| Is fast food addictive? Yes, it is addictive. Do your | | | | deliver nearly the recommended daily calorie and fat |
| children enjoy your Happy Meal? Well if they do, you'd | | | | intake in one meal. As people put on weight, they |
| better be worried. Scientists claim that that | | | | become more resistant to the hormone leptin, which is |
| Hamburgers and French fries can be as addictive as | | | | strongly linked to weight and appetite, and a brain |
| heroin. Researchers in the US have found evidence to | | | | peptide called galanin that stimulates eating. |
| suggest people can become overly dependent on the | | | | 3. Feeling Happy After Your Happy Meal Ah, the |
| sugar and fat in fast food. | | | | wonderful Happy Meal which brings smiles to the |
| 1. You Crave For Sweet and Oily Food. Sugar is | | | | millions of children. Ever wondered why Happy Meals |
| addictive in all ways; it triggers reactions in our bodies | | | | and other fast food in general never fail to bring a |
| that make us feel very 'high' due to the insulin spike in | | | | smile to your child's face? That's because fast food |
| our body. Combined with the fats which you get from | | | | can stimulate as much pleasure as heroin can! Ann |
| fast food, they form the perfect combination that is | | | | Kelley, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin |
| almost as addictive as heroin. Bart G. Hoebel, a | | | | Medical School, the behavior of rats after the were |
| neuroscientist from Princeton University led a similar | | | | given sweet, salty and fatty foods. She found a link |
| study into sugar addiction, which was published in the | | | | between the brain's pleasure chemicals and a craving |
| journal Obesity Research in June 2002. Rats were | | | | for this type of food. She stimulated the rats' brains |
| used and were gradually fed a diet with increasing | | | | with a synthetic version of the natural opioid enkephalin. |
| amounts of sugar. The more sugar given, the quicker | | | | This caused rats to eat up to six times their normal |
| the rats ate it and when it was suddenly withdrawn | | | | intake of fat. In addition, Dr Kelley identified long-lasting |
| from their food, they experienced "addiction-type" | | | | changes in rats' brain chemistry - similar to those |
| reactions, such as chattering teeth, anxiety and | | | | caused by extended use of morphine or heroin. |
| shaking. | | | | How to Rid Your Addiction Of Fast Food |
| 2. You Feel Weak and Shaky Without Fast Food | | | | 4. Having Fast Food More Than Once a Day Eating |
| When you start feeling weak and shaky after a few | | | | fast food once a day is already bad enough, and if |
| days without fast food, it will signify the start of your | | | | you're eating two fast meals a day or you find |
| fast food addiction. Very soon, you'll start to think that | | | | yourself craving for the second meal, think again. This |
| the universal solution for all your problems is a Bic Mac. | | | | is another tell-tale sign of addiction. Dr Jeane Randolph, |
| Evidence: Researchers who have been studying the | | | | from the University of Toronto said that fast food |
| biological effects of fast foods are discovering that | | | | causes blood sugar to peak and then plunge, creating |
| they can trigger hormonal changes in the body which | | | | a natural desire for another snack to achieve the |
| can make it difficult to control eating. Fast food meals | | | | same effect. |