Junk foods can lead to addiction, study suggests
PARIS (AFP) – The same molecular pathways that steer people into drug addiction also lie behind the craving to overeat, driving individuals into obesity, a new study suggests.
The research, based on lab animals, bolsters long-standing suspicions that addiction to pleasure stems from overstimulus of a key reward mechanism in the brain, its authors say.
Publishing online in the journal Nature Neuroscience, scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in Florida fed rats high-fat, high-calorie treats — bacon, sausage, cheesecake and so on — and watched the rodents bulk out dramatically.
Read more: Junkies and junk-food addicts share craving mechanism
