Why are some foods so hard to stop eating?
Many of these products are built around what scientists call a “bliss point” — specific combinations of high salt, sugar, and fat that make foods highly appealing and easy to overeat.
Researchers at the University of Michigan analyzed nearly 300 foods using advanced analytical techniques and found that the ones most likely to trigger addictive patterns of eating share a common nutritional pattern: high levels of refined carbohydrates, fat, and calories delivered quickly to the body.
These combinations are rare in whole foods like fruits and vegetables, but common in ultra-processed foods such as pizza, cookies, French fries, and chips. That contrast helps explain why ultra-processed foods are often the hardest to stop eating once you start.
Ultra-processing makes it possible to combine these nutrients in dense, rapidly absorbed forms that strongly engage the brain’s reward systems – making these products more likely to trigger addictive patterns of eating.
The takeaway: this isn’t just about willpower. Some ultra-processed foods have been engineered in ways that make them feel irresistible.
Read the full article published at AJPH
