[Your] favorite guilty pleasure snack may be just as addictive as cigarettes or heroin, a new study reveals.

An analysis of 281 studies in 36 countries, published in the British Medical Journal this month, found that your inability to put down the ice cream, chips and candy may have less to do with your self-control and more to do with the addictive quality of ultra-processed foods or UPFs.

“The combination of refined carbohydrates and fats often found in UPFs seems to have a supra-additive effect on brain reward systems, above either macronutrient alone, which may increase the addictive potential of these foods,” the study said.

  • @aceshigh
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    611 months ago

    Sugar addict here. It’s true for me. I’ve been able to quit alcohol, cigarettes and weed mostly painlessly. But I cannot quit sugar. I’ve tried so many times but the withdrawals are unbearable. I’m constantly craving it and I become very angry and irrational without it. I cannot think about anything else.