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Study: Chocoholism Is Actually A Disease
By
Jaya Saxena
Published Apr 5, 2011
Modified Apr 5, 2011
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By
Jaya Saxena
Published Apr 5, 2011
Modified Apr 5, 2011
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You might think you're being funny when you order dessert and tell your friends you're just "addicted" to chocolate cake, but you have a problem and you need an intervention. According to a new study from Yale, food addiction is an actual disease akin to alcoholism, and distinguishable from people who are just overeaters. And they figured this out by seeing how women react to pictures of milkshakes.
The study found, "Similar patterns of neural activation are implicated in addictive-like eating behavior and substance dependence." Researchers polled 39 women on their eating habits through the Yale Food Addiction Scale, which asks them to rate foods they had "problems" with, like ice cream, pizza and...bananas? In an MRI scan, the 15 women who scored highest for addictive eating behaviors also showed "dramatically greater neurological responses to the image of a milkshake than the others." But milkshake addiction is no joke! The study found that though, like alcohol or marijuana, there is no physical addiction, being addicted to food is a problem with few solutions. Study leader Ashley N. Gearhardt said, "Some of them actually stop socializing because it gets in the way of their eating."
Those out there who don't want to admit what a problem chocoholism is in society say that the brain is designed to respond at the promise of food because we need food for survival, unlike drugs or alcohol. But clearly they've never sat in on a Milkshakes Anonymous meeting and seen just how this addiction can ruin people's lives. Unfortunately, like alcoholism, this is probably another disease you can get yelled at for having:
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