Just about everyone who struggles with their weight has a few “problem foods.” By this I mean snacks or treats that are so seductive and tantalizing that giving them up would take almost superhuman strength.
One of nature’s ironies is that these foods are never good for you. They’re things like crackers and chips. Greasy fastfood burgers and fries. Wedges of cheese. Chocolate and ice cream. The specific foods hardly matter; they’re different for everyone. But we all know which ones are a problem for us individually—and being free from the spell they cast over us would sure help us budge those stubborn pounds.
Why don’t we just quit eating them? For the same reason that smokers have such a hard time quitting or drug addicts keep going back for more. The truth is, certain foods affect the brain the same way heroin and nicotine do. They produce neurochemical changes that are addictive. That’s why willpower alone is never enough to erase their power over us —and why so many people say things like, “I know I have to quit eating [fill in the blank], but I just can’t.”
In his fascinating book Breaking the Food Seduction, Neal Barnard, M.D., reports on a study in which a group of chocoholics was given a drug called naloxone, which prevents narcotics from affecting the brain. After taking the drug, the volunteers were offered a tray filled with M&M’s and other chocolate snacks. Normally, these chocolate-cravers would have pounced on the candy. But after taking the drug, they had no interest. Why? Because chocolate affects the same parts of the brain that are stimulated by opioids such as heroin.
Chocolate isn’t the only food with addictive qualities. A number of other foods, including cheese, have also been found to stimulate opioid receptors. Some foods—mainly sugar and refined carbohydrates—cause alternating surges and drops in glucose (blood sugar) that stimulate appetite and food cravings.
