Junk Food Lowers Stress?

junkfood

Burger lovers rejoice! New research out of Australia reports that eating junk food may actually help lower stress. How? It seems there might be a biological reason why people crave junk food. Researchers at the University of New South Wales found that eating foods high in fat and sugar reduces anxiety levels.

But, here’s the caveat: while it might make you feel calmer, it doesn’t mean it’s good for you. Our increasing reliance on junk food is one of the reasons for growing waistlines. As the old wives’ tale goes: Everything in moderation.

The Study
Researchers studied rats, which have similar appetite-controlling brain pathways to humans. In the study, young rats taken away from their mothers were given a diet of either junk food or healthy food. The animals eating the junk diet were much less anxious than those eating the healthy food. Animals given the low-fat diet had double the stress levels of the junk food eaters.

This might be a scientific reason why people turn to high-fat and high-sugar foods when they are stressed. People who enjoy eating certain types of food will seek out that type of food for comfort eating following an unpleasant or stressful experience.

It may also explain why many people fail when they go on diets. The researchers plan to look at whether exercise can be as good as junk food at relieving stress, and would be a much healthier alternative.

Source: Breitbart.com

 

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