Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have more in common with cigarettes than with fruit or vegetables, and require far tighter regulation, according to a new report.
UPFs and cigarettes are engineered to encourage addiction and consumption, researchers from three US universities said, pointing to the parallels in widespread health harms that link both.
UPFs, which are widely available worldwide, are food products that have been industrially manufactured, often using emulsifiers or artificial colouring and flavours. The category includes soft drinks and packaged snacks such as crisps and biscuits.
There are similarities in the production processes of UPFs and cigarettes, and in manufacturers’ efforts to optimise the “doses” of products and how quickly they act on reward pathways in the body, according to the paper from researchers at Harvard, the University of Michigan and Duke University.
One of the authors, Prof Ashley Gearhardt of the University of Michigan, a clinical psychologist specialising in addiction, said her patients made the same links: “They would say, ‘I feel addicted to this stuff, I crave it – I used to smoke cigarettes [and] now I have the same habit but it’s with soda and doughnuts. I know it’s killing me; I want to quit, but I can’t.’”
The best example I can think of to represent what the article is taking about is Doritos. I like to think of myself as someone with a decent amount of self-control. But if I ever see a bag of Doritos I can crush a whole value pack in two sittings. That stuff is engineered to be as addictive as possible and it shows. The only reason why I’m not a walking blimp is that I dont buy any because I know what happens when that stuff is in my house.
If only they engineered something that was both addictive and healthy for a change. But I guess there isn’t much incentive to sacrifice maximum addictiveness for health.
This confirms your decent amount of self-control.
The comedian Louis CK once said: “I don’t stop eating when I feel full. I stop eating when I start hating myself.”
It could just be a lower threshold for self-hatred.
I once killed an entire party size bag of Doritos by myself.
To be fair I was really baked at the time.
I’m the sane way but vanilla oreos. I buy a thing once or twice a year
I’m that way with Pringles. I look at it and it looks like a giant tube of chips that should ideally last many days, but I can easily eat over half the tube in one sitting if I’m not being conscious of how many I’m eating at a time.
It’s that satisfying crunch. Consider almonds or mixed nuts instead, they’re healthier. You should also eat them slower. (I should know, I can also eat an entire thing of nuts if I’m not controlling it. But at least they’re nuts and not pringles.)
Or maybe pistachios since you have to open them
Bonus 3d print for pistachio lovers: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5172117
Funny you say that, I mostly swapped to eating cocktail peanuts as my salty snack of choice. They are more filling, so I don’t overeat and are definitely healthier than chips.
There is a certain ratio of carbohydrates to fat that stops us from being able to control how much we eat. (50:35 carbohydrates to fat) plus salt, flavour enhancers and whatever sells the product…
its .0001% Meth.
Ordinary water, laced with nothing more than a few spoonfuls of LSD.
A little hint of love :)
MSG?
It’s certainly a factor, but not the whole picture. MSG is naturally occurring in a lot of whole foods as well. You don’t often hear of people with a crippling addiction to kelp or tomatoes.
Also if you do home cooking with msg (I used to, but stopped out of not bothering with msg) it really isn’t that addictive. It enhances umami flavor, which is excellent for when you really want a dish to pop, but it’s not like you’re gonna down an entire casserole because you put msg in it. Though you might eat more of your pan fried broccoli because the msg really kicks it up a notch.
Seriously, msg does more to improve the flavor of roasted and pan fried veggies than anything else, if you struggle with eating such things it may help
Absolutely! The combo of MSG with salt is like a cheat code for accessing higher realms of flavor. It can also help reduce salt intake if that’s of concern.
Very true for specific foods, but I will say that back when I ate meat it was negligible on meat. I really recommend tasting it plain to really understand how it works flavor wise.