So we've tossed around the expressions "carb addict" and "junk food junkie" for years. There is a growing pile of scientific evidence that the pleasure centers of the brain responds to certain food triggers much the same way as opiates or alcohol.
This is one of many studies that may, in time help us figure out why some people gain weight and some people do not.
Studies like these also explain why some of us reach for alcohol when we feel low and others reach for chocolate or potato chips to combat a blue mood. All stimulate dopamine production and make us "feel good" for a while. Hmmm, could this be why people who feel chronically down often gain weight? Especially the fact that like other drugs, in time one needs to consume more and more to get the same result. This actually makes sense.
So folks, can we stop the fat shaming? Shaming someone for walking with a limp or having kidney failure makes just as much sense. If shaming actually WORKED, with regard to any manner of human behaviour, fine and dandy, but it doesn't. All it does is compound the problem by adding a psychological hang-up to the mix. Counter-productive.
There is a physical reason my eyes are blue and yours might be brown. There is also a physical reason why some people may become partial to certain foods, especially processed junk. We do not know everything, but like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, research will eventually put things together.
This is not negating personal responsibility, mind you. We are all responsible for our own lives and health. Understanding a problem is not solving it. The solution can only come from within. Each person has to take responsibility for their own actions, regardless the source of the problem. Like all addictions, people get to the point of conquering it when THEY are ready to face it and not on your timetable or on mine. It's personal, and often painful, as overweight people, even just a little bit overweight, have often endured a lot of really snotty remarks over the years and yes folks, they sting and contribute to an already poor self image.
Just as beating alcoholism is more complex than pouring alcohol down the sink, for some people, weight loss is more complex than "just changing the diet" because in both cases there is a boatload of emotional and psychological issues to go along with it. If these issues are not dealt with, the battle is not won. Hence people in all camps "go off the wagon." With food addiction, this would certainly include regaining the weight, I would think. People go back to bad habits because old issues have not been dealt with.
This study is very interesting and cross-references a lot of other related data.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/07/18/brain-imaging-confirms-food-addiction.aspx
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