French Fries are Addicting and why "None is Better than One!"

You’re not crazy! French fries have been scientifically proven to be addicting!

In a recent study, researcher, Daniel Piomelli, Director of the UCI School of Medicine’s Center for Drug Discovery & Development, has identified the marijuana-like culprit that makes your brain (tongue and tummy) want more than one French fry: endocannabinoids!

Here is how it works:

"The process starts on the tongue, where fats in food generate a signal that travels first to the brain and then through a nerve bundle called the vagus to the intestines.

There, the signal stimulates the production of endocannabinoids, which initiates a surge in cell signaling that prompts the wanton intake of fatty foods, Piomelli said, probably by initiating the release of digestive chemicals linked to hunger and satiety that compel us to eat more."

So you’re not crazy—french fries are addicting! Now what? How can you overcome addiction?

Unfortunately, there is no simple secret to overcoming addiction.  But most recovered addicts admit, moderation just isn’t an option.  Cold turkey—or complete avoidance of a substance—is the only sure way to change the way ones brain thinks about or reacts to a once-loved chemical (food, drugs, alcohol, etc.).

As I approach my 34th year of sobriety (1/28), I know this subject intimately.  To quit drinking, I had to quit drinking.  I couldn’t toast champagne on special occasions, nor could I could have a “night cap” every once and a while.  There is no “I’ll just have one” in the vocabulary (or brain) of an addict.  

Actually, for the addict, none is better than one. Though it sounds like a big change, it's actually a little change to go from "some" to "none."  And you just make that decision "one day at a time" in order to get the big result of a healthy body, mind and soul!

Go for it!

Becky