{"id":23402,"date":"2025-03-06T19:30:19","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T20:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=23402"},"modified":"2025-03-06T21:28:22","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T21:28:22","slug":"are-ultraprocessed-foods-addictive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=23402","title":{"rendered":"Are Ultraprocessed Foods Addictive?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The question has generated controversy among scientists. Here\u2019s what we know.<\/p>\n

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Over the last decade or so, research has revealed a clear pattern: People tend to overeat ultraprocessed foods<\/a>. This could be one reason they\u2019re linked with weight gain and obesity.<\/p>\n

What isn\u2019t clear is why<\/em> we are so prone to overeating them.<\/p>\n

Dr. Robert Califf, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, offered one hypothesis at a Senate hearing in December<\/a>: \u201cThese foods are probably addictive,\u201d he said, adding that they may act on the same brain pathways involved with addiction to opioids and other drugs.<\/p>\n

As recently as eight years ago, such a concept was highly controversial, said Ashley Gearhardt, an addiction researcher at the University of Michigan. She described being heckled onstage at a scientific conference in 2017 for suggesting that some ultraprocessed foods may act as addictive substances. Now, she said, more researchers have started coming around to the idea.<\/p>\n

But a major question remains: How do you prove it?<\/p>\n

A study published Tuesday<\/a>, the largest of its kind, took a big swing at this conundrum. But its results raised more questions than answers. Here\u2019s what we know \u2014 and don\u2019t know \u2014 so far.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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