Is junk food addictive?

V-Spec · 21 Feb 2007 at 12:52

I'm getting sick of Junk food although I feel as thought im addicted to it.. I've recently started a new job at NTL:Telewest, and its right next to some massive motorway services, naturally i've been in there a few times and had pizza hut express and other such things, KFC/Mcdonalds etc.. Its just as soon as you walk through the door that "junk food aroma" hits you in the face, and all I can think of is burgers/pizzas/fries/buckets of coke... Today I managed to go to the sandwich section but it was REALLY difficult.. My point is the amount of people buying the stuff, every time ive been in there the fast food companies have really long queues, whilst the sandwich shop mainly sells coffee.. It really does show how unhealthy people are becoming, I do consider myself pretty healthy I do plenty of exercise and although I do eat my fair share of junk, its mainly only in winter, im summer I don't each as much at all..
I was in Brussels last week for the CCIE Lab exam, and I spent quite a while walking around brussels Midi station.. Its the opposite to this country, the sandwich shops are all packed and there is only one burger place mainly filled with english people, I also stuggled to see many fat people, unlike the services in this country where its full of waddling fat kids with greasy fingers.

Isn't this a timebomb waiting to go off, people say that due to the modern health service, people are living longer than ever before... But thats mainly due to the older generations who lived healthier, being looked after better... How will the health service cope in 30 years time when all these fat kids have diabetes and other serious health problems??

I know the govermnent has put its foot down on smoking in order to help protect peoples lives, and I support this because I suffer from asthma and when I go into a pub full of people smoking it utterly canes my throat and I cough for days..
I don;t really think that fast food can be banned though, because we live in a free society and that means that if people want to eat badly then why should we stop them. But it seems people are losing self control, they never seem to stop eating even when their health is at risk.. where do you draw the line??

Kell_ee001 · 21 Feb 2007 at 12:53

Ever seen Supersize Me?

V-Spec · 21 Feb 2007 at 12:55

Kell_ee001 said:
Ever seen Supersize Me?

Yeah, but I think it made a moot point.. That guy could have eaten burger king/KFC/PizzaHut/fish & chips/Kebabs.. The amount of food he ate whatever it was would have really damaged his health.. it just so happened to be mcdonalds.

Kell_ee001 · 21 Feb 2007 at 12:56

V-Spec said:
Yeah, but I think it made a moot point.. That guy could have eaten burger king/KFC/PizzaHut/fish & chips/Kebabs.. The amount of food he ate whatever it was would have really damaged his health.. it just so happened to be mcdonalds.

Wasn't just the bit I was referring to - I was referring to his mood swings created by lack of junk food (or whats in it I should say) which he could only describe as addictive.

Although basically all the above food you just mentioned are junk foods - which is what you're asking about here. Supersize Me just focused on Maccy Ds, but as you say, it can be generalised.

V-Spec · 21 Feb 2007 at 12:57

Kell_ee001 said:
Wasn't the bit I was referring to - I was referring to his mood swings created by lack of junk food (or whats in it I should say) which he could only describe as addictive.

Ah right,

Yeah I also understand that, surely if you eat crap you think like crap... Isn't this the reason a lot of school kids are hyperactive/insane these days?

Zip · 21 Feb 2007 at 12:58

V-Spec said:
Ah right,

Yeah I also understand that, surely if you eat crap you think like crap... Isn't this the reason a lot of school kids are hyperactive/insane these days?

No they are Hypo because the all sseem to have ADHD or ADD these days

Or they drink Red cordial and just act hyper because they have an excuse just the same way Teeny Boppers Act drunk after drinking 1 cruiser

Edit: It also doesnt help not being aloud to beat the little ****s when they mess around these days

A2Z · 21 Feb 2007 at 13:05

stop trying to blame other people...its your choice..if you dont like junk food then dont eat it, if you dont care about your body and cant see the benefits of eating non-junk food then its your own fault

Raymond Lin · 21 Feb 2007 at 13:07

V-Spec said:
Yeah, but I think it made a moot point.. That guy could have eaten burger king/KFC/PizzaHut/fish & chips/Kebabs.. The amount of food he ate whatever it was would have really damaged his health.. it just so happened to be mcdonalds.

I doubt he'll feel the same way if he had eaten subway for a month.

V-Spec · 21 Feb 2007 at 13:10

A2Z said:
stop trying to blame other people...its your choice..if you dont like junk food then dont eat it, if you dont care about your body and cant see the benefits of eating non-junk food then its your own fault

Clever boy!....... talk about stating the obvious. :rolleyes:

I'm not blaming other people for anything, im simply highlighting the fact that other people are becoming so unhealthy due to an unhealthy fat pumping industry everyone has become used to.

V-Spec · 21 Feb 2007 at 13:11

Raymond Lin said:
I doubt he'll feel the same way if he had eaten subway for a month.

If he had just had a normal subway roll 3 times a day, then it probably wouldn't have affected him much at all... as opposed to a supersize big mac 3 times a day, and those insane buckets of coke.

iCraig · 21 Feb 2007 at 13:23

They're not chemically addictive as such though are they? It's not like nicotine.

If you've built up your own mental dependancy on them, you should be able to shake it off fairly easily. Either by going cold turkey or limiting yourself to one junk food meal per week. If you find yourself seriously craving them, go and speak to someone who is qualified to give you proper advice on dropping addictions.

Bill101 · 21 Feb 2007 at 13:26

I hope they do what they have done in The Netherlands and ban Trans Fatty Acids which are loaded into fast foods.At least that would be a start, it may come to a point where that have to tax fast food due to the cumulative effect it has on the population and the fact that they are getting less and less tax from tobacco

BennyC · 21 Feb 2007 at 13:30

V-Spec said:
I don;t really think that fast food can be banned though, because we live in a free society and that means that if people want to eat badly then why should we stop them. But it seems people are losing self control, they never seem to stop eating even when their health is at risk.. where do you draw the line??

It's a good point youve made. Although society is technically free, peoples greed and obsession with junk food, cost the NHS lots of money(diabetes etc). So in turn appart from damaging their health and life span. It uses up NHS funding and in turn possibley raising taxes.

I dont keep upto date on news

so i have no idea how the NHS funding situation looks at the moment, so someone correct me if im wrong.

iCraig · 21 Feb 2007 at 13:32

I still think that obese people who require stomach staple operations or whatever, should be refused treatment on the NHS, and simply told to simply eat healthily and do excerise, or pay for the treatment privately.

Only people with legitimate conditions, such as glandular or whatever should be allowed NHS treatment.

They are warned constantly about the dangers of eating crap all the time and not doing excerise. It takes years to get properly obese too, so it's not like they have no warning about it. Totally self-inflicted and it's unfair that we should pay for them to use extreme measures to make them lose weight, when they simply cannot be arsed to eat properly.

Maybe I'm cruel but it really grinds my gears. An older friend of died of kidney failure several months ago, she never abused her body and was a golden person. The waiting list for her kidney operation was 3 weeks. 2 weeks too late unfortunately. After a week in the hospital she deteoriated rapidly and nothing could be done for her. If only she could have been operated on immediately.

Then, this fat woman I know, she must weight something like 35st, is getting operations left right and centre all the time. She's taken into hospital and given operations to help her immediately.

Does it stop her from eating like a pig? No. She wallops Burger King down her neck like it's going out of fashion.

If it was down to me, she should be told to **** off and stop wasting NHS money, leaving space and cash to those who deserve to be saved.

Roland0 · 21 Feb 2007 at 13:35

Yes junk food is addictive, in the sense that it hijacks your brains natural reward system, its full of fats and in particular carbs which set of the brains natural reward system. im busy at work now ill try and elaborate later...

yer_averagejoe · 21 Feb 2007 at 13:40

I agree with your point about foreign countires. Go to Paris and you'll struggle to find a fat person who isn't a tourist. Its not just food like mcdonalds and KFC etc, you cant really easily find massive stands of sweets like in every newsagents here.

I can't remember the last time I ate at a place like burger king. I think I'm getting addicted to chocolate though. I eat so much of it and being a student, don't really get enough fruit/veg.

yer_averagejoe · 21 Feb 2007 at 13:41

iCraig said:
If it was down to me, she should be told to **** off and stop wasting NHS money, leaving space and cash to those who deserve to be saved.

Agreed. It pains me to hear people argue otherwise.

caff · 21 Feb 2007 at 13:51

The way to quit junk food is to actually see what it's made of. Once you see all those chemicals and lumps of fat / processed bone etc., e.g. in chicken mcnuggets, you really start to realise that the good old salad and natural ingredients make you feel much better after eating

A balanced diet is a must, but just cut down on the chemical nasties

You are what you eat etc.

V-Spec · 21 Feb 2007 at 13:58

iCraig said:
I still think that obese people who require stomach staple operations or whatever, should be refused treatment on the NHS, and simply told to simply eat healthily and do excerise, or pay for the treatment privately.

Only people with legitimate conditions, such as glandular or whatever should be allowed NHS treatment.

They are warned constantly about the dangers of eating crap all the time and not doing excerise. It takes years to get properly obese too, so it's not like they have no warning about it. Totally self-inflicted and it's unfair that we should pay for them to use extreme measures to make them lose weight, when they simply cannot be arsed to eat properly.

I agree to be honest, the slogan "can't help those who can;t help themselves"

trojan698 · 21 Feb 2007 at 14:02

The resultant obesity will solve the pension crisis, embrace it!