Carb Addiction: Cake Is The New Crack

Great post (and good comments) from Robb Wolf's blog about some of the more recent research on our response to food rewards, and why sometimes that "only one cookie" can derail everything we're trying to do when getting healthier.

We are wired to eat foods that taste good and also make us feel good.  The two systems responsible for that in our bodies are the homeostatic system and the hedonic system.  Our homeostatic system is the system that uses leptin as a major player in weight control.  Leptin signals the brain on how much body fat to store.  This is a survival mechanism in our bodies.  The problem with this mechanism is it can be changed.  This is where leptin resistance comes into play...

The hedonic system is the system in our body that allows us to enjoy certain things.  One of these things that can actually elicit a response in our hedonic system are certain foods, especially ones that are sweet and/or salty.  Major companies understand this and hire scientists to develop foods that will elicit a response from our rewards system.  The hedonic and homeostatic systems can work together against us in the attempt to lose weight.  The homeostatic system wants to maintain a higher body fat and the hedonic system are constantly craving foods that are bad for us.  This is why taking out foods completely and being strict for a time frame is extremely important.  If these foods with high rewards are added back in before we have reset our homeostatic system then it can derail the progress we have made up to that point.

Check it out: Carb Addiction: Cake Is The New Crack