Are You Addicted to Junk Food?

The ultraprocessed body

Today, almost 60 percent of the calories consumed by Americans comes from ultraprocessed food. That figure may help explain why the U.S. has the world’s highest obesity rate among high-income countries.

A pivotal 2019 study from the National Institutes of Health found that participants who ate a diet chock full of processed foods — packaged muffins, frozen fish sticks and canned ravioli — ended up eating more food and gaining more weight in a two-week window than participants on a more natural diet — oats, fish filets and barley — even though the meals and snacks prepared contained a similar number of calories and other nutrients.

And a study this year found that even when people eat the same number of calories, those who eat ultraprocessed foods over high-fiber foods absorb more calories — an average of 116 additional calories per day.

One reason: Our gut microbiomes, made up of the microorganisms living in our digestive tracts, consume calories too, but ultraprocessed foods are digested so quickly that their calories never make it to the large intestine, home of the microbiome. Some experts suspect that the chemical additives in ultraprocessed foods cause disruptions in the microbiome and in the hormone-creating endocrine system as well, potentially explaining the link between these foods and weight gain.

Your brain on junk food

The brain is hardwired to favor high-calorie foods — it’s an evolutionary trait that helped keep humans alive long before the age of grocery stores. The smell or taste of something sweet or fatty floods the body with feel-good chemicals like dopamine, Gearhardt says. But, she adds, that system was designed to get us to eat more nutrient-dense foods, like olives and raspberries. “Our brain never evolved to handle foods like those that dominate the current food environment,” she says.

That’s because refined carbs and fat found in highly processed foods — and often found in combination — trigger a release of dopamine at levels that surpass what is seen when, say, an apple is digested. In fact, several experts in the field say the response is more like what we see with nicotine and alcohol.

“The speed in which a substance hits your body is really key in determining its addictive potential,” Gearhardt explains. And because many ultraprocessed foods lack protein, fiber and water, they can be devoured and digested quickly, rushing the reward.

Curbing the cravings

As with alcohol, cigarettes, even some drugs, not everyone who indulges in junk food becomes addicted.

“We’ve learned a lot about what addiction is over the last 20 years, and it isn’t something that you either have or you don’t have. It’s more of a continuum,” says Nicole Avena, a food addiction expert and associate professor of neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Still, it doesn’t take a serious addiction to experience the negative health effects of junk food. “While it might not be taking over your life, it only takes about 200 or 300 extra calories a day to see risk for excessive weight gain and diet-related disease,” Gearhardt says.

These foods have also been linked to numerous health issues that plague the 50-plus population, including diabetes, heart disease, cancer and dementia. 

For people looking to dial back their intake, small steps can make a big impact:

• Urge surf. Cravings build, but they eventually peak and peter out — just like a wave, says Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist psychologist Shenelle A. Edwards-Hampton. Next time you get a craving, try waiting it out. “Over time, the height of the waves will get lower, and they’ll come fewer and farther between,” she adds.

• Avoid triggers. Become aware of what environments or situations trigger your food cravings, such as binge-watching TV, and if possible, avoid them.

• Pursue convenience. Packaged doesn’t have to mean unhealthy. Lentils come pre-steamed; brown rice can be cooked in one minute in the microwave. “You could put those together, and that’s a meal,” says Kristin Kirkpatrick, a dietician at the Cleveland Clinic. Canned beans, frozen vegetables and frozen fruit are other healthy shortcuts.

• Don’t skip meals. Hunger will make you more vulnerable to cravings. So will giving up foods you enjoy. Aim for three minimally processed meals a day, Gearhardt says, and make sure the foods on your plate are ones you like. “It’s about finding pleasure from your food, just not in such a jacked-up way,” she adds.

While difficult, overcoming a more severe addiction to junk food is possible. Support groups like Overeaters Anonymous can benefit some, Gearhardt says. So can cognitive behavioral therapy, a type of psychotherapy that emphasizes coping skills, and nutritional counseling, which can help map out healthy alternatives to ultraprocessed foods.

And then there’s abstinence. That’s what eventually worked for Prager, who, along with seeking therapy, decided to cut out refined sugar and flour. “My life without [junk food] is just so much better,” he says. “I do not feel deprived. I feel lucky that I know that there’s something that doesn't work for me, and that when I avoid it, I’m happier.”