Most people love a good meal overflowing with sugar, salt, and fat. What's not to like? It turns out, a lot. Each ingredient on its own is no picnic for your health, but together it is an experiment that could change your brain. Researchers believe that the three unhealthy ingredients foster the creation of dopamine, which in turn, drives the desire for more of said ingredients. Cravings relate to addiction.
We each have what's called a bliss point, which is our ideal level or combination of sugar, salt, and fat that gets our brain juices flowing. Food manufacturers are well aware of this bliss point and spend a great deal of time uncovering and targeting the average person's ideal level. It leads to short-term satisfaction and unconscious eating. The only thing healthy about this are the profits that food manufacturers earn from hitting the bliss point.
There is a fair amount of research on the subject. One particular study was very interesting to me. Rodents were fed meals with substantial amounts of fat, sugar, and sodium. Researchers found not only that the rodents' reward centers were activated, but that when healthier meals were reintroduced, the rodents appeared to suffer from withdrawal, which highlights the addictive nature of such food ingredients.
When we continuously choose to eat these unhealthy ingredients, it changes our brains and we can become conditioned to overeat. The combination of choosing nutritiously-poor foods and overeating them is a recipe for disaster, more specifically, obesity. What's more, the sugar and salt often act as preservatives, creating a convenient product with a long shelf life, so they're readily available for overindulgence.
The food companies, with the help of their advertising agencies, are more than happy to help condition us as well. I'm sure you've heard the term "comfort food" before. It's emotional eating. Have Grandma's apple pie and you'll feel better. Advertisers are paid millions of dollars if they can successfully tie subconscious emotions to products. Doing this with food and alcohol appears to be pretty easy to do. You never see a fast food commercial with an obese person scarfing down a value meal and every beer is cracked open at a standing-room only party with wall to wall models.
Unfortunately, these foods are very unhealthy and make us fat. It is probably not the intention of food companies, but it happens nonetheless. Their focus is on profit and customer retention. They do this by unleashing the potent combo of salt, sugar, and fat. It's easy to succumb to so I suggest avoiding these products at the grocery story. Additionally, pack a snack bag when on the road or around town, so you keep yourself from indulging in the nearest unhealthy drive through, solely because it's there and you're hungry. Sweet fruits can work extremely well in ending sugar craves and healthy fats in nuts and seeds can help make you feel full. I highly recommend giving it a chance.
We each have what's called a bliss point, which is our ideal level or combination of sugar, salt, and fat that gets our brain juices flowing. Food manufacturers are well aware of this bliss point and spend a great deal of time uncovering and targeting the average person's ideal level. It leads to short-term satisfaction and unconscious eating. The only thing healthy about this are the profits that food manufacturers earn from hitting the bliss point.
There is a fair amount of research on the subject. One particular study was very interesting to me. Rodents were fed meals with substantial amounts of fat, sugar, and sodium. Researchers found not only that the rodents' reward centers were activated, but that when healthier meals were reintroduced, the rodents appeared to suffer from withdrawal, which highlights the addictive nature of such food ingredients.
When we continuously choose to eat these unhealthy ingredients, it changes our brains and we can become conditioned to overeat. The combination of choosing nutritiously-poor foods and overeating them is a recipe for disaster, more specifically, obesity. What's more, the sugar and salt often act as preservatives, creating a convenient product with a long shelf life, so they're readily available for overindulgence.
The food companies, with the help of their advertising agencies, are more than happy to help condition us as well. I'm sure you've heard the term "comfort food" before. It's emotional eating. Have Grandma's apple pie and you'll feel better. Advertisers are paid millions of dollars if they can successfully tie subconscious emotions to products. Doing this with food and alcohol appears to be pretty easy to do. You never see a fast food commercial with an obese person scarfing down a value meal and every beer is cracked open at a standing-room only party with wall to wall models.
Unfortunately, these foods are very unhealthy and make us fat. It is probably not the intention of food companies, but it happens nonetheless. Their focus is on profit and customer retention. They do this by unleashing the potent combo of salt, sugar, and fat. It's easy to succumb to so I suggest avoiding these products at the grocery story. Additionally, pack a snack bag when on the road or around town, so you keep yourself from indulging in the nearest unhealthy drive through, solely because it's there and you're hungry. Sweet fruits can work extremely well in ending sugar craves and healthy fats in nuts and seeds can help make you feel full. I highly recommend giving it a chance.
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