Research
presented today shows that high-fructose corn syrup can cause behavioural
reactions in rats similar to those produced by drugs of abuse such as cocaine.
These results, presented by addiction expert Francesco Leri, Associate
Professor of Neuroscience and Applied Cognitive Science at the University of
Guelph, suggest food addiction could explain, at least partly, the current
global obesity epidemic.
These
results were presented at the 2013 Canadian Neuroscience Meeting, the annual
meeting of the Canadian Association for Neuroscience -- Association Canadienne
des Neurosciences (CAN-ACN).
The
"Food Addiction" hypothesis suggests one could be addicted to food
just as one is addicted to drugs of abuse. To test this hypothesis, Dr. Leri
studies the response of rats to foods containing unnaturally high
concentrations of sugar, fats and taste enhancers, such as high-fructose corn
syrup and foods like Oreo cookies.
Increased
availability of such highly-palatable foods could partly explain the high
incidence of obesity around the world, but simple availability does not explain
why some people are obese and others are not, given the same amount of
available food. Dr. Leri, and others, suggest one important factor could be
individual differences in vulnerability to addiction. Surveys of consumption of
cocaine show that though many individuals try these drugs, only a small
percentage of them become addicted. Dr. Leri wanted to know if the same could
be true of "addictive foods." "We have evidence in laboratory
animals of a shared vulnerability to develop preferences for sweet foods and
for cocaine" says Leri.
Dr. Leri
investigated the behavioural, chemical and neurobiological changes induced by
consumption of "addictive foods" in the bodies and brains of rats.
"We are not rats, but our children do not think too much about the impact
of sweets on their brain and behaviour. There is now convincing neurobiological
and behavioural evidence indicating that addiction to food is possible. Our
primary objective is to discover biological predictors of vulnerability to
develop excessive consumption of high fructose corn syrup ," says Leri.
Dr.
Leri's findings could lead to novel pharmacological interventions for obese
individuals that could help them selectively reduce intake of unhealthy foods.
This knowledge could also help increase the public's understanding of the
effects of unhealthy food choices. An effective strategy to combat obesity is
to educate people about the causes and consequences of their choices.
Background
on obesity
More than
1.4 billion people were classified as overweight in 2008, and of those, 500
million were considered obese. The worldwide incidence of obesity has more than
doubled since 1980. The World Health Organization uses the term
"globesity" to qualify this epidemic, which is present in all parts
of the globe, and not only in industrialized societies. Obesity poses major
health risks: diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and stroke and
certain forms of cancer are all more prevalent in
obese
individuals
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