Study about food and addiction

Ms. Haiku

http://www.grist.org/article/scientists-claim-junk-food-is-as-addictive-as-heroin

Golly, I hope coffee isn't a junk food. I wonder if the addiction response to coffee is the same as that outlined in the article.

decides2dream

good read.
and...yikes!

"And here’s where things get ugly. The rats wanted their junk food fix so badly, they were willing to tolerate electric shocks if that’s what it meant to keep eating the stuff"


i am unsurprised. i know even when reading atkins, there was much about carbs/sugar, and experiencing that first-hand, realizing that yes...one does 'crav' these foods, etc. scary the food/brain connection at times...

skyeriverwinter

...

pretext

I was at psychiatry conference back in the spring, and one of the talks was on the potential to include obesity as a disorder in the upcoming DSM-V. (DSM is the diagnostic manual for psychiatry. Current ed. is DSM-IV TR) A lot of it focused on the biochemical similarities between eating and alcohol/substance dependence.
It's been discussed by Nora Volkow, the preeminent researcher on brain imaging and addiction, and director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
While it doesn't seem like Obesity will become a diagnosable, psychiatric disorder, the idea is an intriguing one to ponder at least.

decides2dream

pretext wrote:

I was at psychiatry conference back in the spring, and one of the talks was on the potential to include obesity as a disorder in the upcoming DSM-V. (DSM is the diagnostic manual for psychiatry. Current ed. is DSM-IV TR) A lot of it focused on the biochemical similarities between eating and alcohol/substance dependence.
It's been discussed by Nora Volkow, the preeminent researcher on brain imaging and addiction, and director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
While it doesn't seem like Obesity will become a diagnosable, psychiatric disorder, the idea is an intriguing one to ponder at least.

it would be good, i think, if somehow it could get some form of classification....merely so the morbidly obese/food addicts could possibly get therapeutic benefits covered by their insurance, which would benefit all. if more people were of a healthy weight in this country, it would be win-win-win all the way round!