The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Lousy food can be addictive
Researchers at the University of Michigan have been looking at what’s cooking up your persistent desire to eat fast food. They’ve found that highly processed, high-glycemic, fatty foods are to blame. They provide a concentrated dose of their ingredients, and they’re rapidly absorbed.
Not only that, the same researchers have published a study in the journal Appetite that establishes a Highly Processed Foods Withdrawal Scale: It seems people who are addicted to fast and low-nutrition foods and then stop eating them experience withdrawal symptoms.
Breaking the Habit and New Reasons Why It Matters
A new study from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition looked at 471,495 adults from 10 European countries and concluded that low-nutrition foods are correlated with the development of a variety of cancers, including those of the colon-rectum, upper aerodigestive tract; stomach and lung for men; liver and breast for postmenopausal women.
OMG! So where does that leave you?
If you’re a fast food addict and/or an overeater, you want to bathe your receptors in the joys of dopamine and serotonin; that’s what any addiction does. Luckily there are some ways to do it that don’t involve food (or drugs) cooked up in a lab.
Exercise. Aerobic activity can ease withdrawal and boost dopamine release. An hour on a treadmill five days a week may stop your addiction to lousy food. It works for cocaine addicts, a new study finds.
Adopt the Dopamine Diet. Eating micronutrient-rich foods high in tyrosine will help you regain pleasure from eating smaller amounts of good-foryou, unprocessed foods. Those rich in tyrosine include: fava beans, chicken, oatmeal, mustard greens, dark chocolate and wheat germ. For recipes using these foods and more info on the diet, check out DoctorOz.com.
Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Wellness Officer and Chair of Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic. To live your healthiest, tune into “The Dr. Oz Show” or visit www.sharecare.com.