High-fat and high-sugar foods are as hard to quit as drug addictions and can make you depressed

Why are cheese, donuts, gratin, and pizza so irresistible? Foods high in fat and sugar are like magic and are particularly difficult to quit. In fact, this is not just due to psychological factors. According to the latest animal experiments in Canada, eating high-fat, high-sugar foods regularly can cause changes in brain chemicals, and quitting them will cause symptoms such as depression and mood swings, just like quitting drugs.

According to research, foods high in sugar or other fat, such as chocolate, can be as difficult to quit as drug addiction.

In an animal experiment on mice, a research team led by Dr. Stephanie Fulton of the University of Montreal in Canada divided the mice into two groups: one eating a low-fat diet (11% fat content) and the other eating a high-fat diet (58% fat content). After six weeks of feeding, they found that there were big differences in the neurochemicals inside the brain.

Mice that ate a high-fat diet had higher levels of stress-regulating corticosterone in their brains, and their CREB molecules also became very active. These chain reactions also affect the production of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is a hormone that affects human emotional expression and makes people feel happy. However, the amount of dopamine in the brains of mice is relatively low, so they are prone to depression and negative emotions, such as hiding in corners and being afraid of open areas.

This situation makes people who want to quit a high-fat diet, just like patients who are quitting drug addiction, experience emotional symptoms such as increased stress, increased sensitivity to external stimuli, and extreme depression. They are likely to return to a high-fat, high-sugar diet again, creating a vicious cycle. This also explains why people who are losing weight always find it difficult to control their desire to eat high-calorie foods. Once they lose control, they often get out of control and eat more.

Dr. Fulton also said that in the research results, although the waist circumference of mice on the high-fat diet increased by 11%, it was still below the standard value for obesity (BMI value). These findings can help future research on the close relationship between food and the internal and external manifestations of the human body. When obese patients find it difficult to quit high-calorie diets during weight loss, it can also provide more directions to explore solutions.