Is fast food addiction true or a myth? Robert Lustig, author of "Sweet Trap", takes a closer look at an immortal fast-food set - a hamburger, fries and a sweet carbonated cola drink. Which ingredients are the most addictive: sugar, s alt, fat or caffeine?
In humans, the symptoms offood addictionare often compared with the criteria for diagnosing drug addiction. There is, however, a problem with this approach. Namely, it shifts attention away from the potentially addictive properties of the food itself, and focuses on the individual affected by the addiction. We, on the other hand, prefer to focus on the addictive potential of food itself, putting it among other toxic stimulants. For many reasons, the substance closest to fast food is alcohol, also because of its biochemistry.
Fast foodis high in calories, high in sugar, fat, s alt and caffeine. It is a processed food with a high energy concentration. What's more, it is designed to strongly affect our taste buds. Most of the fiber, vitamins and minerals that were originally in the raw food were extracted during processing. Sugar, s alt and other improvers have been added to enhance the palatability. The final product is packed in handy packaging and sold so that the customer has the best access to it. Which of the ingredients listed here would be addictive? Maybe all of them together bring such an effect? An analysis of the market share of McDonald's restaurants - the largest burger chain in the world - shows that Big Mac and fries are the most popular among customers. The sets sold at promotional prices (together they are cheaper) account for 70 percent of the turnover for the McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King chains. The most popular immortal set is Big Mac, medium fries, medium drink - a total of 1130 kilocalories for a dozen or so zlotys.
But we're talking about addiction here. So let's order an enlarged set. Let's take a look at the nutritional information for a typical fast food meal, consisting of a Big Mac, large fries and a large cola (almost a liter) [NOTE - portions of food, especially drinks, are larger in the USA than in Poland. We have 0.5 liters of the largest drink, almost a liter there - ed. cons.]. Percentage recommended has not been taken into accountdaily sugar intake, as such recommendations do not exist. Consider that 50 percent of Americans eat this or a similar meal at least once a week.
S alt
Sample kit contains 1,380 milligrams of sodium (s alt component). The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, published in 2005, set the "upper limit of consumption" to be 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day, so the daily intake for this meal is 54 percent. A variety of highly processed foods provide the average American with 3,400 milligrams of sodium per day. S alt is one method by which the food industry can preserve food and extend its shelf life. So s alt and calories almost always go hand in hand (take potato chips, for example). But is it addictive? Data confirming the addictive properties of s alt come from current animal model studies. In studies on rats it was found that dopamine is released in response to its administration, and the additional administration of opioids increases the demand for it. For humans, however, s alt consumption has traditionally been viewed in terms of learned preference rather than dependence. A person's taste for s alty food is formed at a very early stage of life. Four- to six-month-old babies develop a taste for s alt based on the sodium content of the mother's milk, the water used to make up the substitute milk, and other foods in their diet. Of course, people can decide to change the amount of s alt they eat. For example, patients who crave s alt as a result of adrenal gland disease can reduce their s alt intake if they use the right medications. Moreover, because the taste for s alt is learned, it can be unlearned. In adults with hypertension, it takes 12 weeks for them to develop new eating habits (less s alt intake). Thuss alt does not meet the criteria defining addictive substances .
Fat
High fat content in fast food meals is crucial for inducing a reward effect. The set we are taking a closer look at provides 89 percent of the recommended daily fat intake, assuming you are consuming 2,000 kilocalories a day. Nutrition studies show that excess calories from fat are stored more efficiently than their carbohydrate counterpart (90-95 percent versus 75-85 percent). Therefore, fat consumption has always been viewed as a major contributor to weight gain. Pets allowed periodic access topure fat, they will throw themselves at him like crazy. The type of food does not matter, suggesting that it is the fat content of fast food that causes you to overeat. However, studies in rats did not reveal other characteristics of addictive substances - such as tolerance or withdrawal syndrome. But remember that "fatty foods" are almost always full of starch (pizza) or sugar (cookies) as well. In fact, adding sugar significantly increases the liking of fatty foods also among people of a he althy weight. This means thatthe combination of "a lot of sugar + a lot of fat" will have more addictive properties than just a lot of fat .
Caffeine
Carbonated drink is an integral part of any fast food meal. If you drink a large cup of soda with your McDonald's set, you'll consume about 58 milligrams of caffeine. Producers of non-alcoholic beverages use this alkaloid in their products, calling it a flavor additive, but only 8 percent of regular soda drinkers are able to test the difference between a caffeinated coke and a decaffeinated one11. So most likely, the addition of caffeine is intended to increase the overall satisfaction (the quality that makes the product unique) of what is already a highly rewarding (sweet) drink. Caffeine has long been recognized as an addictive substance - it meets all seven criteria set out in the DSM-IV-TR for physical and mental dependence. (…)
Up to 30 percent of caffeine consumers meet the criteria for an addict. Headaches (attributed to an increased blood flow velocity in the brain), fatigue, decreased performance when carrying out tasks - these are all symptoms of coffee withdrawal. Moreover, increasing the periodic consumption of caffeine leads to an increase in tolerance to this substance. While children get their daily dose of caffeine in the form of sodas and chocolate, coffee and tea are the most common sources of caffeine for adults. A cup of coffee (about 230 milliliters) contains 95-200 milligrams of caffeine, depending on how you make it. The late comedian and social critic George Carlin described the coffee as "Caucasian coca." It turns out, however, that few customers currently order standard, traditionally brewed coffee in chain restaurants. Statistics conducted among Starbucks customers show that the majority of customers order flavored drinks. The "grande" (extra large) mocha frappucchino (without whipped cream), not falling from the bestseller list, is a trifle of 260 kilocalories and 53 grams of sugar. So aswell-known drugcaffeine in coffee and carbonated drinks is an inseparable element of food addiction .
Sugar
While the number of anecdotal reports pointing to the addictive effects of sugar on humans is multiplying, we are still not entirely sure whether this is a real relationship or merely a habit. Drinking a soda on a fast food set can increase the total sugar consumption of that meal by a factor of ten. The Coca-Cola concern reports that 42 percent of the drinks sold in the US are diet drinks (such as Cola Zero), but at McDonald's 71 percent of customers choose sweetened versions. Moreover, on his 2009 menu, only seven items were sugar-free: fries, potato pancakes, sausages, chicken McNuggets (no sauce), Cola Light, black coffee, and iced tea (sugar-free). Soda consumption is independently associated with obesity. In addition, people who eat fast food drink much more of them. It is possible that the increasingly common phenomenon of "carbonated drink addiction" is due to the content of a well-known addictive substance, namely caffeine. All criteria for defining sugar as an addictive agent have been demonstrated in rodent model studies. First, rats that have been provided access to sugar periodically (after a period of its exclusion) attack the sweet substance. Secondly, after its withdrawal, these animals show symptoms characteristic of the abstinence syndrome (chattering teeth, chills, convulsions, restlessness). Third, after two weeks of abstinence, the animals that were given sugar consumed much more of it - so the criteria of craving and craving are met. (…) Elevated dopamine levels maintain the urge to overeat, and excessive consumption increases with time, in proportion to tolerance. Finally, cross-sensitization was also demonstrated in sugar-dependent rats that readily switched to alcohol or amphetamine. So, based on these data, we can conclude thatsugar is addictive, and soda is twice as much . (…)
Pleasure vs happiness
You may have heard of the Gross National Happiness Index - a metric that measures quality of life or social progress in more psychological terms than the economic index of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Certainly America is not an overly fortunate country. While we have the highest GDP in the world, the happiness index is 44 percent. Of course, our national workaholism (among the inhabitants of developed countries, Americans are onlast place when it comes to taking your leave) and the recent economic crisis have contributed to the national feeling of misfortune. But can this misfortune also be related to eating? Everything indicates that people with obesity are not happy. The question is whether this misfortune is the cause or the result of obesity. At this stage, we cannot state it unequivocally - quite possibly both. Here's how it works.
Happiness is not only an aesthetic state. It is also a biochemical state mediated by the neurotransmitter serotonin. The serotonin hypothesis assumes that the deficiency of this compound in the brain causes acute clinical depression, therefore selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which increase its level, are used as therapeutic agents (prozac, Wellbutrin). One way to increase the synthesis of serotonin in the brain is to eat plenty of carbohydrates. I think you can see where the problem is. If your serotonin level is too low, you will want to increase it at all costs. Eating plenty of carbohydrate, especially sugar, is at least twice as beneficial in the beginning: it facilitates the transport of serotonin and in the short term it is a pleasure to replace happiness. But when the D2 receptors are out of balance, more sugar will have to be delivered to achieve the same effect. Insulin resistance leads to leptin resistance, and the brain recognizes the threat of starvation, forcing us into a vicious cycle of eating to induce at least a moment of pleasure in the light of persistent misfortune. Each of us can fall into such a vicious circle. Just replace the little misfortunes with a little pleasure and voilà! Addiction as seen.
Is fast food addictive?
There is one obvious flaw in this whole theory, and I'm sure you've been wondering about it since you started reading this chapter. Can Anyone Really Get Addicted to Fast Food? Everyone in the US eats them, but not everyone is addicted. In the case of drugs, chronic use is almost a hundred percent addiction path (…), but does fast food fit this pattern? There are a lot of people used to eating it, but able to stop when they make up their mind to eat it. Is there a group of people who are prone to addiction and who have chosen food as their stimulant? This would explain why people who quit smoking start eating more. Doctors looked at the concept of food addiction. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), is a member ofgroup that supports the theory of food addiction. However, not everyone subscribes to the claim that obesity and addiction are related. For example, in 2012, a group of British scientists challenged the obesity-addiction model, arguing that not all obese people were addictive, that neuroimaging showed a reduced number of dopamine receptors in all of them, and that rats are not humans ( although, of course, some people are rats). . If we followed this line of thought, not everyone who drinks is an alcoholic, but we know that some people become addicted to alcohol.
So what is your sentence? (…) Is fast food addictive or is it just a matter of habit? After 15 years of treating children with obesity, I can categorically say that a lot of people just can't get over the habit. This inability is even more apparent in children, possibly because they were raised on such food and their brains are more susceptible to stimuli. Here are a few points that should act as a warning, light a red light in your head when it comes to food addiction. How often do you eat fast food (constantly or periodically)? Who do you go to such restaurants with (with your family or alone)? What are you ordering? How old are you? And - most importantly - do you order soda with your meal? I have shown you data that shows that fat and s alt make a meal more attractive, but that sugar and caffeine are the real trap. We'll come back to that over and over again in this book, because that's where the crux of the problem lies.
This will be useful to you
In the book"Sweet trap. How to win with sugar, processed foods, obesity and diseases"(Galaktyka publishing house, Łódź 2015) Dr. Robert Lustig analyzes the causes of the obesity pandemic, which in it is taking over the world at an alarming pace. Lustig refutes the thesis that obese people themselves are responsible for obesity - it is rather a matter of mismatch between our environment and the biochemistry of our body. The premiere of the book on May 20, 2015 took patronage over this event. We recommend!
Robert Lustig- internationally recognized specialist in pediatric endocrinology from the University of California, San Francisco. He has spent the last 16 years treating childhood obesity and researching the effects of sugar on the central nervous system, metabolism and disease development.
"Doctor Robert Lustig is a medical doctor and scientist with a sense of social mission fighting the effects of the obesity pandemic. In his opinion, this phenomenon is not a private problem of people who eat too much and move too little.a book for all those suffering from obesity and for doctors who do not know how to help them. In fact, everyone should read it - the "American diet" is becoming the "industrial global diet." Obesity is one of the most difficult issues in medicine as it combines physics, biochemistry, endocrinology, neurology, psychology, sociology and environmental he alth. However, Lustig managed to present the problem from a scientific perspective, but in an interesting and accessible form ".
prof. Iwona Wawer, Medical University of Warsaw IW
Important
Poradnikzdrowie.pl supports safe treatment and a dignified life of people suffering from obesity. This article does not contain discriminatory and stigmatizing content of people suffering from obesity.