Cold Cut: Ultra-Processed Foods Addictive?

Boomers will recall Jays potato chip ads bragging how one “Can’t stop eating ‘em.” Now, new science is zeroing in on “what such ultra-processed food does to your brain” as well as body: It can cause a kind of “Addiction.”

The WSJ noted how “Studies are finding links between these foods & changes in the way we learn, remember & feel.” Besides packaged snacks, look at some cereals or cold cuts. Such ultra-processed foods “can act like addictive substances” to such an extent that some are even proposing a new mental-health condition called “ultra-processed food use disorder.” Is our scientific community starting to unfairly pile on the ultra-process food industry? If so, what took so long to get to the “addiction” issue that so many suspected for so long? Especially since a diet, high in ultra-processed foods has already been linked with obesity, Type 2 diabetes, cancer & cardiovascular disease?

As the industry says, not all ultra-processed foods are alike, & it insists their “household brands are committed to protecting access to nutritious, affordable, convenient & safe food.” Meanwhile, researchers concede they are still figuring out “exactly why, beyond calorie counts & nutrient composition,” super-processed eatables are different from “real” food. It apparently has something to do with how “Many ultra-processed foods hit the brain rapidly when we eat them & have a strong effect on its reward system, which is involved in pleasure, motivation & learning.” You know, the same kinds of effects people get when “using nicotine, alcohol & other addictive drugs,” said U of Michigan Prof Ashley Gearhardt. “People intensely crave ultra-processed foods & consume them compulsively & find they can’t stop eating them.” Then, let’s call it the “Jays Syndrome 2.0.” Sounds more marketable.

Davd Soul