People often joke that their favorite snack is “like crack” or call themselves “chocoholics” in jest. But can someone really be addicted to food in the same way they could be hooked on substances such as alcohol or nicotine? As an addiction psychiatrist and researcher with experience in treating eating disorders and obesity, I have been following the research in …
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A new study published in the journal Addiction has uncovered a sobering reality: older Americans are now more likely to be addicted to ultra-processed foods (UPFs) than to alcohol or tobacco. These foods—loaded with refined carbohydrates, added fats, and artificial flavorings—are designed to light up the brain’s reward system while offering little nutritional value. The research, conducted by the University …
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What compels someone to keep engaging in alcohol use, even if it damages their health, relationships and wellbeing? A new study from Scripps Research offers an important clue: a small midline brain region plays a key role in how animals learn to continue drinking to avoid the stress and misery of withdrawal. In a new study, published in Biological Psychiatry: …
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People now in their 50s and early 60s grew up as the first American generation surrounded by ultra-processed foods. They ate sugary cereals, frozen dinners, snack cakes, and colorful drinks loaded with artificial flavors and additives. A new study says that early exposure may have done more than shape eating habits – it may have led to something more serious: …
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Scientists have pinpointed a hidden brain circuit that may explain why withdrawal drives people back to alcohol. Credit: Shutterstock Researchers at Scripps Research have shown in an animal model that the brain learns to pursue alcohol as a way to find relief, rather than only for its rewarding effects. What drives a person to keep drinking alcohol despite the harm …
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Sean Combs made a plea for “fairness” ahead of his Oct. 3 sentencing, arguing in a new brief that he deserves no more than 14 months in prison for his two felony convictions for transportation to engage in prostitution. In the 182-page sentencing memo submitted Monday shortly before the midnight deadline, Combs’ lawyers laid out his life story in an …
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Summary: A new study shows that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is more effective than moderate exercise at protecting adolescent lab animals from cocaine use. Animals exposed to HIIT developed a preference for non-drug environments and an aversion to cocaine, linked to increases in ΔFosB, a molecular switch involved in addiction. These results suggest exercise intensity matters in shaping the brain’s …
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(Photo: HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) It’s no secret that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy wants to wage a war on pharmaceutical advertising. He spent months campaigning for a ban on pharmaceutical ads while running for President last year, and now he has landed his first blow. At Kennedy’s request, President Donald Trump …
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In the Netflix documentary aka Charlie Sheen, Director Andrew Renzi (Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?) was able to chronicle the rise and fall of the Two and a Half Men actor by relying on old family films, interviews with pals like Chris Tucker and Sean Penn and an extraordinary chat with Sheen’s former drug dealer Marco. But the hallmark of the …
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Photo: Gail Schulman/CBS via Getty Images This article first appeared in Dinner Party, a daily newsletter chronicling the latest in culture and chaos. Sign up to here to receive it every weeknight. You may be aware that Elizabeth Gilbert has a new memoir out this week, All the Way to the River. Oprah Winfrey even announced it was her book club’s new …
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