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130 Comments
- Janinco, on 06/30/2009, -7/+32Because it tastes sooo good!
- mrpunman, on 06/30/2009, -4/+26Because most of the food contain addictive additives
- zagatbuzz, on 06/30/2009, -3/+21Wouldn't the 'bliss point' be different for each individual? In any case, I wouldn't be surprised if companies really did invest the time, energy and money to get us addicted to their foods. Does this mean we are going to stop eating them?
- borez, on 06/30/2009, -1/+14Strange really, if I'm going to the gym and eating properly then my body completely rejects any kind of fast food, but when I stop for a few weeks I seem to get drawn to it and can't go passed a McDonald's without wanting to go in.
- TCSavant, on 06/30/2009, -0/+13People would eat healthier if the cost was on par with fast food, not to mention the convenience.
- jeches, on 06/30/2009, -3/+15OK so when do we start meeting for the food addicts support group?
- Snarfy, on 06/30/2009, -4/+15"It is time to stop blaming individuals for being overweight or obese,"
If you aren't responsible for your addiction, then smokers, crack heads, etc are not to blame for being addicted either. It's society's/mom's/dad's/the drug dealer's/someone else fault, but never the individual, right?
If this goes down how smoking went down, sugar will get taxed to oblivion and it will be illegal to be fat in public. - Stumpie2012, on 06/30/2009, -3/+14Food has the same affect on the brain on drugs and sex. They have EEGs that show the same parts of the brain being stimulated for all three. Isn't this a "no *****" article??? They have known this for years.
- Temlakos, on 06/30/2009, -6/+17That doesn't make junk food any less addictive. The only answer to that kind of food is: Don't touch it. Just. Say. No.
- NiftyG, on 06/30/2009, -0/+8True. We subsidize corn way too much. Most fast food is just reconstituted corn - including the meat we eat, which is all corn fed.
Good food is a little more expensive, but personally, I think it's cheaper to eat well now than to pay high medical costs later. - whiledo, on 06/30/2009, -0/+8Huh? The whole point of addiction isn't that *everyone* will become addicted. It doesn't work that way for plenty of substances which we currently are a-ok with labelling addictive. I also feel you have it completely backwards. Addiction isn't about choice or about a specific property of substance. It's about how the body reacts to having that substance withheld.
Having said that, I don't feel like this has made the argument for calling food "addictive", as it didn't lay out a very clear set of withdrawal symptoms. Ok, say you keep eating until you finish the bag. But you don't get an intense craving that causes physical pain if you don't get another bag of cheetos the next day. - Hetman, on 06/30/2009, -0/+7It is a personal choice. However MSG is not good for people and neither is massive amounts of corn syrup. If you chose you can eat a healthy diet but it does require you to go out of your way.
- bmcnally, on 06/30/2009, -0/+7You're right.
More people need to start working out and taking responsibility for their personal health. - ironhide, on 06/30/2009, -0/+7Time is sadly also a factor. In a day and age where both parents are likely to be working, cooking is rapidly becoming a lost art.
- Amadeus2490, on 06/30/2009, -0/+6I was just about to make a couple packs of ramen, too. See, it's healthy because I only use one flavor packet.
- Aridane, on 06/30/2009, -0/+6I totally believe that some foods can become addictive to the body. HOWEVER, just like a person can kill an addiction to alcohol, tobacco or any other drug, food addiction CAN be overcome.
I have personally experienced symptoms like withdrawal as I have tried to eliminate the processed sugars in my diet. The mind begins to crave it, you get irritable and unable to concentrate, headaches and even more serious symptoms can happen.
There is no doubt in my mind that there are foods out there today that are engineered to create pleasurable sensations and addictive behaviors. BUT to say that obesity is not a person's fault is B.S. - Gguillorn, on 06/30/2009, -0/+6Well aren't you special.
- copypastry, on 06/30/2009, -0/+5Also:
http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/ - NiftyG, on 06/30/2009, -0/+5Bliss point? Does mean we should fire top chefs for making food that tastes too good?
It's not so much the way the food tastes, it's the quality of the food that's the bigger problem. Most mass-manufactured food (i.e. junk food) is made of very poor quality ingredients and has very little nutritional value. The reason you get hungry for more of it is that the body isn't getting the nutrients it needs. Your body is hungry for nutrients, but you give it high calorie junk food instead, thus your body remains hungry. - WaCkYmAk, on 06/30/2009, -0/+5"Casomorphins are peptides, i.e., protein fragments, derived from the digestion of milk protein. The distinguishing characteristic of casomorphins is that they have an opioid effect."
Cheese Casomorphin = Queso Morphine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casomorphin - KJSatz, on 06/30/2009, -0/+5I'm addicted to Toblerone. OM NOM NOM.
- JinxCrow, on 06/30/2009, -0/+5Thanks Mom, for not letting me eat the majority of such junk foods when I was younger.
- Mnementh2230, on 07/01/2009, -0/+4Apok doesn't respond to you because he thinks you'll read his comments. He does it because he's correcting your errors so others don't get the same idiotic ideas that you have.
"How is it that we're calling the *food* addictive when it is clear that there are *some* people who eat it but are not "addicted"?"
This is another idiotic piece of CrazedLeper logic. Just because some people can tolerate a substance doesn't mean the vast majority can. Some people can quit tobacco (and the accompanying nicotine) with no issues after years of smoking. MOST others have problems after a short time using the drug. You're using the exceptions to try to prove the general rule wrong, but the general rule is already KNOWN to have exceptions. - smitas, on 06/30/2009, -3/+7Because its a no no for food addicts..............;)
- Devilforhire, on 06/30/2009, -1/+5It's gonna happen...If you read or saw the movie V for Vendetta, butter was banned in that world. When i first saw that, i laughed. But now with laws like the ones here in NY that ban certain fats in foods at restaurants and fast-food joints, it doesnt seem all that absurd.
- inactive, on 06/30/2009, -5/+9If heart disease is the #1 killer in America, and companies are making their foods addictive, then shouldn't there be some kind of protection?
Why do we give this addiction free pass and not others?
Maybe we shouldn't ban them. But at least label them.
Something must be done. - iamthearm, on 06/30/2009, -1/+5Dugg for the MSG. Makes me feel like crap for hours. I don't care what anyone says.
- copypastry, on 06/30/2009, -1/+5"It is time to stop blaming individuals for being overweight or obese" - The food is just so tasty!
"It is time to stop blaming rapists for raping women" - she was dressed like a slut, she totally wanted it!
See what I did there?
Nobody is making you eat that whole large pizza.
I'll admit some people are more susceptible to craving food + fulfilling that craving, but you can break that cycle with a little willpower and some sound eating habits. Be responsible for yourself. - SmokenJoe, on 06/30/2009, -3/+6It is not my fault- the french fry made me do it.
Why must everyone treat people like little children. It is a choice eat like a pig your going to get fat it is not some kind of voodoo magic taking away a persons soul. Get a life. - umanomano, on 06/30/2009, -0/+3The Twinkie Defense.
- soderl, on 06/30/2009, -16/+19While a few people have an actual medical problem, most who are fat choose what they eat knowing it contains large amounts of preservatives and fats. The fact that people can eat normally and still not be obese is proof enough it isn't the fault of the food industry. Stop apologizing to fat people telling them its not their fault that kind of rhetoric only continues the cycle of them over eating...as for the bliss point that just good cooking in layman's terms
- mytealjacket, on 06/30/2009, -0/+3I laughed
- inactive, on 06/30/2009, -1/+4that's the same reason I use crack!
- magamiako, on 06/30/2009, -3/+6You didn't really RTFA did you?
But let me put it to you this way. In many cases, you don't have much of a choice when it comes to cost. Eating healthier costs more money.
In many ways that is coming down in cost. For example, you can buy UTZ or LAYS baked potato chips which have a significantly reduced fat content than the normal fried chips.
Frito Lay has also removed trans fat from their product offerings, something that was a recently change in the past 6-12 months.
But eating healthier still costs more and for people who end up in the corner stores and not at Sam's Club it's a real issue. - skinny01, on 06/30/2009, -0/+3But say that to the light bill which is due now, not later. It's easy when you have a choice, but many do not and have to buy whatever is the absolute cheapest to be able to "live" today. When you have to budget your food money to those extremes, the long term benefits of eating healthy don't outweigh your immediate financial needs.
- ironhide, on 06/30/2009, -0/+3A fact. The cost of fast food seems to be decreasing and the portion size increasing, while food that is good for you seems to be increasing in price.
I mean, say you're a parent in a hurry to feed your family....there are Little Caesars that sell $5 large pizzas with no waiting. - motionblur, on 06/30/2009, -0/+3Investing in getting smokers addicted worked for the cigarette companies....for a while at least.
- mytealjacket, on 06/30/2009, -0/+3Sounds good, but so far that approach isn't working for us as a society.
- JinxCrow, on 06/30/2009, -0/+2Aaaaand they make it that way. Still purpose/intent meant to override/use your body against ya
- AngusMustang, on 06/30/2009, -0/+2I read this article with a bag of Doritos in my lap. Thanks, Digg, you've saved me again.
- TINZUSA, on 06/30/2009, -0/+2I usually eat wholesome natural foods. The sort that haven't been processed. I usually become ill if I eat processed foods with symptoms such as excessive bloating and headaches. It's high time that food was more strictly regulated and tested for side-effects. The excessive salt added to almost all processed foods makes it impossible to make a healthy meal from such sources.
- minoss, on 06/30/2009, -0/+2Read the article. It's "addictive" because it tastes so good. That's not a chemical addiction. That's a lack of self will.
- CoreyHalliwell, on 06/30/2009, -1/+3Put it this way, do you fight against cigarettes? Or targeted advertising? If you feel that what a child consumes it up to the parents than that's cool i'm with you. But it's kind of serious when the very thing we need to live is being engineered so our mind NEEDS it even when our bodies dont. If this becomes the norm, beating obesity with parenting alone will be harder and harder.
- japandave, on 06/30/2009, -0/+2You are right- though it is not the addicted person's fault completely for not being able to stop. Food additives are real, they are drugs and in particular monosodium glutamate has been proven to stimulate the addiction centers of the brain.
There is plenty of research that shows the evils of food additives and in particular food colorings alter behavior of children in a negative way... Is that the child's fault? - jazzmess, on 06/30/2009, -0/+2I've actually read most of the book "The End of Overeating", and it's actually quite an interesting read, though the main theme is in fact "food these days is ***** delicious." It's a warning about eating over-produced foods, because of the way they pile the fat, sugar, and salt on to make you eat beyond the point when they're full. And he includes studies showing that rats had a similar problem with these foods. Give them regular food and they stop when they're full; give them "hyper palatable" food and they eat and eat and eat and get obese.
- FLarsen, on 06/30/2009, -0/+2Dude, it barely raises glutamate levels. There's no way it's going to harm you.
Anyway, if you're still paranoid, smoke weed. It's extremely effective against that type of damage. - Mothrog, on 06/30/2009, -1/+3Give me a break. Grow a god damn spine and stop blaming everyone else for being a fat ass.
- LeoSaraceni, on 07/01/2009, -0/+2Could not say it better. The same way "industries manipulate food to make us eat more", society "manipulates us into not taking responsibility for being stressed, broke, and fat".
- smartnerd666, on 06/30/2009, -2/+4But you're still buying chips...
If you want to eat healthy, there's no reason to complain about cost. Fruit is cheap and healthy. -
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