Here’s a sentence you’ll probably never hear anyone utter: I need to talk to someone about the fact I am addicted to apples; I hide them in my ankle boots and eat them when I’m all alone…
Why is it we are only addicted to processed foods and drinks? And why do we often transfer our alcohol addiction to something else that’s bad for our bodies? And why don’t I long for a crisp chunk of pineapple the way I salivate for a warm, squishy, chocolate chip cookie? And while I’m in a questioning mood, why do I buy cute pajamas when I almost always sleep in some variation of the clothes I wore the day before?
My friend Lise’ sent me an article about those foods deemed most addictive. She was worried I was snow bound with a pantry full of stale holiday fare and that I might emerge with a new jones for beef jerky, peppermint bark (too late) or beer nuts…
Research was conducted by the University of Michigan and surprise, surprise apples did not make the Addictive Food List… Subjects were shown photographs of certain foods, and asked if they had ever tried to curtail their consumption of that food and failed. 92% of the participants had trouble with one or more of these foods:
- Pizza
- Chocolate
- Chips
- Cookies
- Ice Cream
- French Fries
- Cheeseburger
- Soda (not diet)
- Cheese
- Bacon
- Fried Chicken
- Rolls
- Popcorn (buttered)
I’m hungry. Notice anything about the top addictive foods? According to the study,”highly processed foods share certain characteristics with addictive drugs. For instance, both tend to be consumed in concentrated doses and both are absorbed quickly by the body.
It comes down to basic biology: You’re more likely to develop an addiction to alcohol because it contains the concentrated addictive substance ethanol. When you throw hard liquor into the equation, an addiction is even more likely to develop because the concentration of ethanol is even higher. In the same way, the concentration of sugar tends to be much higher in processed foods than in fruits”.
The least addictive food, by the way, is raw cucumber (no dip).
Surprise, surprise…
