Food addiction: 1 in 8 Americans over 50 affected

Much higher percentages of possible addiction to processed food seen among older adults who are overweight or experiencing poor mental health or isolation

01-Feb-2023 - Whether you call them comfort foods, highly processed foods, junk foods, empty calories or just some of Americans’ favorite foods and drinks, a sizable percentage of older Americans have an unhealthy relationship with them, according to a new poll. In fact, about 13% of people aged 50 to 80 ...

Mapping the brain stem’s control of eating could lead to better treatments for obesity

An atlas of neuronal circuits could help predict targets for medications to control appetite

29-Aug-2022 - Every meal you sit down to makes an impression, with foods filed away as something delicious to be sought out again, or to be avoided in disgust if we associate the flavor with gut malaise. How this decision is made turns out to be so fundamental to our wellbeing—determining what foods to seek ...

Feeling addicted to food? Your parents' drinking habits may impact your risk

28-Jul-2022 - People with a parent with a history of alcohol problems are at greater risk for showing signs of addiction to highly processed foods, a new University of Michigan study found. These foods, such as ice cream, chocolate, pizza and fries, contain unnaturally high amounts of refined carbohydrates ...

Small changes in diet could help you live healthier, more sustainably

23-Aug-2021 - Eating a hot dog could cost you 36 minutes of healthy life, while choosing to eat a serving of nuts instead could help you gain 26 minutes of extra healthy life, according to a University of Michigan study. The study, published in the journal Nature Food, evaluated more than 5,800 foods, ranking ...

Water scarcity footprint reveals impacts of individual dietary choices in US

19-Apr-2021 - A lot of attention has been paid in recent years to the carbon footprint of the foods we eat, with much of the focus on the outsize contribution of meat production and especially beef. But much less is known about the implications of individual U.S. dietary choices on other environmental ...

Healthy commercial ads don’t change teens’ desire to eat junk food

21-Jan-2020 - How teens’ brains respond to TV commercials for fast food can predict what they are going to eat for dinner, according to new University of Michigan research. Teens who had greater responses in reward centers of the brain when viewing commercials for unhealthy foods—like cheeseburgers and ...