Foods share many similarities with some drugs in the way it affects your brain. More research needs to be done but it has been discussed that fructose (fruit sugar) and sucrose (table sugar) have toxic effects and affect the nervous system and cause behavioral changes that can lead to craving and addiction.

When someone eats sugar or sees a picture of food, dopamine pathways are activated in the brain. These are the same pathways that are activated by other drugs like cocaine and nicotine.

Hi palatable foods activate the reward and pleasure centers in the brain. These foods are high in sugars, fat and salt. When these foods are eaten and dopamine is released, the reward pathway from eating certain foods is activated and you will feel the need to eat again.

This can make you eat even though you are not hungry, this pleasurable pathway inactivate other hormones that produce fullness.

Like any other drug, you can develop tolerance to food. Tolerance means you eat more and more to satisfy yourself and you are less satisfy each time.

In case you didn’t know there is an organization for food addiction. The FAA (Food Addicts Anonymous) believe that food addiction is a biochemical disorder that occurs at a cellular level and cannot be cured by willpower or by therapy alone.