There is nothing more rewarding than biting into a delicious cheeseburger and washing it down with some ice cold soda. A lot of people do not know that this can become an addiction. Fast food can literally change the chemistry in your brain as if you had an addiction to cocaine.
We are not all biology or chemistry experts and I won't get all "science-y" on you, but this is crucial in understanding why we live in a society of juicing and cleanses yet we still have thriving fast food chains and the American obesity epidemic. It is well known that fatty fast food is not good for you, but what exactly is it doing to one of your most important organs — the brain? What makes us crave something so unhealthy yet so tasty?
Before you even step foot into a McDonald's, there are psychological cues (some believe) that compel us to dine there. Studies have shown that the combination of red and yellow on the McDonald's arches increases hunger. McDonald's was considering a re-brand of their "M" letter signs in the 1960s, but psychologist Louis Cheskin suggested McDonald's keep the golden arches because of its Freudian symbolism of a woman's breasts. Really?! Hidden persuaders in the marketing business get into your head without you even knowing it.
Once you start eating the Big Mac and fries or whatever floats your boat, the reward system in your brain is activated (because eating is good; it encourages survival) and a bunch of feel-good chemicals, including a specific neurotransmitter called dopamine, are released. Dopamine binds to receptors in the brain like a lock and a key. We are wired to seek out behaviors that release this chemical in the reward system. However, fast food releases massive amounts of dopamine, and then when the dopamine levels become too high, your brain tries to balance this out by removing receptors. Fewer receptors leads to a need for more dopamine, which leads to a need for more junk food to reach the reward level. We become tolerant, unhappy and crave fast food to get a dopamine high — a cycle also called withdrawal. Tolerance and withdrawal are two major players in physical addiction. This changes thought patterns and behaviors.
Eating some fruit or chicken, foods with higher nutritional value, releases moderate amounts of dopamine, helping to keep our system balanced.
Next time you go to chow down on that Taco Bell or McDonald's at midnight after a night out, ask yourself how "dope" it will actually taste (no pun intended).
