Good Lifestyle

If it seems that you can not open a potato chip bag without eating all the pizza and crave cookies with as much intensity as a smoker craves a cigarette, you could have a legitimate addiction. Some people Crailjunk food Regularly with bad habits or lack of self-control, but new research points on the existence of food addiction.

Nicole Avena, Ph.D., Neuroscientific at the Mount Sinai St. Luke Hospital in New York, studied the science of dependence. In a feature for the September issue ofNational Geographic magazine titled"The brain addict," Dr. Avena and other researchers have discovered that people can be attached to foods in the same way, drug addicts for their next solution.

Although theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) does not list food addiction as a disorder, it recognizes another dependence on behavior: the game. As the game, junk food has effects on the brain reward system, which is supposed to lead to behavioral dependence .

"Food addiction can be difficult to define because it has not yet been established as a medical condition of the medical community," explains Dr. Avena. "However, people who feel they might have a food addictive can search for certain signs, such as spending an excessive time of time thinking about food or restoration, in the suburbs, signs of Withdrawal when denying junk food and craving can interfere with their ability to meet work, at school or at home. "

Since people tend to have higher foods in sugar and refined carbohydrates, it does not surprise that these were the types of food researchers deemed the most addictive. Dr. Avena said his research revealed that more transformed foods are more likely to be addictive,

"We found that the pizza was the most addictive, followed by chocolate, chips and cookies," she says. "In addition, we found that we found that foods that had superior glycemic load and those raised in fat, were more likely to be addictive. As for why these foods are the most addictive, it has to see With the fact that they can affect the brain reward systems so as to produce changes in the brain that look like what we would see with a drug, such as alcohol or nicotine. "

Although it is important to eat these types of food in moderation, it can be physically impossible for a person with food addiction to control around their take-out dishes and favorite snacks.

If you find that the food takes on your life and you make you unfortunate, it may be time to look for treatment before more serious medical conditions occur such as obesity or diabetes. Some people may not know how to look for treatment as food addiction has not been an established medical condition. But there are treatment courses that have been successful, explains Mr. Avena, such as 12-step programs that focus on food addiction, nutritional advice or even pharmacology in some cases.

"If you have concerns or behaviors to eat, it is always wise to talk to your primary care doctor because they can often guide you on the best steps to take," she says. "Food addiction is a little different for everyone, so individualized treatments."

Sometimes the bottom of an entire bag of potato chips or devouring a whole pizza is not an unhealthy habit; This could be a sign of a bigger problem. If you think you live with food addiction, be sure to talk to your doctor and look for treatment.