Do you often feel the need for a sweet sugar rush or a moment of
bacon-induced bliss? A new study offers evidence that that surge
of pleasure is similar to a heroin high, and that eating junk
food regularly can significantly change the brain’s chemical
make-up, creating junk food addicts who are driven to overeat.
Lead researcher Paul Kenny says it had previously been unclear
whether extreme overeating was initiated by a chemical
irregularity in the brain or if the behavior itself was changing
the brain’s biochemical makeup. The new research by Kenny and
his colleague Paul Johnson, a graduate student, shows that both
conditions are possible [Scientific American]. For the study,
published online in Nature Neuroscience, Kenny and colleagues
headed to the grocery store. “We basically bought all of the
stuff that people really like — Ding-Dongs, cheesecake, bacon,
sausage, the stuff that you enjoy, but you really shouldn’t eat
too often,” he said [Reuters]. One set of lab rats was allowed
unfettered access to the