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Carbohydrate-rich foods can be addictive as cigarettes

     Wellington: Foods rich in carbohydrates such as cornflakes and croissants could be as addictive as cigarettes, warns expert. Lead researcher Simon Thornley, from Auckland Regional Public Health Service has found that people who binge on carbohydrate-rich foods might be fighting addiction. A diet high in simple carbohydrates from processed foods, such as white bread, sweets, fizzy drinks and syrups, causes obesity. He revealed that heavily processed carbohydrates lead to drastic increase in blood-sugar levels, which stimulated the same areas of the brain associated with addiction to nicotine and other drugs. Thornley said that reducing sugar content in commonly consumed food items enforced by regulation could help get rid of the addiction and bring large public health benefits. In an interview to Britain's Daily Mail, Thorney said that the problem could be solved in the same way as cigarettes banning TV advertisements, taxing them and insisting on health warning labels, reports the NZPA. The paper is published in the journal Medical Hypotheses.
-Jan 9, 2009