Supported Economic Addictions

Moss informs readers that one in three adults is considered clinically obese, along with one in five kids, and 24 million Americans are afflicted by type 2 diabetes, often caused by poor diet. It tells the reader type 2 diabetes is a major health problem when being obese because of poor diet. Moss found out that potato chips were a big part of obesity which caused health problems because of the salt, fat, and starch. It rewards the brain with instant feelings of pleasure. The starch will cause the glucose levels in the blood to spike which can result in a craving for more. Moss gave readers a reason on how and why people have the health problems when being obese.

According to “The Food Addiction,” overeating is the same as a drug addiction because as we increase our consumption rate we are increasing our desire to have more. The more we have the more we want because it is readily avaible for us. On the other, “The Food Addiction,” states that modern foods have an overwhelming affect to our biological feedback networks. This is because it disrupts our hormone regulation, such as hormones that control our appetite and weigh

We like everything in an instant. Individuals like fast cars, fast communication, and most of all we love fast food. Having things in life come in an instant seems great but there is a price to pay. Therefore, fast food may be convenient but it is costly. Although, fast food may save you time now, it will cost you years of your life later. Most foods that are quick and convenient are full of refined sugars, carbohydrates and other processed food. Sadly, these attributes of convenient food causes many of us to overeat. Dr. Lustig referred to individuals who eat a lot as “gourmands.” Sadly, there are a number of things that happen when we consume sugars, carbohydrate and fats. First, due to overeating an individual may have higher levels of leptin. Leptin is a protein produced by fatty tissue and believed to regulate fat storage in the body. According to Stephan Guyenet, when we become leptin resistance when our brain does not know when we are full therefore we overeat. Leptin resistance comes from a high consumption of sugar. Dr. Lustig suggest that sugar in the presence of insulin creates fat. I believe that obesity is direct effect of another underlying issue. Correspondingly, we all know the effects sugar has on our bodies, but yet we continue to consume it in high quantities. In my opinion, sugar is a drug and many people have an addiction to it. Sugars sends the same signals and high levels of dopamine to brain just as drugs. For example, I have an uncle who weighs about 900 pounds. He was not always this big, so what happened? As a child, he ate a lot of sugary foods and food that contains a lot of fat. Not only did my uncle eat unhealthy, but he was not very active. Therefore, there was a combination of factors that contributed to his massive weight gain. Obviously, his body started to become leptin resistant at some point. If you become leptin resistance and have an addiction to sugar then you

They see it; they want it. Advertising to children is turning a want into a responsive nag to a parent, like a reflex. Every media outlet advertises, and companies like popular fast food restaurants target children. In the process of fattening the children, will their reflexes get slower? At some point in every kid’s life, they see an advertisement for a food or toy they want. This want leads to nagging of the parent until they give in. Although it is highly effective and profitable, fast food companies should not be able to have aggressive advertisement campaigns targeting children because it corruptly brainwashes them and promotes unhealthy life choices.

Addiction is a word that many people would associate with the body and its craving of a substance of any kind. Many individuals feel as if being dependent upon a substance is something that could be preventable and that the human body can live without. Though most substances an individual is addicted to are not needed to live a healthy life, the addiction could potentially kill that individual. Other substances such as food, one cannot live without. Food, unlike other additions, is a substance that the human body needs to survive. In recent years, there has been an upcoming epidemic regarding the obesity rate and the need for individuals to understand that lack of exercise and the increase in amount of unhealthy food is killing them. However, in some cases it may not be the lack of exercise and the unhealthy food choices alone that is keeping some individuals in a category labeled obese; conversely it could be a genetic condition keeping them that way.

Each individual can attest to eating a high carbohydrate wheat food product for energy and then crashing and wanting another snack to offset the crash. This happens because the protein in the altered wheat converts to polypeptides. These polypeptides are similar to exorphins creating the same elevated feeling as is felt with endorphins. The gluteomorphins created from the exorphins react the same as morphine in the brain. Since the brain processes wheat and morphine similarly, wheat addiction is confirmed. The addiction creates a vicious cycle. It leads to overeating and the overeating leads to the obesity problem in the US. Obesity precedes the medical issues of type II diabetes and heart disease. Again, illustrating the danger of wheat to individuals and the healthcare

Michael Moss talks about in his article, “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food” that food companies are manipulating consumers into buying more of their unhealthy foods. Steven Witherly, a food scientist states that “If something melts down quickly, your brain thinks that there's no calories in it . . . you can just keep eating it forever” (qtd. in Moss). Food companies have created a way to trick your brain into believing that it is eating less calories. Thus making consumers eat more and buy more. Additionally, their snacks contain a combination of salt, fat, and sugar to create an addictive food that is one of the greatest contributors of weight gain and health

The day a toddler starts watching cartoons and fictional television shows, is the day that he or she becomes aware of the junk food that our world has to offer. Chain restaurants like Burger King and McDonalds team up with children television networks because they know kids will intently sit through the commercials. The Center for Science in the Public Interest said that McDonald’s was arraigned of deceptive advertising to children over the enticement of toys as a ploy to buy Happy Meals. Kids at such a young age don’t have the intellectual maturity to understand the persuasive intent that some commercials and magazine ads have on them.

Craving foods is a natural part of life, but why we crave is a question that is open for discussion. There are a few thoughts in the scientific circles explaining why people have cravings. Researchers believe we crave foods that are high in a specific nutrient that our body is lacking. To support this thought, if you crave a banana, some scientists say this means your body is lacking potassium. If you are craving a big bowl of potato chips, scientists would say that your body is lacking salt. All of this is wrong, it’s just a myth. After much research on the articles available in this idea, the real reason people crave is more psychological. It’s a mind game and sometimes it could even be as obscure as a childhood memory that triggers a

Consume, consume, consume is what our bodies will be telling us, constantly feeling like we haven’t had enough when in reality, we have. These food cravings, in a lot of ways can be similar to drugs. Like drugs, you will constantly want more, and when you quit that certain substance you will start to feel withdrawals. Although the effect is not as severe as drug withdrawal. If you eat large amounts of a food a day, your body will get used to it and even if you aren 't hungry, your body will be telling you that you are. A NY Times article wrote this,“The mathematical model maps out the ingredients to the sensory perceptions these ingredients create,” he told me, “so I can just dial a new product. This is the engineering approach.” The he that NY Times is talking to is Howard Moskowitz. He is a graduate from Harvard University with a Ph.D in experimental psychology. Moskowitz, along with many others will optimize the food to our systems liking. These people are game changers in this field. Feel, touch, taste, sip, smell, and swirl whatever product might be given. They will spend hours in a room to do what? To make sure we get hooked. They will make sure that what they are giving us is addictive to our system. Yale News came out with an article that did not surprise me a bit. It said,

Some evidence was shown in humans—“Ifland et al.” provided reports from food addicts that described themselves as “irritable”, “shaky”, “anxious”, and “depressed”(Garber 31). Large amounts of fat in fast food keep people coming back for more because of its addictive properties. Studies on animals show that they will binge on pure fat if given access. This was the only addictive feature found with fat, but it is supported by the evidence found by “Prenowski et al.” that adding sugar increased the preference of high fat foods in humans, and the combination increased its addictive properties (Garber 35). Caffeine has already been proven to be addictive—no animal data needed. Griffiths RR found that “30% of people who consume caffeine may meet the DSM criteria for dependence” (Garber 38). Those people often receive headaches, fatigue, and impaired task performance when caffeine is withdrawn. Salt was tested on rats, and they showed dopamine signaling and micro-opioid responses that lead to bingeing. In humans, salt is more of a preference than an addiction, and is learned early in life. A four to six month old learns from the sodium in breast milk. Salt preferences can be changed and regulated by low-sodium diets. Most flavor components of junk food have addictive properties, and when combined, addiction is more likely.

In 1983, companies spent $100 million marketing to kids. Today, they 're spending nearly $17 billion annually. That 's more than double what it was in 1992 (Lagorio, 2007). Lawlor and Prothero (2002) cited recent numbers for the spending influence of children up to twelve years in the United States. These children controlled spending of $28 billion in 2000 from their own allowances and earnings, and also they influenced $250 billion of family spending. (Oates, Blades & Gunter, 2003). In this paper, it will being explaining what social problems are caused when children are marketed to and what we can do to stop it. I argue that marketing to children is a problem because it causes children to be obese from food commercials and ads, they

Addiction is defined as condition in which a person consumes a substance or engages in an activity that can be satisfying but the abuse of the use or act strays a person away from their responsibilities. People everyday become addicted to junk food. The addiction begins as nothing too serious. Normally, people get junk food because they are hungry but have no time to make themselves food nor get something healthy. In their opinion, junk

A drawback of advertising to children is the increasing number of fast-food and junk food products which are directly marketed to children. “Last year, the Kaiser Family Foundation estimated that the average American child is exposed to 40 hours a week of commercial ads on everything from computer screens to roadside billboards…” (McDonald and Lavelle). For instance, McDonald’s commercials featuring Happy Meals also introduce the latest toys they offer with the purchase. The pairing of the toy and the unhealthy meal encourages poor eating habits. Kids are not aware that these foods are hazardous to their health. This has profoundly contributed to the dangerous inclination of children who are diagnosed with childhood obesity; an illness that is closely linked to diabetes, and other serious conditions. Recently multiple fast-food chains have revamped kids’ menus

Food often causes the same effect in the chemical reactions of the brain, much like drugs. Yet the want, need, desire, (addiction), for sugar or high fructose can become so severe, the addict or overeater believes death will occur if they do not consume these foods. (Jenkins) Food Addiction is like other addictions. There are several similarities between food addiction and drug addiction, including effects on mood, external cues to eat or use drugs, expectancies, restraint, and uncertainty . Neurotransmitters and the brain's reward system have been implicated in food and other addictions. Studies show dopamine has been found to play an important role in overall reward systems, and binging on sugar has been shown to influence dopamine activity . Food, drugs and other addictive substances and behaviors are all associated with pleasure, self-indulgence, and social, cultural or sub-cultural desirability . When advertising or the people around us tell us that a food, drug or activity will feel good, it sets up a self-fulfilling prophecy.