The Brain-Food Connection

Why High-Sugar, Fat, and Salty Foods are "Addictive"

May 17, 2009 Alicia Richardson

Food is one of the most potent stimuli that can "excite" the brain. However, once stimulated, the only way of satisfying a craving is to consume that food item.

Dr. David Kessler, former Commissioner of the U.S.Food and Drug Administration, and author of The End of Overeating says that humans like Pavlov's dogs become programmed to anticipate highly palatable foods with fat, sugar, and salt.

It's true. Scientific evidence shows that our food intake is governed by the need to eat (survival), and the desire to eat (a longing for something, like a slice of cake at the end of a full dinner), and this "craving" is driven by the Dopamine Signalling System, located in the nucleus accumbens and the prefrontal cortex of the brain. The center of motivation and reward experience, it urges us to eat and makes us feel good after eating. It's the same circuitry involved in drug addiction. In many situations, this desire to eat overrides the need to eat, leading people to consume more energy than they need.

The "Good" Feeling and Memory by Highly Palatable Foods

When people eat highly pleasurable foods: high fat, high-sugar or high-fat, high salt food items, a flood of dopamine is released and the experience is stored as memory along with the surrounding environment. It's called a food cue. Every time such memory is triggered by an environmental signal like passing by a chocolatier, dopamine is released and the person is strongly urged to procure the food.

Reducing Your Food Cravings

The Dopamine Reward System has served us well throughout human history. It helped us survive. However, in a food-permissive environment where food is readily available and cheap calories from comfort foods affordable, overconsumption may also lead to excess weight gain. The following recommendations are offered:

• Eat every 3 or 4 hours. This prevents overhunger and low-blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
• Include a small amount of protein with your carbohydrate snack for longer lasting energy.
• Avoid alcohol. It can aggravate food craving and induce hypoglycemia and disrupt normal levels of brain chemicals.
• Don't eat your favourite sweet/food at the same time, in the same mood, or in the same place. It will reinforce the food-memory connection whenever you're in that situation.
• Don't eat your favourite treat when you're hungry. Eat your meal, not snacks. Snacks are satiety poor, but are calorie-rich.
• Brush your teeth and gargle with mouthwash if you're craving food and not hungry. The tastebuds and receptors on your tongue will get a "sweet-hit" and your mouth will feel good.
• Don't forbid yourself to have the object of your desire forever. This may only intensify the craving and drive you to binge if given the opportunity. Instead, have your treat, but in small infrequent doses.
• Persevere.

References

Kessler David A. "The End of Overeating. Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite" Rodale Incorporated April 2009

Wise, RA "Obesity and Addiction" Obesity Causes, Mechanisms, Prevention, and Treatment Blass EM (ed)

Sinauer Associates Inc. 2008

Kelley A et.al. "Neural systems recruited by drug and food related cues: Studies of gene activation in cortolimbic regions." Physiology and Behavior 15 September 2005;86(1-2):11-14

The copyright of the article The Brain-Food Connection in Health Field is owned by Alicia Richardson. Permission to republish The Brain-Food Connection in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Chocolate cupcakes.jpg

CheetosCrop.jpg

ColoredcandyC.jpg