Abusing food, drugs come from same neural pathways

People who overeat and those who abuse drugs have similar chemical makeups and pathways in the brain that may make them more prone to addiction. A report in the journal Psychiatric News summarized earlier studies that showed similarities between compulsive eating and drug addiction. People with both problems have fewer dopamine receptors in their brains, for example, which can keep them from feeling the pleasure and reward reactions that people normally feel after a meal. And one study found that among bipolar patients, obesity rates were lower among those who had substance abuse problems. Researchers hope understanding substance abuse in the brain will one day lead to treatments.

Obama needs to pay attention to food safety

The Government Accountability Office says one of the top 13 priorities of the new administration in Washington will need to be food safety. The fragmented regulatory system makes it difficult to plan and coordinate food safety efforts, the GAO said, noting that 15 different agencies have a part in administering food safety laws. The office says the president needs an advisory council on food safety and a government-wide plan to ensure that all agencies have the same goals when it comes to the safety of the nation’s food supply.

Chinese go on diet because of fear

After all the warnings about problems with various foodstuffs in China, it could be said that the nation is on a fear diet because people just don’t know what’s safe to eat. First it was milk powder, then just about anything made with milk, then eggs, oranges and more that either is tainted in some way or there have been rumors about the safety of. With all the things it’s explicitly not safe to eat, there are still worries about those things that are considered safe, such as produce covered with pesticides and fish from polluted rivers.

Athletic trainers are somewhat healthier than the rest of us

You’d probably guess that people who make a living telling other people how to take care of themselves would at least to some extent practice what they preach, and a study shows that it’s true that athletic trainers are on the whole healthier than the general population, but they’re not the paragons of healthy virtue you might expect. Forty-one percent of 275 trainers surveyed said they got the recommended 30 minutes of physical activity five or more days a week, but 7 percent said they’re completely sedentary. None of them ate the recommended amounts of all food groups (but then, who does?) and while male trainers tend to drink more alcohol than the women, more women (at 7 percent) said they drink more alcohol than recommended (compared to 2 percent of men).

Obama win may improve popularity of the plate lunch

Finally, change is the buzzword in America right now, and one thing that some think might change with an Obama victory is another look at the traditional Hawaiian plate lunch on the mainland. While this greasy, fatty meal — usually consisting of white rice, some kind of meat, macaroni salad with mayonnaise and lots of gravy — can be found in some places on the west coast, it hasn’t gained much of a foothold in the upper 49. But it is a good way to get lots of food for not a lot of money, and while some purveyors of the plate lunch are trying to make it healthier with brown rice and no mayo, Hawaiians seem to like Obama more because, even though he’s generally a health nut, when he’s back on the islands he goes for the traditional stuff.

(By Sarah E. White for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)

Subscribe to our RSS feed | Weekly e-mail updates | Follow us on Twitter

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 30th, 2008 and is filed under Celebrities and politicians, Fast food and restaurants, Food safety, Foreign stories (non-U.S.), Nibbles: diet news shorts. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. Permalink.