Ultra-processed foods as addictive as cigarettes, research finds

In a study published in the journal Addiction, researchers from the University of Michigan and Virginia Tech pointed to strong evidence that tobacco products, as well as super-processed foods, can cause addiction.

You may have heard rumors about sugar addiction. But what about making highly processed foods as addictive as cigarettes?

If you can’t say no to french fries, burgers, or instant noodles, maybe it’s not your fault.

The scientists decided to use the same testing criteria for tobacco addiction to see if the highly processed foods matched any of the substances.

The criteria are:

• It triggers compulsive use and people cannot stop or cut back (even in the face of life-threatening diseases like diabetes and heart disease);
• They can change the way we feel and cause changes in the brain of a similar magnitude to the nicotine in tobacco products;
• Highly empowered (media, lower price, ease of access);
• They trigger intense cravings.

but not just one processed food met all criteria🇧🇷

Used since 1988, this potential addiction checklist for tobacco products has undergone scientific review and has proven effective not only for nicotine products, but also for super-processed foods.

For Alexandra DiFeliceantonio, assistant professor at the Fralin Institute for Biomedical Research at Virginia Tech, “It’s time to stop thinking of highly processed foods as mere foods, to think of them as highly refined substances that can be addictive.”

Not just out of curiosity, research like this could encourage a change in the way we see and process food with these products.

This can be the key to avoiding health problems, not only in physical health, but also in mental and emotional health.