Tell us something we didn't know, but of course we need the science.

Subhead: Highly processed foods resemble drugs of misuse in a number of disturbing ways

And they are completely right about that.



All signs point to YES.

The article has arguments against, but I don't think much of any of them.



As a former BED sufferer, I can say that I binged because of the mood-altering effects of sugar and processed foods. As Dr. Atkins himself says, no one binges with steak.



We all KNOW. But designing such scientific guidelines is part of the process. We should acknowledge that people get addicted to behaviors, no? Gamblers Anonymous is a thing. Hoarding can manifest as a shopping problem. Cats and dogs overgroom from stress.

But watch and see the Tobacco Excuses rolled up for this major danger, too.

It's time to confirm food addiction. The comments against cite the lack of a "high" when foods are consumed, but I can tell from first-hand experience that the "high" was subtle enough to make me continue eating desserts (plural) after a large thanksgiving dinner and seemingly never get full on the sweet stuff. That's not right and is damaging to organs and metabolic function, and realizing that started me down the road to health through lifestyle changes. Eating certain things triggered an unrelenting appetite in me where there was always room for more. This is classic compulsive behavior triggered by the desire for taste, mouthfeel, and need for sugar at the times when the BG roller coaster descends. If that's not addictive behavior, then there's no such thing as addiction.

It's exactly why today after many years of successfully correcting my addiction, I never eat anything that is a combination of sweet from sugar or HFCS combined with fat and carbs. While I may very rarely and infrequently consume savory carbs in certain scenarios, I never, ever cave to the very foods that heightened my addictive behaviors long ago. It's a simple, non-negotiable trait that I follow 100% of the time, and it's made all the difference.

Seems to be connected to the way ultra processed food messes with a person's brain. Creates larger areas of appetite to crave more of this processed food.

I had a very stressful adolescence and I know I turned to cheap treats to make myself feel better. Getting away from the stress was fundamental to my recovery..

This is something a lot of us already knew. I can't take just a bite of something and push it away.

Im addicted to butter and sugar, and cookie dough. Oh and fresh bread with butter.

Hits a spot that makes me feel good.

Oddly my taste buds have become particular about sweets. Purchased cookies taste BAD. Like spit it out BAD.

Homemade , starting with real butter, real sugar.......a deadly combination.

Can't stay away from the stuff. Better to not go there. One leads to another.

Ya, Im empathetic to drug abusers, I get it. No judgement. Only solution is to avoid and not indulge AT ALL. One,just one, is a disaster in the making.

Doritos. Its one full bag. To the last bite. Finger licking good. Better not to buy. Ever.

Molasses bars are my current struggle. Only Market Basket has them. So I can limit exposure to temptation, cause I often cave.

What to avoid? Anything packaged at the grocery

This is what I call the "single serving size". Doesn't matter if it's a tiny snack size container or huge Costco sized - it's still a single serving to the addicted.

I have no problem avoiding starchy and sugary foods - they all taste awful to me. Real sugar tastes sickening to me, and starch (particularly flour) tastes like paste, yuck.

Unfortunately, I have this problem with foods that are perfectly fine on LC in limited amounts (such as nuts), but my "limited amount" seems to be however big the package happens to be. I buy such things with the intention of using them them a recipe I want to make, or for times when I need a shelf-stable food to take on trips. But then the craving hits because I KNOW IT'S RIGHT THERE IN THE CABINET, and... it'll be gone in no time.

Well, this is exactly why I came back here yesterday after months of binging. Carbs are 100% an addiction for me.

I need to be here and the support to continue after countless relapses.

I knew for weeks now that I wanted to stop sugary and overly processed food. Many nights I went to bed thinking "I'll start TOMORROW."

Very troubling was the time I ordered a red velvet cake on doordash and they called from the store to say they didn't have any. I felt rage. Pure rage. I remember thinking "wth is wrong with me?"

I urge anyone with UPF issues read the book, Ultra Processed People.

It will help you understand. It helped me with similar extreme feelings in my own past. Also, as DH figured out relatively recently, with his birthday chocolate pie tradition ending up in the garbage.

"I realized I was thinking back to when my grandmother would make it, with real milk and it had a skin on the pudding part, and a crust that had taste, and this THING just tasted like dirt, no matter what part I ate!"

He said it made him realize how UN-natural the food has gotten.

Are cookies ultra processed? I think we could make a case that it has an effect. I indulged in some homemade level ingredients in a few items I don't have the energy to make myself. Either way, I can control it. While others, like the gf pretzels, trigger the same "bottom of the bag" impulses.

But when I made my own cookies, they were heavy with butter or cream cheese, and only lightly sweetened. That's a factor, too. Everyone has their own troublesome combinations.

But we have real food comparisons, and I wonder how often other people get that opportunity. We have one REAL bakery, which peels the apples and uses real butter and boy is that place busy

I think if we can tell the difference, our bodies can. So step one is to concentrate on real food, and getting rid of the worst offenders, first. I'm safer than I used to be because I love, and crave, steak and eggs and cream cheese omelettes and pork sandwiches in coconut wraps. I eat treats every day.