Despite everything I know and say about the health effects of junk food, there are certain foods that once I start I can’t stop. They are crisps, chocolate and biscuits.
If I have a pack of biscuits at home, I don’t just eat one or two, I eat a lot.
When it comes to milk chocolate, sometimes I smash the whole bar and throw it in the bin to stop eating it.
The worst was when I ate my six-year-old daughter’s Easter eggs. She’s 23 now and she still hasn’t forgiven me.
The idea that food can be “addicted” has been controversial.
However, a team from the University of Michigan in the United States recently wrote in Addiction magazine that highly processed sugary foods such as ice cream, chocolate, donuts and biscuits should be considered as addictive as tobacco. claimed.
That’s because, like tobacco, there are foods that trigger strong urges and cravings the more you keep eating them, even though you know it increases your risk of life-threatening illnesses like type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
The idea that food can be “addicted” has been controversial – there are arguments to the contrary, including that food doesn’t alter brain function like alcohol or drugs.
Researchers also point out that highly processed foods can cause brain changes similar to nicotine.
This is what my friend Dr. Chris van Tulleken did when he went on an 80% ultra-processed diet for a month for a BBC documentary.
His diet included foods such as cocoa-flavored breakfast cereals, chicken nuggets, and microwaveable lasagna.
Not surprisingly, I gained 6.5 kg (more than a stone’s weight), but I was craving junk food more and more.
And scans showed that, in that short amount of time, eating all the junk had literally rewired his brain. It connected the cerebellum, the region that controls
He seems to have been reprogrammed by his new diet to go on autopilot to seek out and eat more of these unhealthy foods. .
Given that some foods are addictive, what are the worst offenders?
In 2015, another study by the University of Michigan had 120 students fill out the Yale Food Addiction Scale, a scale that measures the addictiveness of finding certain foods, and ranked 35 foods according to each food’s addictiveness. I was asked to attach
Unsurprisingly, chocolate topped the list of “most addictive foods,” followed by ice cream, French fries, pizza, biscuits, potato chips, cake, buttered popcorn and cheeseburgers.
Cheese, bacon and nuts in the middle, salmon, brown rice, cucumber and broccoli on the bottom.
So what do addictive foods have in common?
First, they are highly processed and designed to be rapidly absorbed, resulting in an almost instantaneous release of dopamine (a reward-related brain chemical) in the brain. It is also a mixture of fats and carbohydrates.
And not an old mixture. Roughly speaking, whether it’s chocolate or potato chips, cake or cheeseburger, they all consist of about 1g of fat to 2g of carbs.
This is a ratio that we humans are particularly irresistible.
Chocolate topped the list of “most addictive foods,” followed by ice cream, French fries, pizza, biscuits (file photo), potato chips, cake, buttered popcorn and cheeseburgers.
To see if you’re “addicted” to a particular food, try my quiz (right) based on the Yale University Food Dependence Scale.
So what if you’re addicted to sweet junk food?
First, make sure you have nothing left in your house. Otherwise, it will break and be eaten.
Then look for alternatives that might at least partially satisfy your cravings. I’ve found that switching from milk chocolate to dark chocolate helps a little.
Eating an apple or pear may also satisfy your craving for sweetness.
Another trick I use is to “surf the urge”. Being driven by urges means trying to work through them by drinking a large glass of water, practicing deep breathing, and focusing on other things instead of fighting them. It usually takes about 30 minutes before control is returned.
Seek support from family and friends. Luckily, her wife Claire doesn’t have a sweet tooth, so if she’s given a box of chocolates as a gift, she’ll either give it away or give away a little chocolate.
Finally, when you’re sleep deprived, you crave sugary carbs.
A study published earlier this year in the journal Sleep asked nearly 100 teenagers to reduce their sleep to 6.5 hours each night for a week. I ate foods high in sugar and carbohydrates.
Again, the message is to make sure you get enough sleep.
Are you dependent on certain foods?
Please answer the following questions. Anything more than 3 “yes” answers for her can cause problems.
1. When I start eating this food, I can’t stop and eat more than I thought.
2. Continue to eat this food even if you are not hungry.
3. When I feel stressed, I want to eat this food.
4. If not at home, go to the nearest dealer.
5. I hide this food so that even people close to me do not know how much I am eating.
6. Eating makes me feel anxious, self-loathing, and guilty.
7. The joy of eating is gone, but I continue to eat.
8. I tried to stop eating this food, but I was unsuccessful.
Hearing the chirping of birds makes me feel better
As it gets colder, rainier and darker, I make a special effort to go out for my morning walks.
Walking, especially in green spaces, is very good for your physical and mental health.
In Japan, where I recently filmed, there is the concept of “forest bathing”, spending time in forests and taking in the sights, sounds and smells to reduce stress.
Where I live, there are many magnificent red kites (pictured) that soar through the air with their distinctive meowing calls.
You can also boost your immune system by breathing phytoncides, the essential oils produced by trees.
Another advantage is seeing and hearing birds.
Where I live, there are many magnificent red kites that soar through the sky with a distinctive meowing sound.
My heart races when I see them and I feel like I’m not the only one. A recent study on the impact of birds on mental health involved more than 1,200 people.
Using an app created by researchers at King’s College London, volunteers reported whether they could see or hear birds and answered questions about their mental health.
This study shows that bird life can affect our moods, especially in people with depression.
Another good reason to put your boots on and explore the great outdoors.
Nito is an old problem
Our children have grown up and left home.
What I haven’t missed is the little friend they brought from elementary school.
Recent research by Israeli archaeologists has brought these things to mind as they uncovered immortal lines written on ivory combs more than 3,000 years old.
The world’s first written alphabet, the oldest known text, turned out to be a guide to how to get rid of head lice.
World’s first written text in the alphabet turns out to be a guide on how to get rid of head lice (file photo)
Archaeologists know that combs were indeed used for that purpose, as there were cavities between the teeth of the comb.
There are many special medicines to get rid of head lice, but a study by researchers at Ghent University Hospital in Belgium showed that regular conditioner, a comb and patience are your best weapons.
If you’re worried that robots will one day rule the world, it might be comforting to know that even the most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems sometimes need a nap.
We humans need sleep to consolidate our memories, but a new type of AI called a spiking neural network, which closely mimics how the human brain works, also needs downtime to learn and remember what it has learned. turned out to be necessary.
Photo: UBTech Robotics Inc.’s Walker robots play Chinese chess at the 2021 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai
Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the United States show that if you don’t get “the equivalent of a good night’s sleep,” you tend to be unstable.
Researchers believe the same is true for androids and other AI machines created in the future.
