Scientists have finally confirmed what the rest of us have suspected
for years: Bacon, cheesecake, and other delicious yet fattening foods
may be addictive.

A new study in rats suggests that high-fat, high-calorie foods affect
the brain in much the same way as cocaine and heroin. When rats
consume these foods in great enough quantities, it leads to compulsive
eating habits that resemble drug addiction, the study found.

Doing drugs such as cocaine and eating too much junk food both
gradually overload the so-called pleasure centers in the brain,
according to Paul J. Kenny, Ph.D., an associate professor of molecular
therapeutics at the Scripps Research Institute, in Jupiter, Florida.
Eventually the pleasure centers "crash," and achieving the same
pleasure--or even just feeling normal--requires increasing amounts of
the drug or food, says Kenny, the lead author of the study.

"People know intuitively that there's more to [overeating] than just
willpower," he says. "There's a system in the brain that's been turned
on or over-activated, and that's driving [overeating] at some
subconscious level."

In the study, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, Kenny and
his co-author studied three groups of lab rats for 40 days. One of the
groups was fed regular rat food. A second was fed bacon, sausage,
cheesecake, frosting, and other fattening, high-calorie foods--but
only for one hour each day. The third group was allowed to pig out on
the unhealthy foods for up to 23 hours a day.

Not surprisingly, the rats that gorged themselves on the human food
quickly became obese. But their brains also changed. By monitoring
implanted brain electrodes, the researchers found that the rats in the
third group gradually developed a tolerance to the pleasure the food
gave them and had to eat more to experience a high.

They began to eat compulsively, to the point where they continued to
do so in the face of pain. When the researchers applied an electric
shock to the rats' feet in the presence of the food, the rats in the
first two groups were frightened away from eating. But the obese rats
were not. "Their attention was solely focused on consuming food," says
Kenny.

In previous studies, rats have exhibited similar brain changes when
given unlimited access to
cocaine or heroin. And rats have similarly ignored punishment to
continue consuming cocaine, the researchers note.

The fact that junk food could provoke this response isn't entirely
surprising, says Dr.Gene-Jack Wang, M.D., the chair of the medical
department at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National
Laboratory, in Upton, New York.

"We make our food very similar to cocaine now," he says.

Coca leaves have been used since ancient times, he points out, but
people learned to purify or alter cocaine to deliver it more
efficiently to their brains (by injecting or smoking it, for
instance). This made the drug more addictive.

According to Wang, food has evolved in a similar way. "We purify our
food," he says. "Our ancestors ate whole grains, but we're eating
white bread. American Indians ate corn; we eat corn syrup."

The ingredients in purified modern food cause people to "eat
unconsciously and unnecessarily," and will also prompt an animal to
"eat like a drug abuser [uses drugs]," says Wang.

The neurotransmitter dopamine appears to be responsible for the
behavior of the overeating rats, according to the study. Dopamine is
involved in the brain's pleasure (or reward) centers, and it also
plays a role in reinforcing behavior. "It tells the brain something
has happened and you should learn from what just happened," says
Kenny.

Overeating caused the levels of a certain dopamine receptor in the
brains of the obese rats to drop, the study found. In humans, low
levels of the same receptors have been associated with drug addiction
and obesity, and may be genetic, Kenny says.

However, that doesn't mean that everyone born with lower dopamine
receptor levels is destined to become an addict or to overeat. As Wang
points out, environmental factors, and not just genes, are involved in
both behaviors.

Wang also cautions that applying the results of animal studies to
humans can be tricky. For instance, he says, in studies of weight-loss
drugs, rats have lost as much as 30 percent of their weight, but
humans on the same drug have lost less than 5 percent of their weight.
"You can't mimic completely human behavior, but [animal studies] can
give you a clue about what can happen in humans," Wang says.

Although he acknowledges that his research may not directly translate
to humans, Kenny says the findings shed light on the brain mechanisms
that drive overeating and could even lead to new treatments for
obesity.

"If we could develop therapeutics for drug addiction, those same drugs
may be good for obesity as well," he says.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/28...ex.html?hpt=C1

On Mar 29, 7:56*am, Immortalist > wrote:
> Scientists have finally confirmed what the rest of us have suspected
> for years: Bacon, cheesecake, and other delicious yet fattening foods
> may be addictive.

Placing their mind ahead of that which feeds it, typical Kantian
behaviour.

MG

On Mar 29, 2:59*pm, Sidney Lambe > wrote:
> ["Followup-To:" header set to alt.food.vegan.]
> On alt.food.vegan, Immortalist > wrote:
>
> > Scientists have finally confirmed what the rest of us have suspected
> > for years: Bacon, cheesecake, and other delicious yet fattening foods
> > may be addictive.
>
> "Suspected"? It's obvious as hell. Who needs some geeks with
> purchased physical science degrees to confirm it?

And I suppose ewe blame cigarette and alcohol companies for making ewe
choose to purchase a packet of smokes and a bottle of whisky? ****ing
idiot.

MG

"Immortalist" > wrote in message
...
> Although he acknowledges that his research may not directly translate
> to humans, Kenny says the findings shed light on the brain mechanisms
> that drive overeating and could even lead to new treatments for
> obesity.
>
> "If we could develop therapeutics for drug addiction, those same drugs
> may be good for obesity as well," he says.

If these changes in brain chemistry occur, are they reversible?
Would changes in diet allow the brain to "recover" to its
original abilities without the use of drugs?

>
> http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/28...ex.html?hpt=C1

On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 15:56:28 -0700, Immortalist wrote:

> Scientists have finally confirmed what the rest of us have suspected for
> years: Bacon, cheesecake, and other delicious yet fattening foods may be
> addictive.

I suspect this is not exactly correct. There is bacon and there is an
item sold in stores and fast food joints called bacon. Once any additive,
let say any form of refined sugar, is introduced for whatever reason it
is no longer 'just bacon'. Also how animals are fed is part of of this.
This might account for the rat behavior. If these rats had been feed meat
organically raised, fed on organic feeds I would wager a difference in
behavior, in rats and humans, would become apparent.

Also, and this is as real as the object called "bacon" and pertains to
humans alone, how bacon is represented should be considered a product
additive. Close ups of gleaming grease dripping from well lite rotating
bacon burgers with vivid green and red therefore healthy lettuce and
tomato suggesting healthy bacon burgers all underscored with hoppy music
is a physical ingredient and a physical additive.

101 in all culinary arts from ancient times to now is the deep importance
of presentation. This is not a trivial matter or some fluff idea. A brain
scientist can easily account for physical triggers set off via sensory
stimulation enabled by mass media. Some of these guys even work or
consult for Ad agencies and PR firms who have The Greasy Corporate
Internationals as clients. Their goal - by-pass reason.

Instead what we have here is again targeting what are essentially the
victims, the end users as if they (really more like 'we') should know
better. Well we do, otherwise there would be no need for physically
addictive sugar type additives or PR firms.

On Mar 28, 5:56*pm, Immortalist > wrote:
> Scientists have finally confirmed what the rest of us have suspected
> for years: Bacon, cheesecake, and other delicious yet fattening foods
> may be addictive.
>
> A new study in rats suggests that high-fat, high-calorie foods affect
> the brain in much the same way as cocaine and heroin. When rats
> consume these foods in great enough quantities, it leads to compulsive
> eating habits that resemble drug addiction, the study found.
>
> Doing drugs such as cocaine and eating too much junk food both
> gradually overload the so-called pleasure centers in the brain,
> according to Paul J. Kenny, Ph.D., an associate professor of molecular
> therapeutics at the Scripps Research Institute, in Jupiter, Florida.
> Eventually the pleasure centers "crash," and achieving the same
> pleasure--or even just feeling normal--requires increasing amounts of
> the drug or food, says Kenny, the lead author of the study.
>
> "People know intuitively that there's more to [overeating] than just
> willpower," he says. "There's a system in the brain that's been turned
> on or over-activated, and that's driving [overeating] at some
> subconscious level."
>
> In the study, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, Kenny and
> his co-author studied three groups of lab rats for 40 days. One of the
> groups was fed regular rat food. A second was fed bacon, sausage,
> cheesecake, frosting, and other fattening, high-calorie foods--but
> only for one hour each day. The third group was allowed to pig out on
> the unhealthy foods for up to 23 hours a day.
>
> Not surprisingly, the rats that gorged themselves on the human food
> quickly became obese. But their brains also changed. By monitoring
> implanted brain electrodes, the researchers found that the rats in the
> third group gradually developed a tolerance to the pleasure the food
> gave them and had to eat more to experience a high.
>
> They began to eat compulsively, to the point where they continued to
> do so in the face of pain. When the researchers applied an electric
> shock to the rats' feet in the presence of the food, the rats in the
> first two groups were frightened away from eating. But the obese rats
> were not. "Their attention was solely focused on consuming food," says
> Kenny.
>
> In previous studies, rats have exhibited similar brain changes when
> given unlimited access to
> cocaine or heroin. And rats have similarly ignored punishment to
> continue consuming cocaine, the researchers note.
>
> The fact that junk food could provoke this response isn't entirely
> surprising, says Dr.Gene-Jack Wang, M.D., the chair of the medical
> department at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National
> Laboratory, in Upton, New York.
>
> "We make our food very similar to cocaine now," he says.
>
> Coca leaves have been used since ancient times, he points out, but
> people learned to purify or alter cocaine to deliver it more
> efficiently to their brains (by injecting or smoking it, for
> instance). This made the drug more addictive.
>
> According to Wang, food has evolved in a similar way. "We purify our
> food," he says. "Our ancestors ate whole grains, but we're eating
> white bread. American Indians ate corn; we eat corn syrup."
>
> The ingredients in purified modern food cause people to "eat
> unconsciously and unnecessarily," and will also prompt an animal to
> "eat like a drug abuser [uses drugs]," says Wang.
>
> The neurotransmitter dopamine appears to be responsible for the
> behavior of the overeating rats, according to the study. Dopamine is
> involved in the brain's pleasure (or reward) centers, and it also
> plays a role in reinforcing behavior. "It tells the brain something
> has happened and you should learn from what just happened," says
> Kenny.
>
> Overeating caused the levels of a certain dopamine receptor in the
> brains of the obese rats to drop, the study found. In humans, low
> levels of the same receptors have been associated with drug addiction
> and obesity, and may be genetic, Kenny says.
>
> However, that doesn't mean that everyone born with lower dopamine
> receptor levels is destined to become an addict or to overeat. As Wang
> points out, environmental factors, and not just genes, are involved in
> both behaviors.
>
> Wang also cautions that applying the results of animal studies to
> humans can be tricky. For instance, he says, in studies of weight-loss
> drugs, rats have lost as much as 30 percent of their weight, but
> humans on the same drug have lost less than 5 percent of their weight.
> "You can't mimic completely human behavior, but [animal studies] can
> give you a clue about what can happen in humans," Wang says.
>
> Although he acknowledges that his research may not directly translate
> to humans, Kenny says the findings shed light on the brain mechanisms
> that drive overeating and could even lead to new treatments for
> obesity.
>
> "If we could develop therapeutics for drug addiction, those same drugs
> may be good for obesity as well," he says.
>
> http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/28...ex.html?hpt=C1

google "high fructose corn syrup"

["Followup-To:" header set to alt.food.vegan.]
On alt.food.vegan, tunderbar > wrote:
> On Mar 28, 5:56=A0pm, Immortalist > wrote:
>> Scientists have finally confirmed what the rest of us have suspected
>> for years: Bacon, cheesecake, and other delicious yet fattening foods
>> may be addictive.
>>
[delete]

>> "If we could develop therapeutics for drug addiction, those
>> same drugs may be good for obesity as well," he says.

Look around at the real world and quit taking scientists in the
pockets of major corporations so seriously. It is obvious as hell
that this commercially-motivated search for drugs that will cure
conditions that that are obviously caused by psychological
factors (even if they have a physical component _after_ the
fact) isn't working.

Theses same corrupt scientists tell us that depression is
a purely physical condition. But their drugs don't cure
depression, they just turn people into zombies.

And there are a lot of serious side effects.

Drugs that will cure addiction? What a _joke_!

[delete]

What does this have to do with vegetarianism/veganism?


Sid

On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 15:56:28 -0700 (PDT), Immortalist
> wrote:

>Scientists have finally confirmed what the rest of us have suspected
>for years: Bacon, cheesecake, and other delicious yet fattening foods
>may be addictive.

The objective to eliminate domestic animals is apparently
addictive too, at least when cloaked in the gross mi$nomer
"animal rights". In fact it's fine and good to refer to
elimination advocates and activists as misnomer addicts.

<dh@.> wrote in message ...
> On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 15:56:28 -0700 (PDT), Immortalist
> > wrote:
>
>>Scientists have finally confirmed what the rest of us have suspected
>>for years: Bacon, cheesecake, and other delicious yet fattening foods
>>may be addictive.
>
> The objective to eliminate domestic animals is apparently
> addictive too, at least when cloaked in the gross mi$nomer
> "animal rights". In fact it's fine and good to refer to
> elimination advocates and activists as misnomer addicts.

Calling that thing between your ears a brain is the misnomer.