Overeating, like drug use, rewards and alters brain patterns...NPR

[Stuart G]

From NPR..
John Hamilton..
December 1, 2010

http://www.npr.org/2010/12/01/131698228/overeating-like...

If you've ever wondered why it's hard to stay on a diet, consider this observation from Ralph DiLeone, a brain scientist at Yale University: "The motivation to take cocaine in the case of a drug addict is probably engaging similar circuits that the motivation to eat is in a hungry person."

That's what brain scientists have concluded after comparing studies of overeating with studies of drug addiction, DiLeone says.

They've also found that, at least in animals, sweet or fatty foods can act a lot like a drug in the brain, he says. And there's growing evidence that eating too much of these foods can cause long-term changes in the brain circuits that control eating behavior.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This story for the first times proves that overeating is like an addiction..I have seen a lot of articles on this, cause I have an overeating problem, but never proof
that the brain is altered by pleasure patterns that make it really hard to stop.

The proof in humans (this article is about proof in animals) will come in a while, that this is an addiction, and like drugs is deadly.
Unfortunately, for many, by then, they will have died from the side effects of overeating.
You know them already.

[Odin2005]

1. Oh shit!

:cry:

[BlueIris]

2. Thanks. Food abuse is real, people.

To the overweight and obese, I have tolerance and compassion for your situation, but please. Get help.

[thirtiesgirl]

5. why?

Obese people aren't hurting anyone aside from your sense of aesthetics. It's not like they're getting in a car and driving intoxicated or high with the potential to kill people. They're just being fat in public.

[meow2u3]

7. Don't tell me overweight people hurt just themselves LOL

When I was a kid, my mom--who weighed 350 pounds at the time--used to sit on me, until I was 13 and big and strong enough to push her off me! She became diabetic from her food addiction (a big-time sugar addict) and was only able to lose 100 pounds before passed away almost 8 years ago, at 74.

Unfortunately, I inherited her tendency to gain weight and sugar addiction, along with the Type 2 diabetes that came with both.

Obesity may have a genetic component, so overeating can harm the kids by both passing the "high fuel economy and large gas tank" gene(s) onto the next generation. IDK about any one of you guys, but I have to eat like a canary or exercise like a professional athlete to lose weight.

[Stuart G]

8. Yes, overweight people hurt more than themselves..their families

and friends..and we are not talking about some small problem here. I can't recall exactly, but we are talking maybe 100 million people in this country, have weight problems..Yep, one third or more...As you read this post, someone in this country right now is having some serious life threatening side effects from this..

Sure, we know drunks are addicts, and can't stop drinking, but what about us overeaters?
.No, we gotta believe that it is "our fault" and we have a "lack of will power" cause of our problem..That is a lie. Many of us have tremendous will power in other areas, it is just that the sugar, refined sugar that is, is addicting..

YOu may not know it, but refined sugare is 4 or 5 times more powerful than the sugar in an apple.
I wonder how many of us here at Democratic Underground are overweight?

[thirtiesgirl]

13. I'm not overweight, I'm fat.

The prefix "over" in the word overweight implies that having extra adipose tissue is a bad thing. As far as I'm concerned, it's not. I'm fat, and that's just the way it is. It doesn't mean I'm unhealthy (as many would assume), or a bad person, lazy, unattractive, socially unacceptable, etc, etc, pick your fat shaming adjective or descriptor.

Some fat people do have blood sugar issues, poor triglyceride and cholesterol levels, etc. Most of those issues are genetic. Some fat people do have eating disorders. But by the same token, some do not. Some fat people eat a lot; others do not. If you're working on becoming healthier because you have some of those health issues, or have an eating disorder, go for it and do what you need to do to become healthier. But don't beat yourself up because you're fat and may not lose the amount of weight that you'd like to lose. And don't assume that *all* fat people share your health issues, because we don't. My blood sugar, triglyceride and cholesterol levels are fine. That doesn't mean I'm a better fat person than you; it just means I inherited a different genetic make-up.

As may be obvious from what I've written above, I'm a size activist and I believe in creating an environment where people of all body sizes and shapes feel comfortable and accepted. That includes fat people who have certain health issues and are working on changing them as much as possible, fat people who don't have health issues and are fine with who they are, fat people who are not fine with who they are and are still on the journey of self-acceptance, fat people who have health issues but want to live their lives on their own terms and make their own choices about their health. They all deserve respect for their choices and should not be made to feel guilty for simply walking around the planet with a body shape that so many others continue to deem "inappropriate," "unattractive," "unhealthy."

If my family and friends have an issue with the fact that I'm fat and doesn't show me the respect I deserve because they assume my fatness means all kinds of negative things about me, I don't give them much of my time. I'll check in periodically with my family to see how they're doing, but if they're going to engage in fat shaming with me, I'll excuse myself from the conversation and leave or hang up the phone. ...Point being, I don't subscribe to the argument that being fat harms family members and friends. My body is my business, and they don't get to judge my health simply based on my body shape.

[guitar man]

15. Right on

You know, we all have our vices, or most of us do anyway. Sometimes those vices can make us miserable but many times they're a big part of what makes life worth living. I think if we worked harder at appreciating our differences and less time picking at each other over perceived "faults" we'd live in a lot happier world.

And as for "aesthetics", to hell with the haters. I know Madison Avenue is busy trying to sell the idea that being rail thin is supposed to be "normal" for everyone, but believe me, there are a lot of guys like me that think big women are sexy. Some of us unapologetically and unashamedly so. :D

[Missy Vixen]

9. What help do you suggest?

I only wish I could express how angry the above statement makes me, but it would be deleted at the least.

Maybe you could explain how you have "tolerance and compassion" for the situation the overweight and obese face daily in this society, while attacking in the same sentence.

[Stuart G]

10. Sorry,. I did not mean to attack anyone...because I am overweight too..please read

I did not mean to attack anyone. We are overweight. I am part of the we.
I guess what I meant was, " I wonder how many besides me, have this problem too."
Cause I am a sugar addict ..am I alone here?

I have been fighting the addiction for 50 years. Yes, 50 years.
I go to support groups for this, and attempt to deal with it every day.

I would not attack those that I feel so much for, and I am a part of.
I am very sorry if that is what came across, I did not mean it that way at all

[newcriminal]

16. I have tolerance and compassion for idiots, but please. Get help.

[flvegan]

3. Food was abandoned as being simply fuel long ago.

It's mostly a pleasure center thing now.

Sad but true.

[Stuart G]

6. I agree completely..our brains crave pleasure from food..

Especially if we have been trained from a young age that food does it for us. And we switch addictions quickly ...
Like this...I am an overeater..Five months ago, I went off of refined sugar.
.Doing ok with that, but now I want more salty foods. This addiction, certain kinds of food is hell..The food not just gives pleasure, it kind of
medicates us, and calms us down. So, this one is very very hard to beat.

[applegrove]

4. I can believe it. I went on the atkins diet and got addicted to fatty food. I am now trying to wean

myself off of it. I don't think it is as hard as quitting smoking but that doesn't mean much because quitting smoking was almost impossible until champix/chantix was invented.

[DeadEyeDyck]

11. K & R n/t

[Haole Girl]

12. I didn't have to go to Yale to know this...

unfortunately. :-(

[La Lioness Priyanka]

14. this thread is making me crave dark chocolate with almonds and sea salt

why? cos i cant smoke pot while studying for stats, can i?