Junk food is as addictive as alcohol and smoking according to new study

However, this rotation of sweet or salty snacks winding their way through the office may not merely be a force of habit. A new study has revealed that it may in fact be an addiction.

A report published in the British Medical Journal this month found that certain food types were just addictive as alcohol, and only mildly less addictive than tobacco.

The study, which analyzed data from 281 different reports across 36 countries, used the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) to establish just how addictive certain meals were in comparison to other legal substances.

Alcohol has been given an additivity level of 14% for example, while tobacco stands at 18%. The latest findings from scientists Ashley Gearhardt, Nassib Bueno, Alexandra G DiFeliceantonio, Christina A Roberto, Susana Jiménez-Murcia and Fernando Fernandez-Aranda, put food at a level of 14% in adults and 12% in children.

However, although those numbers are for food overall, the likelihood of a person getting addicted to cabbage is pretty low. The food group driving addiction is UPFs (ultra-processed foods).

The scientists found that these foods with high levels of refined carbohydrates or added fats, typically sweet and salty foods, “are most strongly implicated in the behavioral indicators of addiction, such as excessive intake, loss of control over consumption, intense cravings, and continued use despite negative consequences.”

The report goes further to uncover why junk foods in particular are addictive. It explains that like nicotine, refined carbohydrates or fats release elevated levels of dopamine to the brain.

As a result, “foods that deliver high levels of refined carbohydrates or added fats are a strong candidate for an addictive substance.”

Some people also have no control over whether or not they get attached to UPFs, the study added, pointing out:…