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Like Hard Drugs: Cheese Can Be Addictive!

There are countless types of cheese, and the selection is large – but the popular milk product has a great potential for addiction!

A study by the University of Michigan shows that cheese has a high potential for addiction – similar to heroin, which is a hard drug. This is due to the substance casomorphin contained in cheese.

It is formed when the milk protein casein is digested in the stomach. It then stimulates the receptors in the brain, dopamine is released and a physical feeling of well-being arises.

Analog cheese is particularly addictive

In 2016, around 24 kilograms of cheese were consumed per capita in Germany. Since more than twenty times the amount of milk is often required for the production of one kilo of cheese, the concentration of casomorphine in the cheese is very high.

A liter of milk, on the other hand, only contains small amounts of the substance, so milk is considered harmless. The so-called analog cheese is particularly addictive, as these cheese products can also contain refined carbohydrates and fats that can lead to addictive eating behavior.

As long as you make sure you eat a balanced diet, eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, and only occasionally eat foods with a lot of cheese, consumption is not a concern. However, caution is advised if you include cheese in a large number of meals. Here you should try to eat less cheese and other fatty products.

Natural happiness hormones

Incidentally, the effect of casomorphins can also be produced in another way: through endorphins. The happiness hormones also ensure a feeling of well-being and can be produced by the body itself, for example during sport, or can also be produced by other foods.

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Potato Chips: That’s Why They’re so Addictive – They’ll Get Rid of The Calories Quickly

Chips are as much a part of a TV night as amen is to church.

Chips: Human physical condition is important

Particularly piquant: The fatter the test person who had to taste the chips – in the scientific sense – was, the more the reward center in the brain was activated when eating the potato chips. The comparison of food and drugs in terms of how they work in the brain also shows parallels. The messenger substance “dopamine” plays a central role here. This means: It can happen that you need more and more of something to get the same happiness as the first time – This becomes addictive.

Isa Mack from the “University Hospital Tübingen” doesn’t see it that dramatically. One thing is clear to them: nutrition and the reward system belong together. “For anything that is important for self-preservation and self-reproduction, the reward system has to kick in,” she told the world. The special preference for “sweet and greasy” is evolutionary. It is also known that the reward system of overweight people reacts differently to food. “But that doesn’t mean that it was always like this or that it can’t be changed,” says Mack.

It also provides a way to enjoy chips without a guilty conscience. “You have to trick yourself.” One possibility, for example, is not to take the whole bag with you, but just a small bowl in front of the television. If you want to work off the chips again, nutrition experts recommend sport.

It takes so much exercise to get rid of the chips

But chips can also be really healthy if you prepare them yourself. If you cut and prepare the potato slices yourself, season them and put them in the oven, then the snack is significantly lower in calories than the industrially produced fattening foods. There are now numerous alternatives to the classic snack. Chips are now made from carrots, zucchini and beetroot. Sweet potatoes are also good for making homemade chips.

A test by Sport1 shows how long you have to do sports if you should succumb to the temptation of 100 grams of potato chips: According to this, you either have to jog for 45 minutes, walk for 90 minutes, do 60 minutes of strength training, ride a bike for 75 minutes, 60 minutes of breaststroke or 35 minutes of squash.

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