Junk Food is Addictive to Rats ... Don't Get Hooked
Newsletter November 18, 2009
A new study shows that junk food is literally addictive: eating it for a few days in a row raises your pleasure threshold so you have to eat more to get the same level of satisfaction. Learn more below and get the recipe for Oooo-Mama! Gravy: a healthy, easy gravy to pour over mashed potatoes and stuffing at a Thanksgiving feast.
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Holiday season ahead. We're entering that period between Thanksgiving and New Year's when food and celebrations abound. Here's a new study that may show us an easy way to join in the joy without adding 10 pounds or breaking our budget.
Science News describes a new study presented at the annual meeting of Society for Neuroscience:
Junk food elicits addictive behavior in rats similar to the behaviors of rats addicted to heroin, a new study finds. Pleasure centers in the brains of rats addicted to high-fat, high-calorie diets became less responsive as the binging wore on, making the rats consume more and more food.
To see how strong the drive to eat junk food was, the researchers exposed the rats to a foot shock when they ate the high-fat food. Rats that had not been constantly exposed to the junk food quickly stopped eating. But the foot shock didn't faze rats accustomed to the junk food - they continued to eat, even though they knew the shock was coming.
The study showed that the rats developed an additive response to junk food in just five days and that the effect lasted for weeks. You might say, "This study was about rats. I am not going to become a junk-food junkie." Maybe not. But I certainly find that it's easy to start eating high-fat, additive-loaded food and hard to go back to a healthy diet.
So celebrate, but don't get hooked. Serve healthy, low-fat food at home on the days that you are not chowing down on Cheez Yows at an office party or sampling Aunt Edna's Kreme-Filled UhOhs. Enjoy the richer treats at a celebration, but don't pack the leftovers into your lunchbox for the rest of the week. That way you might not need food shocks or worse to get back on track in the New Year.
Oooo-Mama! Gravy. Pour this savory vegetarian gravy over mashed potatoes and stuffing to bind together a Thanksgiving feast. Even the non-vegetarians will cheer you on, saying "Oooo, Mama! This is some good gravy!" Any guests who speak Japanese might go for the original spelling and say "Umami! Great gravy!"
That's because the Japanese named the fifth basic taste "umami" well before the Europeans recognized more than sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. Umami is the savory rich taste usually associated with meat, mushrooms, and some cheeses. The tahini and soy sauce in this gravy both have umami flavor, making a rich-tasting gravy that is good for you, with protein and without saturated fat.
Hungry for more? Follow Cook for Good on Facebook. Thanks to newsletter-reader Jennifer, I made the Facebook plunge this week. Hope you'll consider becoming a Cook for Good Facebook fan! |
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A special thanks this week to all who encourage kids to eat well. I had a blast at Long Mill Elementary School this week. Whole Foods invited me to give a talk and bring some samples of Cook for Good recipes. The kids ate almost as much of the Cuban Black Beans and Nutty Rice Salad as they did of the Chocolate Pumpkin Cake. Long Mill has some great teachers and parents who are helping youngsters get started on a lifetime of healthy eating.
Have a delicious day!
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