In the previous post, we saw that in our distant past the tendency to overeat high-calorie tasty foods was a survival tool- it allowed us to make and store fat to survive periods of scarcity. But the only tasty foods our distant ancestors had were natural (unprocessed) foods. With natural foods, it is possible to maintain a balance between attraction and restraint. I like apples, but I can easily say “no” to an apple.
Now we have a problem. We have learned to extract from natural foods the tastes, textures, and aromas we like the best and concentrate them into foods that are so tasty that for many of us it is almost impossible to say “no.” There’s apples, and there’s apple pie `a la mode.
I call this the cocaine effect. South American natives have chewed coca leaves for thousands of years; they keep a wad between the cheek and the gum all day long. They do not become cocaine addicts because the concentration of cocaine in coca leaves is very low. But if I take a big pile of coca leaves, extract the cocaine, and turn it into a crystal of crack cocaine- now it’s highly concentrated and highly addictive. Apple pie is crack cocaine.
Apple pie is an example of what I call “designer foods.” Designer foods are immensely more tasty than the components from which they are made. For most of our history as humans, we ate the components. But now we can take the components, the natural foods, and turn them into irresistible delicacies.
When we eat designer foods over and over again, desire- which is normal- turns into an addiction-like state that can cause a failure of self-regulation. Have you ever stood in front of a fridge, knowing that there was a piece of cake, or pie, or some ice-cream in there, and your hand went out to get it even as your mind was screaming, “PLEASE DON”T DO IT?”
Why couldn’t you stop your hand?
In the last post in this series, we will talk about de-addiction from food.
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