What Makes Junk Food Addictive?

Mark Hyman

Feb 12, 2024

Episode description

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We are getting sicker every day from cheap, addictive junk food. The food industry approaches food as “engineering projects,” with the end goal of creating “heavy users”—a disturbing internal term used by food manufacturers that helps them make as much money as possible at the expense of public health. It’s time we take a look at the intentional manipulation of our taste buds and the politics that support these practices.

In today’s episode, I talk with Michael Moss, Dhru Purohit, Calley Means, and Nina Teicholz about the formula to get you addicted to junk food and the money spent to influence you to buy more.

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Mindsip insights from this episode:

Utilize salt to mask metallic taste in processed foods

Salt is used in processed foods like cornflakes not just for flavor, but to mask unpleasant metallic 'off notes' inherent to the ingredients.

#processed-food

#salt

Beware of vanishing calorie trick in puffy snacks

Puffy snacks like Cheetos are designed with 'vanishing caloric density,' melting in the mouth to trick the brain into thinking the calories have disappeared, encouraging overconsumption.

#appetite

#processed-food

Prioritize health over convenience by avoiding unhealthy snacks

A former top Kraft executive admitted he stopped eating his company's snack products when he couldn't exercise, knowing he couldn't control his consumption.

#nutrition

Reduce high-fructose corn syrup to prevent leaky gut

High-fructose corn syrup can deplete the energy in your gut lining, which is required to maintain tight cell junctions and prevent a leaky gut.

#fructose

#leaky-gut

Avoid high-fructose corn syrup due to mercury contamination

A scientist discovered that many samples of high-fructose corn syrup contained high levels of mercury due to a mercury-dependent process used in its manufacturing.

#mercury

#nutrition

Decode your genes with every bite of food

Every bite of food acts as code that changes your gene expression, inflammation, and microbiome in real-time, not just over decades.

#genetics

#nutrition

Understand Procter & Gamble's influence on AHA and vegetable oil recommendations

The American Heart Association became a financial powerhouse after Procter & Gamble, the maker of Crisco, designated them for a radio show fundraiser, leading to their subsequent recommendation of vegetable oils.

#nutrition

#seed-oil

Avoid trans-free oils due to instability risks

When fast-food chains switched to trans-free vegetable oils, the oils were so unstable that workers' used uniforms would spontaneously combust due to the volatile oxidation products.