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Burgers are as addictive as drugs
The Sunday Times (U.K.) ^ | 07/14/03 | Jonathan Leake and Andrew Porter

Posted on 07/12/2003 4:11:56 PM PDT by Pokey78

SCIENTISTS have discovered that high doses of fat and sugar in fast and processed foods can be as addictive as nicotine — and even hard drugs. The research found that foods which are high in fat and sugar can cause significant changes in brain biochemistry similar to those from drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Once hooked, the researchers say, many people find it almost impossible to switch back to a healthy diet, often leading to obesity.

The evidence is to be taken up by lawyers preparing multi-million-pound claims from people who allege that their “addiction” to fast foods has damaged their health.

They say that the new research undermines the claims of companies such as McDonald’s and KFC that the decision to eat their products is down to “personal responsibility”.

The addictive nature of fatty foods has been established by researchers at Rockefeller University in New York who found that regularly eating the products can quickly reconfigure the body’s hormonal system to want yet more fat.

They also found that early exposure to fatty food could influence children’s choices so that they would always seek a similar diet, increasing the likelihood of obesity in later life.

In another study, to be published shortly, Professor Ann Kelley, a neuroscientist, and Matthew Will, of the University of Wisconsin, traced the biochemical changes in the brains of rats fed different diets.

Those given a high-fat diet became hooked and if the fat was taken away, displayed symptoms similar to those of a drug addict deprived of his or her fix. Fat rats also suffered changes in brain development.

“The research suggests that a high-fat diet alters brain biochemistry with effects similar to those of powerful opiates such as morphine,” said Will.

The daily recommended intake of energy for an adult man is about 2,300 calories, of which no more than 35% should come from fat and 11% from added sugars. Women should eat about 1,800 calories a day.

However, a meal at a fast food outlet — burger, chips, drink and dessert — can deliver almost all of an adult man’s recommended daily calories in a single sitting. For example, a McDonald’s quarter pounder with cheese contains 516 calories. A large portion of french fries adds another 412, and an accompanying large milk shake another 500 calories — while a chocolate doughnut or dessert gives a further 379.

The total is more than 1,800 calories, most of it coming from fat and sugar. By comparison, a leg of chicken with boiled potatoes and peas plus an apple contain about 800 calories, with a relatively small proportion comprising fat or sugar.

Some nutritionists say that it is unfair to blame just fast food firms for surging obesity when 85% of people’s food comes from supermarkets. Such stores promote processed foods with high levels of fat and sugar, along with snacks such as crisps, ice cream and chocolate, because they offer high profit margins.

Scientists at the food companies Nestlé and Unilever have also been investigating how snack foods make people binge eat. “We have projects currently running to investi- gate this,” a spokesman for Nestle said.

A typical snack such as a standard 34 gram packet of crisps can comprise 33% fat, have high levels of salt and provide 180-200 calories, more than 10% of a child’s daily needs. In recent years firms have competed by offering ever larger packets.

The new research will be featured in a BBC2 television programme, Big Mac Under Attack, to be shown on Tuesday. It suggests that high-fat and high-sugar diets can disrupt the delicate hormonal balance that would normally prompt people to stop eating.

John F Banzhaf III, professor of law at the George Washington University law school and who led America’s anti- tobacco litigation, said that the findings left companies selling food high in fat and sugar “deeply vulnerable”. He has written to six of the world’s largest fast food companies warning them of litigation.

“Most of these companies sell this food without any nutritional information, labelling or warnings. A product that is both dangerous and addictive is very difficult to defend,” said Banzhaf.

Professor Gary Slapper, director of the Open University law programme, said he believed that the first British legal actions over obesity were imminent. “There is an obligation to make risks clear to consumers and failure to do so makes food companies liable,” he said.

In France, fears of a consumer backlash have prompted McDonald’s to publish nutritional advice that inactive children should not eat its meals more than once a week.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: addiction; health; wod; wodlist
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1 posted on 07/12/2003 4:11:56 PM PDT by Pokey78
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To: Pokey78
Burgers are as addictive as drugs

Word. Super size mine...

2 posted on 07/12/2003 4:15:02 PM PDT by Drango (Just 5¢ a day will end pledge drives on FreeRepublic.)
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To: Pokey78
Burgers are as addictive as drugs

In other breaking news, researchers have discovered that bland, boring, and tasteless food is nowhere near as addictive as burgers or drugs. Scientists indicate that more research and more money will be needed to confirm the findings, however.

3 posted on 07/12/2003 4:15:43 PM PDT by Larry Lucido
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4 posted on 07/12/2003 4:16:31 PM PDT by Support Free Republic (Your support keeps Free Republic going strong!)
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To: Larry Lucido
And in yet more breaking news, scientists have discovered that marijuana is a "gateway" drug leading to burger use.
5 posted on 07/12/2003 4:17:11 PM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: Pokey78
burgers=drugs

Liberals=CONTROLING ANTIAMERICAN BULLSH*T

6 posted on 07/12/2003 4:18:45 PM PDT by ATOMIC_PUNK ("ALL MY LIFE I'VE SEEN LIBERALS SCREW UP THIS COUNTRY WHEN DO WE FIGHT THE COMMUNIST HOARD?")
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To: Drango

7 posted on 07/12/2003 4:20:05 PM PDT by ErnBatavia (Bumperootus!)
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To: Drango
“Most of these companies sell this food without any nutritional information, labelling or warnings. A product that is both dangerous and addictive is very difficult to defend,” said Banzhaf.

Who goes to a fast food restaurant wanting nutritional information. EVERYONE knows that they don't serve rice cakes and celery juice a Burger King. Some people are in denial because they can't control themselves and just want someone else to blame. They also want to ruin it for everyone else.

8 posted on 07/12/2003 4:21:47 PM PDT by Paul Atreides
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To: ErnBatavia
You beat me to it!
 
MMMMMMMmmmmmm... double-doubles.

9 posted on 07/12/2003 4:22:20 PM PDT by AnnaZ (unspunwithannaz.blogspot.com... "It is UNSPUN and it is Unspun, but it is not unspun." -- unspun)
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To: ErnBatavia
Is that the burger named after Bubba?
10 posted on 07/12/2003 4:22:23 PM PDT by Paul Atreides
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To: ATOMIC_PUNK
It makes me think of the ponytail guy, asking Bill and Hill to be our parents.
11 posted on 07/12/2003 4:23:18 PM PDT by Paul Atreides
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To: ErnBatavia
IN-N-OUT----there is none better. Make mine a double.
12 posted on 07/12/2003 4:23:42 PM PDT by Founding Father
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To: ErnBatavia
Can I have a diet coke with my burger, please?


13 posted on 07/12/2003 4:24:23 PM PDT by Drango (Just 5¢ a day will end pledge drives on FreeRepublic.)
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To: Pokey78
The total is more than 1,800 calories, most of it coming from fat and sugar. By comparison, a leg of chicken with boiled potatoes and peas plus an apple contain about 800 calories, with a relatively small proportion comprising fat or sugar.

You will eat all of your peas, or you won't get your apple for dessert. It's the law!

14 posted on 07/12/2003 4:25:02 PM PDT by xm177e2 (Stalinists, Maoists, Ba'athists, Pacifists: Why are they always on the same side?)
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To: Pokey78
John F Banzhaf III, professor of law at the George Washington University law school and who led America’s anti- tobacco litigation, said that the findings left companies selling food high in fat and sugar “deeply vulnerable”. He has written to six of the world’s largest fast food companies warning them of litigation.

Sounds like blackmail to me. Where's the mob when you need them?

15 posted on 07/12/2003 4:29:55 PM PDT by A_perfect_lady (I'm an Ann Coulter soul trapped in a Janeane Garofalo body.)
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To: Pokey78
Depending on how this tracks, are we to know stigmatize ft people, as if they were "junkies?"

Not mentioned for addictions were alcohol, and methamphetamine.

There may be opportunities to expand on a dual addiction theme. "Tweakers" will generally slim down, but if we can get them addicted to burgers too, it will keep their weight up.
16 posted on 07/12/2003 4:30:22 PM PDT by truth_seeker
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To: Pokey78

I'm ashamed to admit this, but I have been a food addict my entire life. If I don't have food every few hours, my stomach growls, I feel a deep hunger for a "fix"... it is a craving I cannot shake.

I probably spend $100 a week on my food habit. I have a whole room in my house dedicated to the storage and preparation of food. I developed this in childhood, and I have never been able to let it go.

Sometimes I feel like if I didn't have food, I would die. I'm glad to see that other people are awaking to the dangers. I've spent my entire life putting food in myself two, usually three, times a day. If it will help others save themselves from this terrible addiction, I will gladly take their food.


17 posted on 07/12/2003 4:31:23 PM PDT by Nick Danger (The liberals are slaughtering themselves at the gates of the newsroom)
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To: Larry Lucido
More money for research is right. Can't get that money by saying "habit-forming" or using words like "gluttony".

The word "addiction" is today's big money buzzword.

18 posted on 07/12/2003 4:31:50 PM PDT by robertpaulsen
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To: Pokey78

MMMmmm - drugzzzzz...


19 posted on 07/12/2003 4:33:33 PM PDT by Senator Pardek
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To: A_perfect_lady
Here come the lawyers. The first salvo is to saturate the media with so-called scientific studies (probably paid for by lawyers) about the addictive qualities of the product. Once the public has been brain washed, start the lawsuits. Juries lifted from the brainwashed population will only be too happy to award zillions to the lawyers...euh victim, in order to send a "message" to the deep-pocket corporation. This of course begins the destruction of the ex-profitable industry while the lawyers use the loot to destroy another profitable industry until there is none left.
20 posted on 07/12/2003 4:36:03 PM PDT by winner3000
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