I am encouraged when I see powerful confirmations of what I’ve insisted for years. This report regarding the narcotic, addictive effects of sugar and fat doesn’t surprise me at all. I hope it prompts you to cut back on junk food, even if it means conceding that it took lessons from rats to change your view — Lori

By Jeff Ostrowski
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

In a study that compares cupcakes and cookies to cocaine, scientists at Scripps Florida say rats fed a diet of junk food grew so addicted to unhealthy food that they starved rather than eat healthy fare.

Scripps Florida scientists Paul Kenny and Paul Johnson say junk food changed the rats’ brain chemistry in the same way that chronic cocaine use alters an addict’s brain function. Their study, published Sunday in the journal Nature Neuroscience, bolsters the increasingly popular theory that Americans’ bulging waistlines can be blamed in part on the addictive attributes of unhealthy food.

As part of three years of experiments, Kenny, an associate professor, and Johnson, a graduate student, served one group of rats healthy, nutritionally balanced fare. Another group got unlimited access to the worst stuff Johnson could find at Publix, including bacon, sausage, cheesecake, pound cake, Ding Dongs and frosting. [Read more...]