Rats: the next junk food addicts
Comments(0) Cheesecake is like heroin to rats on a junk-food diet
Published: 10/22/2009 by: Brett Israel
A study done In Chicago shows that rats that eat junk food behave the same way as rats addicted to heroin. A study was done with two different containers of rats. One container had rats that ate a high nutrient, low calorie diet, while the other container had unlimited amounts of junk food. The study revealed that the rats that ate all junk food soon began to form compulsive eating habits and consumed twice the amount of calories as the other container.
This led the scientist to see if the overeating affected the pleasure centers of the rats brain. This test was performed with a wheel that gave more pleasure the more the rats ran on it. The rats with the junk food diet ran more then the other rats which meant that they needed more stimulation to feel good. After five days of the junk food diet the rats became habituated to the food. This meant that the rats had to eat more food to get the same pleasure as before. This behavior is also seen in heroin addicts who need more drugs the longer they use them.
The scientists also tested how strong the addiction was by shocking the rats when they ate the junk food. The rats who ate the healthy diet stopped eating after just a few shocks, but the junk food rats continued to eat even while being shocked. After the rats were removed from the junk food diet the rats stopped eating altogether. Which shows how dramatically their food preferences had changed.
Do you think this addiction is the same with humans? Should something be about the junk food industry? If yes, what? If no, Why? Do you think the world would handle a major diet shift away from junk food?
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