Junk Food Addiction

Everyone knows that junk food is "bad," right?  So why does it seem so good?  Why do we want it so much?  It turns out that high fat, high sugar diets activate the opioid-dopamine reward system - much like addictive drugs.  It seems that we can build a tolerance; like drug abusers need increased intakes of drugs to get the same "high," some people need increased fat and sugar intake to get the similar "high" from junk foods.  Of course, this has major implications for waistlines!

Some new research is showing that there may be two major periods of the life cycle that impact our preferences for junk food - pregnancy and adolescence.

A high junk food diet by mom, especially in late pregnancy, may "program" the brain's preferences for high fat and high sugar foods.  We may even be able to reverse those preferences by following a healthy diet during late pregnancy.

In this particular study, eating a healthy diet during adolescence helped reduce the preference for junk foods in makes but not females.  That's not to say that all is lost - there is always a benefit to making healthful choices, no matter your age or gender.