10 Most Addictive Foods: All But

One Are Highly Processed

5
inShare

Are the 10 most addictive foods like drugs

of abuse?
The most addictive foods are highly processed,
according to a new study of what people find
hardest to resist.
Highly processed foods also share many qualities
with drugs that people abuse.

People take high doses and the refined

carbohydrates are quickly absorbed into the
system.
The new study, published in the journal PLOS
ONE, asked 120 people to rate the most addictive
foods from a list of 35 (Schulte et al., 2015).
Heres the list:
1. Pizza
2. Chocolate
3. Chips
4. Cookies
5. Ice cream
6. French fries
7. Cheeseburger
8. Soda (non diet)
9. Cake
10.
Cheese
Along with cheese, the only other non-highly
processed food remotely close to the top of the list
of addictive foods was bacon.

Most addictive foods high in fat

Most of the foods considered addictive were high in
fat and likely to raise blood sugar quickly.

The least addictive foods which included brown

rice and salmon were those with no refined
carbohydrates and no added fat.
The people who reported the greatest problems
with the most addictive foods were those who had
higher body mass indexes.
This could suggest some people are particularly
susceptible to the most addictive foods.
Erica Schulte, a doctoral student and the studys
first author, said:
If properties of some foods are associated with
addictive eating for some people, this may impact
nutrition guidelines, as well as public policy
initiatives such as marketing these foods to
children,
Dr Nicole Avena, one of the studys co-authors and
an assistant professor of pharmacology and
systems therapeutics, said:
This is a first step towards identifying specific
foods, and properties of foods, which can trigger
this addictive response.
This could help change the way we approach
obesity treatment.

It may not be a simple matter of cutting back on

certain foods, but rather, adopting methods used to
curtail smoking, drinking and drug use.
And right down at the other end of the list, what
was the least addictive food?
Cucumber.
Sounds about right.
Here is the bottom of the list with the all important
least addictive foods:

Strawberries
Corn (no butter or salt)
Salmon
Banana
Broccoli
Brown rice (no sauce)
Apple
Beans (no sauce)
Carrots
Cucumber (no dip!)