People tend to eat every time they're hungry, but a new study emerged that some people tend to eat for the sake of doing so. As per the study, these individuals are addicted to food. Their brains produce a certain high and cravings that are linked to food.
As per the Food Wine website, an international group of researchers tested 81 participants. 42 of which are normal in terms of weight and 39 participants are obese. The participants were shown photos of a buffet style meal while receiving an MRI. The study then found that the food cravings activated a different part of the brain in the obese group than they did in the normal group.
A Researcher at the University of Grenada, Oren Contreras Rodriguez, made a statement regarding food addition. It is when she said that some people's brain response towards eating food is the same as the brain response of individuals taking hard drugs.
"There is an ongoing controversy over whether obesity can be called a 'food addiction,' but in fact there is very little research which shows whether or not this might be true, the findings in our study support the idea that the reward processing following food stimuli in obesity is associated with neural changes similar to those found in substance addiction "
According to Web Md, highly palatable foods are the ones that are highly addictive. These foods are high in sugar, fat and salt. These foods trigger the brain to produce the feel good chemicals known as dopamine. Once an individual experience pleasure associated with increased dopamine transmission the brain's reward pathway from eating certain foods, an individual will once again gave the urge to consume more of the trigger happy food.
Food-addicted individuals have the tendency to override the signals of fullness and satisfaction which usually leads to obesity.
