Is Junk Food Addictive?

By: Meaghan Orellana, Nutrition and Dietetics Student

As we approach the holiday season surrounded by Halloween candy, Thanksgiving pie and cookies for Santa, we can also find ourselves surrounded by feelings of guilt. Why is it so hard to put down the bag of chips before it’s empty? We have heard the age-old phrase ‘everything in moderation’, so it can feel like our own personal failure when we overindulge.

What Makes Some Foods Feel So Addictive?

Our brains are wired to signal reward pathways when we eat sweet and fatty foods. In early human history, this helped us indulge in foods that are energy-dense to prepare for food scarcity. Whole foods such as fruit, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts and meat, all come prepackaged with components that trigger feelings of fullness. The combination of high sugar, salt and fat we see in ultra-processed foods (UPFs) today, is not found in food naturally. This combination is meticulously constructed to disrupt satiety signals encouraging us to continue eating without feeling full. This happens through multiple mechanisms:

• Hormonal changes cause a decreased release and resistance to leptin and insulin, both of which trigger feelings of fullness.

• These hormonal changes uptick the release of ghrelin, the hunger hormone, making us want to eat more regardless of the high caloric intake ingested from UPFs.  

The high content of fat and sugar in UPFs cause neurologic changes in the reward centers of the brain through an increase in dopamine signaling and opioid release providing motivation to keep eating that can be hard to ignore. The high content of sugars and fats in UPFs without the prepackaging that comes with the natural whole food, allows for rapid absorption into our body which quickly and repeatedly triggers our reward pathways to continue eating. Food scientists have found a way to manipulate this, creating a ‘bliss point’ which is the perfect combination of salt, sugar and fat to make UPFs more craveable.  As of 2024, researchers have found that UPFs meet the same criteria set for cigarettes to be considered addictive.

Where do we go from here?

Luckily, all hope of breaking the cycle is not lost. Try these tips to avoid getting lost down the cookie jar.

Retrain Your Taste – Our taste buds develop new receptors every 10 days. This gives us the opportunity to retrain our taste. Our taste buds become accustomed to the high sweet and salty taste of UPFs which makes natural sugar and salt underwhelming. The more you cut back on UPFs in favor of whole foods the more sensitive your taste buds will be to lower amounts of sugar and salt and the tastier they will become.

Eat Your Veggies First – Cutting UPFs cold turkey can lead to binge eating. Instead, pair a smaller serving with whole foods to help improve feelings of satiety with your snack.

Get Your Family and Friends on Board – Food can be a social and cultural staple; you do not need to cut everything out altogether. Get your loved ones on your side and at your next gathering, make some small swaps to ease into the change. Instead of a super sweet dessert, opt for a dessert centered around fruit to enjoy the natural sweetness.

Talk With a Nutritionist – Having trouble on your own or just want to check in with our nutritionist? Schedule an appointment with Maggie to discuss your goals and work through your challenges together!

80/20 Rule – Aim for at least 80% of the food you consume to be healthful (giving your body what it needs) and 20% soulful (feeding your body what you want, fueling your soul). This is a sustainable way to eat in moderation that breaks the all or nothing cycle for a long term lifestyle change. 

Give Yourself Grace - These changes 

Give Yourself Grace - These changes can be hard, and they take time to become a long-term habit. Recognize when you may overindulge but don’t dwell on a slip up. Small goals go a really long way! 

References:

1. Rao, Pingfan, et al. “Addressing the Sugar, Salt, and Fat Issue the Science of Food Way.” Npj Science of Food, vol. 2, no. 1, 16 July 2018, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-018-0020-x.

2. Tarman, Vera I. “One Size Does Not Fit All: Understanding the Five Stages of Ultra-Processed Food Addiction.” Journal of Metabolic Health, vol. 7, no. 1, 2024, p. 5, https://www.journalofmetabolichealth.org/index.php/jmh/article/view/90/299.  

3. LaFata, Erica M, et al. “Ultra-Processed Food Addiction: A Research Update.” Current Obesity Reports, vol. 13, no. 2, 18 May 2024, pp. 214–223, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11150183/, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-024-00569-w.

4. Brie Zeltner, The Plain Dealer. “Humans Are Genetically Hard-Wired to Prefer Fat and Sugar: Fighting Fat.” Cleveland, 4 Apr. 2010, www.cleveland.com/fighting-fat/2010/04/humans_are_genetically_hard-wired_to_prefer_fat_and_sugar.html.