From Dairy Queen’s Chocolate Extreme Blizzards to a Hershey’s bar, I love chocolate of all kinds mixed with all assorted goods. I believe that everyone knows that chocolate is bad for humans to consume in large/multiple quantities. But I also heard of people having “chocolate addictions”. I realize that most people are exaggerating when they say they are “addicted” to chocolate, but it lead me to wonder if it is possible to really be addicted to chocolate and if it is something that could happen to anyone. As we know chocolate is an unhealthy food option most of us have, it also is in one of the most popular food group, junk food. Everyone has some “junk food” in some point of their life these days; though its consumption is even more popular in the United States. Many Americans are becoming more and more obese over the last century partially due to that fact. According to Dr. Jeffrey Fortuna, author of the article The Obesity Epidemic And Food Addiction: Clinical Similarities To Drug Dependence, “As of 2010 nearly 70% of adult Americans were overweight or obese. Specifically, 35.7% of adult Americans are obese, and this is the highest level of obesity in the recorded history of the United States” (Fortuna, p. 1). I began to wonder if it could be possible that these people have become addicted to the junk food that they crave leading to these unsettling statistics. From the same article, The Obesity Epidemic And Food Addiction: Clinical Similarities To Drug Dependence, I learned that food does possess addictive qualities. There were biological and psychological factors that were similar to those of drug addictions. “They are: (1) cravings for specific drugs and palatable foods exist in many of the same neural path-ways, and; (2)... ... middle of paper ... ...anyone from dieting? Of course not; dieting or eating “right” is something that everyone should do, whether it be eating more or eating less of a certain food group. Being on the “right” diet plan is not something that will make our current situation worse, even if the chemistry is against us. So, yes, there are food “addictions” but not 100% similar to that of drug addictions. There are consequences to eating too much of one thing, but the point here is that it might not be that individual’s fault. Works Cited Fortuna, Jeffrey L. "The Obesity Epidemic And Food Addiction: Clinical Similarities To Drug Dependence." Journal Of Psychoactive Drugs 44.1 (2012): 56-63. Academic Search Premier. Web. 08 Nov. 2013. Miller, Michael C. "Is It Possible To Become Addicted To Chocolate?." Harvard Mental Health Letter 28.5 (2011): 8.Academic Search Premier. Web. 08 Nov. 2013
The problem behavior associated with individuals making bad food choices when presented with unhealthy food will need to be observed so that we may understand how to change this behavior as it is unhealthy and harmful to health overall. Are poor choices in different foods causing obesity? Making poor choices when it comes to food is an
"Who consumes the most chocolate?." The CNN Freedom Project Ending Modern Day Slavery RSS. 17 Jan. 2012. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. .
An addiction to food is not unlike an addiction to drugs. According to Dr. Ramani Durvasula, a food addiction is when someone is not only eating a lot of food but chronically
American health, specifically our obesity epidemic, has grown into a trending media topic. A quick Google search will bring up thousands of results containing a multitude of opinions and suggested solutions to our nation’s weight gain, authored by anyone ranging from expert food scientists to common, concerned citizens. Amongst the sea of public opinion on obesity, you can find two articles: Escape from the Western Diet by Michael Pollan and The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food by Michael Moss. Each article presents a different view on where the blame lies in this public health crisis and what we should do to amend the issue. Pollan’s attempt to provide an explanation pales in comparison to Moss’s reasonable discussion and viable
In the essay “Her Chee-to Heart”, by Jill McCorkle, she discusses about the various difficulties she has encountered of being a junk-food junkie and the struggles of overcoming the guilty pleasures of junk food. Firstly, one of the many difficulties she encounters are her feelings, which ultimately overwhelm her into continuing to eat various types of junk foods. Her feelings of nostalgic memories when consuming such goods as a child, the enjoyment and the savory tastes it grants her, are constantly mentioned throughout the essay, directly contributing a major factor into her desires of junk food. Furthermore, while she is quite aware of the consequences regarding the health side effects of consuming such foods and what the food is ultimately
There are many different definitions in which people provide regarding addiction. May (1988) describes that addiction “is a state of compulsion, obsession, or preoccupation that enslaves a person’s will and desire” (p. 14). Individuals who suffer from addiction provide their time and energy toward other things that are not healthy and safe. The book
In Michael Moss’ “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food” he argues that companies have a huge influence on what consumers purchase and have been successfully able to get people addicted to junk foods because one’s willpower does not overpower their lack of adequate information and time, vulnerability to manipulative marketing and formulation of products, and their socioeconomic status.
may recognize there is a dependency, however, do not understand that they have no control over it. This abstinence experience project challenged myself, even though I may might as well have chosen to quit alcohol or drugs, just as easily, as choosing a food behavior was almost as difficult. I know myself to have a form of an addictive behavior or an addiction to a substance, food.
As Australian poet, Luke Davies, once wrote, “When you can stop, you don’t want to, and when you want to stop, you can’t..”, one can find many references toward addiction in the Lotus-eater story in The Odyssey. The Odyssey written by Homer follows the travels and tribulations faced by Odysseus on his journey home after fighting in the Trojan War. On one of their many adventures, Odysseus and his crew arrive at the Lotus-eater island where they then become addicted and infatuated with the lotus and forget to return to the ship because of the brainwashing qualities of the fruit. Because of this, they do not concentrate on the task at hand; therefore losing focus on the bigger picture of their duties which is finding a way to get back home to their families.
Nowdays, junk food doesn’t need to introduce itself. Everyone enjoys how junk food taste because is the most popular fast food, tasty, and most important, affordable. Consuming fast food is tasty and you might think is healthy just because it said on the labels “healthy” but for your information, There is no healthy involved in junk food whatsoever. Junk food is all good tasting, except the fact that it is not nutritionally balanced. Michael Moss’s article The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food he talks about the extraordinary science behind what we consider tasty food and fast food for addiction, and how big food companies struggle to maintain healthy food with any preservatives that will affect our society’s health, especially in
Not only are today’s families far less active, but easy access to rich-tasting, cheap food can be addictive. The fast food industry knows this and uses this information to make foods which make the brain crave more. In his book Salt Sugar Fat, author Michael Moss discussed this in an interview with food scientist Steve Witherly.
Growing up we are conditioned to eat or like certain foods that our family is able to provide for us. Every meal whether it’s breakfast, lunch, or dinner is placed on our dinner table for us to eat by our family and we grow up to become so used to it, that these foods are still a part of our everyday lives. What we don’t come to realize is how bad all of the packaged and processed food is to us, or how money and being lazy has taken a very huge part on what is said to be the “National Eating Disorder.” Although some may consider unhealthy snacks to be “food,” they are, in fact, just junk- not food. Food is something that is needed in order to survive, but our thought of food is to consume processed foods, fast foods, packaged foods, and what
When an individual eats too much, the body begins to gain weight. According to the online article “Compulsive Overeating as an Addictive Behavior: Overlap Between Food Addiction and Binge Eating Disorder,” by Caroline Davis, she states someone who has the body mass index of forty percent or higher is considered obese, which is a serious life threatening condition. Someone having this much body fat is at high risk of having high blood pressure which can lead to heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, etc. All of these diseases are life threatening, shortening a person’s life drastically. The reasons a person is obese can range from heredity to depression. Even though it is heredity, it can be avoided with the right diet and exercise. The reason why someone would put themselves through gaining so much weight were it is restricting them from living their life to the fullest is undetermined. In the article by Davis, she would argue that the reason binge eating is a thing is because of how addicting it is. Food is an addiction and a way to escape certain scenarios. Sometimes the goal of being thin like society has portrayed is not obtainable to females who have things getting in the way of weight loss. This causes a woman to go into depression, eating more and more, using food as a comfort rather as a way to
Food is a major part of everyone’s everyday life. It’s hard to imagine life without the chocolate cake on your fingers or a carne asada taco in your mouth. Enjoying delicious desserts and fast food seem extremely magnificent to eat and spend money buying them. Although, there have been many controversies in the United States on how it’s the largest country with the most obesity regarding children, which affects their health, many people are still going throughout their day snacking. Many people in America are having full course meals with thousands of calories in one sitting not knowing the short term or long term side effects that are going to take a huge toll on their lives. Food is delicious, but it comes with a secret behind the savoriness/sweetness.
Food addiction can lead to serious and difficult health concerns. Nevertheless, obesity has other health issues that comes with it as well. In the United States between 2007 and 2009 there has been a 1.1% increase of obesity (Pedram). There has been an assumption that if it continues by 2050 it would be close to 100% of Americans who would be obese (Pedram). This information explains that the increase in overconsumption of food can slowly make most Americans suffer from obesity. Another issue of obesity is that it is “the fifth leading cause of global death” (Pedram). Becoming a food addict can cause an individual into becoming obese that they may eventually face death. Food addiction has become quite a controversial that it is difficult to overcome as fast food restaurants are encouragement in individuals to choose the path of obesity. Nevertheless, obesity is still a health issue that is harmful and dangerous to an