed to trigger dopamine release, mimicking the effects of addictive substances. It discusses the long-term health consequences of this trend and the urgent need to address it.

Sweets, like candies at La Boqueria Market in Barcelona, release dopamine in our brains on levels similar to nicotine and alcohol. Much of our food is increasingly manufactured to be irresistible to us. Experts say this trend has long-term health consequences .We often think of smoking and drinking when it comes to addiction—but there’s another compulsion affecting as many as Indulgent dishes enticing us with fat and sugar can feel impossible to avoid, especially during the holidays.

Experts confirm it’s more than a feeling: Half a century of food trends has created an environment where the food consumed by American adults is ultra-processed, often optimized to hit the body’s fat and sugar sensors to release dopamine. These processed food products capitalize on our biology to keep us reaching for more. “We don't realize that these are really killing people on par with what we're seeing with things like alcohol and tobacco, leading to preventable deaths,” says Ashley Gearhardt, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Michigan and a member of a research team that assessed the Experts are rewriting what we know about food addiction and asking new questions about what we can do to curb it—and save lives.Food affects our brains in many complex ways, and one particularly important response is the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter. Like addictive drugs, eating food releases dopamine. Contrary to popular belief, dopamine doesn't increase pleasure. It encourages us to repeat behaviors that help us survive—like eating nutritious food and reproducing. The more dopamine that’s released, the more likely we’ll repeat that behavior. When we eat fat and sugar, sensors in the mouth send a message to release dopamine in the striatum, a section of the brain associated with movement and rewarding behavio

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