Burgers are as addictive as Drugs

international | anti-capitalism | news report

Tuesday August 19, 2003 20:18

by Gaz - libertarian socialist

SCIENTISTS have discovered that high doses of fat and sugar in fast and processed foods can be as addictive as nicotine — and even hard drugs.
The research found that foods which are high in fat and sugar can cause significant changes in brain biochemistry similar to those from drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Once hooked, the researchers say, many people find it almost impossible to switch back to a healthy diet, often leading to obesity.

The evidence is to be taken up by lawyers preparing multi-million-pound claims from people who allege that their addiction to fast foods has damaged their health.

They say the new research undermines the claims of companies such as McDonald’s and KFC that the decision to eat their products is down to “personal responsibility”.

The addictive nature of fatty foods has been established by researchers at Rockefeller University in New York who found that regularly eating the products can quickly reconfigure the body’s hormonal system to want yet more fat.

They also found that early exposure to fatty food could influence children’s choices so that they would always seek a similar diet, increasing the likelihood of obesity in later life.

In another study, to be published shortly, Professor Ann Kelley, a neuroscientist, and Matthew Will, of the University of Wisconsin, traced the biochemical changes in the brains of rats fed different diets.

Those given a high-fat diet became hooked and if the fat was taken away, displayed symptoms similar to those of a drug addict deprived of his or her fix. Fat rats also suffered changes in brain development.

“The research suggests that a high-fat diet alters brain biochemistry with effects similar to those of powerful opiates such as morphine,” said Will.

The daily recommended intake of energy for an adult man is about 2,300 calories, of which no more than 35% should come from fat and 11% from added sugars. Women should eat about 1,800 calories a day.

However, a meal at a fast food outlet — burger, chips, drink and dessert — can deliver almost all of an adult man’s recommended daily calories in a single sitting. For example, a McDonald’s quarter pounder with cheese contains 516 calories. A large portion of french fries adds another 412, and an accompanying large milk shake another 500 calories — while a chocolate doughnut or dessert gives a further 379.

The total is more than 1,800 calories, most of it coming from fat and sugar. By comparison, a leg of chicken with boiled potatoes and peas plus an apple contain about 800 calories, with a relatively small proportion comprising fat or sugar.

Some nutritionists say that it is unfair to blame just fast food firms for surging obesity when 85% of people’s food comes from supermarkets. Such stores promote processed foods with high levels of fat and sugar, along with snacks such as crisps, ice cream and chocolate, because they offer high profit margins.

Scientists at the food companies Nestlé and Unilever have also been investigating how snack foods make people binge eat. “We have projects currently running to investi- gate this,” a spokesman for Nestle said.

A typical snack such as a standard 34 gram packet of crisps can comprise 33% fat, have high levels of salt and provide 180-200 calories, more than 10% of a child’s daily needs. In recent years firms have competed by offering ever larger packets.

John F Banzhaf III, professor of law at the George Washington University law school and who led America’s anti- tobacco litigation, said that the findings left companies selling food high in fat and sugar “deeply vulnerable”. He has written to six of the world’s largest fast food companies warning them of litigation.

“Most of these companies sell this food without any nutritional information, labelling or warnings. A product that is both dangerous and addictive is very difficult to defend,” said Banzhaf.

Professor Gary Slapper, director of the Open University law programme, said he believed that the first British legal actions over obesity were imminent. “There is an obligation to make risks clear to consumers and failure to do so makes food companies liable,” he said.

In France, fears of a consumer backlash have prompted McDonald’s to publish nutritional advice that inactive children should not eat its meals more than once a week.

McDonald’s has closed more than 700 outlets and announced its first quarterly loss this year. One suggestion was that it was being boycotted by international customers angry with America over Iraq. More likely, people have got fed up with fattening food.

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Comments (9 of 9)

Good article.

by Conor McGowan

Tue Aug 19, 2003 21:18

Conor at ziplip dot com

It should also be said, that Processed foods (like burgers , choclate, chips, mc donalds, etc) take relatively large amounts of energy to be processed.

first off the farming for meat (or what little of it is in mc food) , then spraying it in various chemicals to freeze, then keeping it frozen, then un-freezing it, and thats before you dump it in the deep fat frier.

a simple salad on the other hand, or "sangwech".......

as world population grows , we need to find more efficient ways of obtaining energy from the environment ,both to power "modern life" as such, but also to power us humans.

a good place to start would be ditching those trips to the chippie, but breaking the habbit of a lifetime is .....

_______________________________

"i measure my day in joules" - smarty mc smart - from the film "smart"

where did that meal come from..

by simon

Tue Aug 19, 2003 21:50

while processed foods are energy intensive you cant forget about the dependance on 'globalised' foods. Most of the staple foods for vegetarians/vegans (like myself) are transported over huge distances which uses vasts amounts of fuel/energy. Many are also produced in countries that have more lax regulations on pesticide use. If you are to criticise the enregy wasted in creating processed foods you should really go bio-regional.

Ive just about given up on listening to nutritional advice from 'scientists' as the research seems to contradict itself every few months.

I like a nice salad meself

by Seáinín

Wed Aug 20, 2003 02:17

I saw somewhere that there are a few people that don't have a mechanism so that their brain tells them they're full, so they're constantly hungry. That is sad but those cases are rare. I don't feel sorry for the fat bastards who eat for pleasure and never stop thinking about food. For me, food is a chore, something I need to keep my brilliant mind active. The chief cause of obesity IMHO is boredom, lack of mental stimulation.

seanin....

by prankster

Wed Aug 20, 2003 11:27

you make me think about getting fat.

WARNING

by SEANIN BOT

Wed Aug 20, 2003 12:14

SEANIN IS A TROLL.

He/She/They post(s) comments to indymedia to try to get a rise out of people and waste their time. Trolls are an unfortunate feature of the internet. The are people who abuse the open publishing systems of the internet with behaviour that is intended to be destructive, either because of a twisted personality, or a desire to destroy the project.

DO NOT RESPOND. DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS.

Introduce healthy food in schools

by Raymond McInerney

Wed Aug 20, 2003 14:45

A school in Appleton, Wisconsin, banned all fast
food chains, chocolate machines and soft drinks from the premises. Instead they fed the children and teenagers whole grain breads and well-rounded meals cooked with old-fashioned recipes. Since instituting the program, the principal and teachers report that violence, fighting, and
truancy are markedly down, while grades and attention spans have soared.

Pinch of Salt

by Gaillimhed

Thu Aug 21, 2003 13:58

"The evidence is to be taken up by lawyers preparing multi-million-pound claims from people who allege that their addiction to fast foods has damaged their health".

OK, we all know that junk food is bad for you and makes you fat, and its fairly intuitive that you become addicted to the convenience and your gut inevitably gets greedy for the fat squelching little heart attack that is the fast food burger.
BUT the Scientific 'evidence' referenced in the article is far from reliable. These lawyers are trying to get huge compensation packets from the fast food industry for obese lard addicts on the grounds that big macs are as addictive as heroin.
COME ON.
The name of the game is selectivity when it comes to using so-called 'scientific evidence' in these types of cases. There are far more studies which come to no such conclusions but theyre not as useful in an american court of law, where sensationalist public opinion sits in judgement.

The post above about nutritional science is vey true, its not carried out as a science at all, more as a consultancy to legitimise the latest food fashion fads and diets, and of course to keep up the fear of cancers etc...remember the polyacrylamide 'Cooking food can lead to cancer' scare headlines, supposedly based on hard science... not a bit of it.

Junk food is bad for you , and if you need a nutritional scientist paid by a team of lawyers to tell you that then you deserve heart disease and obesity, and not a big fucking Compo package from McDonalds.

...

Thu Aug 21, 2003 17:44

it may sound unfair but to me obese people suing mc donalds is compound greed. live a life on fast-food (which was known to be unhealthy for a long time), dont exercise proabably give up working due to health conditions and then sue Mcd's for your woes. I can name ten better reasons why Mcd's should be sued.

and I reckon almost everything has the potential for 'addiction'. I was addicted to juggling once, Im much better now man, just once or twice a week for me now. ;)

by ?

Fri Aug 22, 2003 17:30

Does anyone know of a good pro vegetarian book?

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Burgers are as addictive as Drugs

Comments (9 of 9)