Are UPFs addictive? A summary of the arguments
- Ultra-processed foods are a controversial topic within the food industry
- UPF overconsumption follows patterns of addiction, researchers have suggested
- UPFs also have a similar effect on the brain to addictive drugs, triggering dopamine release in the same areas
- On the other hand, there is no addictive chemical in UPFs, unlike cigarettes (nicotine), point out critics
- Some have suggested that UPFs are a behavioural addiction, not a psychological or physiological one
Ultra-processed foods are one the most controversial topics impacting food and beverage today.
Consumers have a deep distrust of them, and major organisations have suggested that they have led to a significant number of deaths.
Others, however, have suggested that the category is not an accurate gauge of a food’s health content, as it is based on the Nova classification, which does not take nutritional composition into account.
One of the main points of contention with UPFs is that, according to their critics, they are designed to be hyper-palatable. This, some suggest, can lead to addiction.
UPFs may be addictive
While many UPFs are very palatable, and some consumers eat too many of them, it is another question entirely whether they are actually addictive, in the same way as drugs, nicotine or alcohol.
Some researchers think that they are. One comment in Nature Medicine argues that addiction to UPFs meets the definition of a substance use disorder, characterised as it is by intense cravings, repeated attempts to cut back on the substance in question, and continued use despite harm.
“Over 280 studies from around the world have found that some people show clear signs of addiction to UPFs . . . These patterns mirror the symptoms of addiction seen with substances like alcohol or cigarettes,” explains Erica LaFata, one of the authors of the comment.
Furthermore, there are some similarities in brain chemistry between those susceptible to drug addiction and those with excess UPF consumption. For example, there is dysfunction with self-regulation networks in the brains of both those prone to drug addiction and to excessive UPF consumption.
UPFs “quickly stimulate the brain’s reward system, triggering dopamine release in the same areas activated by addictive drugs,” says LaFata. “This can drive cravings and compulsive eating behaviour.”
Furthermore, the brain can adapt, she explains, so that people need progressively greater amounts of UPFs to feel satisfied. This is another hallmark of addiction.
An addiction to UPFs is reliant on the sensory combination within the foods.
“The combination of ingredients, their specific ratios, the texture and mouthfeel, and the rapid rate at which they are absorbed all contribute to their addictive potential. It is not any one ingredient alone that causes addiction, but the way these components are combined and processed to produce a powerful, drug-like effect on the brain’s reward system.”
The fact that GLP-1s reduce drug consumption as well as cravings for food suggests that there is a neurobiological overlap between food and drug addiction, according to the Nature Medicine comment.
The case against addiction
The arguments that UPFs are addictive are, perhaps, no longer niche. But they are not officially accepted either. UPF addiction is not formally recognised by either the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) or the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).
Not everyone is convinced by the arguments that UPFs are addictive. Many have criticised the idea.
Writing in the BMJ, a group of researchers outline criticisms of the idea that UPFs are addictive, at least in the way drugs are.
UPFs are often compared to cigarettes, but in UPFs, there is no clearly addictive chemical that activates internal reward systems. Cigarettes have nicotine.
UPFs are usually defined by the Nova classification as industrially-produced foods containing ingredients not commonly found in the kitchen. They are a group of foods made in a certain way, rather than a clearly addictive substance.
Other criticisms suggest that UPF consumption may be addictive as a behaviour.
It is not a physiological or psychological addiction, but a behavioural one, suggests the UK government. The addiction comes from the “addictive style” of eating certain foods, as well as the pleasurable sensation one can get from consuming them due to their often delicious taste.
“Choice and preference”, it stresses, are different from physiological or psychological addiction.
