The other day when I entered the classroom in the morning, I noticed a big box of cupcakes on one of the tables(usually I see McDonald's breakfast meals with some students). When I asked about that box, I was told that it was to celebrate one student's birthday(which I also joined later on!). While eating that cupcake, I was reminded of a news item which had appeared about two years ago in the newspaper. That covered the research done on how eating cupcakes or cake in general affects the brain.
Cupcakes are cute, quaint and colourful – and have become the trendy treat for most of us with a sweet tooth. But they may not be quite as harmless as they appear. The butter and the sugar in the fluffy sponges make them as addictive as cocaine or nicotine, research suggests. Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse in the U.S., said: ‘We are finding tremendous overlap between drugs in the brain and food in the brain.’
Scientists in U.S. found that when obese people and compulsive eaters were shown pictures of their favourite sugary and fatty foods, a decision-making area of the brain called the orbital frontal cortex experiences a surge of dopamine. The same area is activated when cocaine addicts are shown a bag of white power. In another research, allowing rats to binge on bacon, sausage, icing and chocolate also caused ‘very, very striking’ changes to the brain as evident from its scan(EEG), similar to those seen with cocaine and heroin.
The research suggests that symptoms like delirious hallucinations, fuzzy thinking, shorter attention span and forgetfulness attributed to hard drug use are also becoming apparent in people addicted to sugary and fatty foods. However major corporations of processed foods that could be implicated by such research findings say that there is nothing wrong with their processed food and drink products if consumed in moderation!
Now we have to make the choice: whether we add to the profits of these big manufacturers of processed foods and slowly become addicted to their products similar to hard drugs' addiction, and live through the consequences, or wean ourselves from these unhealthy products, and start enjoying a healthier and longer life!
Cupcakes are cute, quaint and colourful – and have become the trendy treat for most of us with a sweet tooth. But they may not be quite as harmless as they appear. The butter and the sugar in the fluffy sponges make them as addictive as cocaine or nicotine, research suggests. Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse in the U.S., said: ‘We are finding tremendous overlap between drugs in the brain and food in the brain.’
Scientists in U.S. found that when obese people and compulsive eaters were shown pictures of their favourite sugary and fatty foods, a decision-making area of the brain called the orbital frontal cortex experiences a surge of dopamine. The same area is activated when cocaine addicts are shown a bag of white power. In another research, allowing rats to binge on bacon, sausage, icing and chocolate also caused ‘very, very striking’ changes to the brain as evident from its scan(EEG), similar to those seen with cocaine and heroin.
The research suggests that symptoms like delirious hallucinations, fuzzy thinking, shorter attention span and forgetfulness attributed to hard drug use are also becoming apparent in people addicted to sugary and fatty foods. However major corporations of processed foods that could be implicated by such research findings say that there is nothing wrong with their processed food and drink products if consumed in moderation!
Now we have to make the choice: whether we add to the profits of these big manufacturers of processed foods and slowly become addicted to their products similar to hard drugs' addiction, and live through the consequences, or wean ourselves from these unhealthy products, and start enjoying a healthier and longer life!
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