#AceFoodNews – September 11 – We already know how junk-food makes you lazy. Now, new research suggests high-fat, high-calorie, sugary foods may actually discourage you from trying new foods.
In fact, salty, fatty, sugary foods may rewire the brain’s reward mechanism, rendering them as addictive as some narcotics.
In a report published in Frontiers in Psychology, researchers describe how rats given a junk food diet seem to lose all interest in other types of food. This works against the natural structure of the brain, which is wired to seek out a diverse diet and to avoid overeating. Not surprisingly, this leads to unhealthy eating habits as well as weight gain.
Half of the rats in the study were fed a high-calorie “cafeteria” diet consisting of cookies, pies, dumplings, and cakes for two weeks, while the other half (the control group) were given a standard diet.
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