Blog post 6: We All Scream For Ice Cream!

Ice creams are the best! It's the perfect food for a hot day or any other day for that matter.It makes me feel cool and refreshing! It never fails to satisfy. 

Now, the question is, what makes an ice cream addictive?

I read an article entitled Is Ice Cream 'Addictive'? The Truth About 'Addictive' Foods and it states there how ice cream literally affects our brain. Researchers made a survey to one hundred fifty-one teenagers with healthy body weights about their food and cravings. Ultimately, the teens wanted to eat the shake, but the teens who had eaten the most ice cream over the previous weeks before the study enjoyed the ice cream less than those who hadn't consumed very much ice cream before the study.The researcher compared this reaction to that of many drug addicts. He stated that, just like drug addiction, the people who had eaten the ice cream many times recently exhibited increased cravings but also experienced less pleasure.

Researchers said that the more ice cream you eat, the more you need to eat in order for your brain to send signals that it's enjoying the treat. It simply means that the more you have it, the more of it you need in order to experience pleasure from it. 

So, is it possible to be chemically addicted to food like ice cream? The answer is yes. Any food can be addictive. It states there that as far as the brain’s circuitry is concerned, pleasure is pleasure. Activation patterns often look about the same.  

I read another article entitled Emotional Feeling: Feeding Your Feelings by Heather Hatfield. When we're happy, sad, and bored we eat pizza, steak, chocolates and ice cream. Food does not only fill in our stomachs but also satisfies our feelings. And when you quench those feelings with comfort food when you're stomach isn't growling, that is what you call emotional eating. 

"Emotional eating is eating for reasons other than hunger." - Jane Jakubczak 

With regard to that quote, emotional eating is a disorder. It is a compulsive overeating which also means food addiction. Therefore, Ice cream isn't known for its health benefits and it is considered more of an indulgence and comfort food than a functional one.