Designer Drug: Doritos. How to beat a junk food addiction.

It’s 9pm, you put the kids to bed and sit down with Netflix and your new favorite show to binge watch. You just ate a delicious dinner and the cabinet is calling your name. You know there is a bag of Doritios in there. The bag is calling your name. You sit down, eat half the bag and then go to the freezer. You pull out the ice cream! Sound familiar?
How about, you sit down to a delicious homemade meal and rather you were biting into a melty, cheesy, crunchy Crunch Wrap Supreme.

Numerous studies have shown eating junk foods and sugar flood you with dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure centers. Dopamine also helps regulate movement and emotional responses, and it enables us not only to see rewards, but to take action to move toward them.

Sugar also has some effects in the brain, the same way the brain is manipulated by drugs like heroin and morphine.
This is why highly processed, sugar-laden foods can lead to over eating. They take over the brain pathways the same way drugs do.

The food companies KNOW they are doing this. Almost all packaged foods are laden with MSG. Monosodium Glutamate is put in food causing you to eat more and never feel satisfied. This is why you may crave foods like chips, flavor blast goldfish, pretzels and fast foods.
People often confuse cravings with hunger. They are not the same thing. This is because cravings are not about satisfying your body's need for energy, instead it is your brain calling for "reward."
When you crave a sugary, salty or fatty snack, it is your brain driving you towards that dopamine/opioid signal, the same way drug addiction works.

In a study, lab rats were given a diet full of sausage and sweets for 40 days—even though regular lab rat chow was available. When the high fat and augsr foods were taking away the rats would refuse to eat their standard chow for an average of 14 days.

Steps towards breaking your food addictions and overeating:
1. Cut out all junk foods and sugars completely. If you just cut back, your brain can't recover from the addiction.
2. Replace old habits with new habits. Replace chips and ice cream at night with frozen plain yogurt and fruit, or veggies and dip.
3. Remind yourself how you will feel after you eat the junk food. Unsatisfied and guilty. Once you understand the way your brain is working, it will be easier to say no.
4. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Food addictions and overeating are as powerful as drug addictions. You are not alone and counseling is available!

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Resources Used:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/addicted-to-fat-eating/

https://experiencelife.com/article/beating-food-addiction/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2805706/

http://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-similarities-between-junk-foods-and-drugs#section11