Ghrelin, Comfort Eating, and Obesity (Part 2)
Back in the hunting-and-gathering days of humankind, the only really delicious things to eat were fruits like berries, and honey. Even those were not available at all times or in all climes. Honey and berries advertise their rewards right up front and are immediately identifiable as hedonic foods. They send out a strong “Eat Me” […]
The Thing About Compulsive Overeating
The thing about compulsive overeating is, there are a lot of things about it. It’s a very hefty subject with many fascinating areas of inquiry. For women, the hormones involved in the monthly cycle are implicated as compulsive-eating triggers. But males can be compulsive eaters, too — what’s up with that? What does it mean […]
Let’s Hear It for the Early Adopters
It’s always a pleasure to discover another person who endorses the view that there is such a thing as food addiction; who, in other words, looks at the childhood obesity epidemic through the psychological food dependence-addiction lens. The medical profession tends to resist the idea, sometimes strenuously. Dr. Pretlow’s term for this unfortunate state of […]
Addicted Rats Teach Us Obesity Lessons
The connection between obesity, junk food, and addiction is becoming more and obvious. Remember last year, when the news came out about the rat studies at the Scripps Research Institute? Remember when we learned that junk food could be as addictive as cigarettes or Peruvian marching powder? For rats in cages, anyway. JoAnne Allen is […]
The Childhood Obesity Perfect Storm
“Perfect storm” is a term that has been around since at least the 1930s. A perfect storm is what happens when a number of powerful factors concur in such a way that a disastrous or critical situation is created. No single one of them alone would have had such a destructive effect, but the synergy […]
The Irresistible Junk Food
Let’s take a look at the simple explanations of several landmark studies in the field of childhood obesity, many of which seem to point to the reality of the food addiction paradigm. Freelance journalist Bijal Trivedi specializes in scientific, environmental, and medical matters, and her work has appeared in every magazine you’ve ever heard […]
Pamela Peeke on Food Addiction
Pamela Peeke, M.D., is one of America’s few physicians who have completed training in nutrition science. She sees life as a journey, and her practice is a way of supporting people in the transformations they experience and cause along that journey. Peeke also tells us that food addiction is real, and explains a rat study […]