Cheese: not even once.
Ah, cheese. How do we love thee? Frequently and with much gastrointestinal distress. But despite how you hurt our tum tums and make us poop weird, we can't give you up. We'd do anything for you, you stupid, stinky block of fun. We'll never give you up.
… If you find yourself blankly staring at a wheel of parmesan thinking thoughts like that … turns out you're not alone. According to a new study from the University of Michigan, cheese is actually an addictive substance, with about the same habit forming risk as crack.
Well, you know what they say: you say no to cheese, Juicy J can't!
The study, published in the U.S. National Library of Medicine, took a look at why certain foods are more addictive than others. To do this, researchers talked to about 500 students who completed the Yale Food Addiction Scale to determine which foods were, and were not habit forming.
To no one's surprise, pizza came out on top of the list of most addictive foods. Taking a closer look at our insatiable urge for triangle bread, the researches determined that certain foods, like cheese, are more addictive because of of the way they're processed. The more processed and fatty the food, the more it was associated with addictive eating behaviors.
That brings us to the cheese. Cheese is especially addictive because it's the definition of fatty, and it's processed with casein, a protein found in all milk products. During digestion, casein actually releases opiates called casomorphins, which bind to dopamine receptors in the brain, activating the same addiction cycle as crack or nicotine.
"[Casomorphins] really play with the dopamine receptors and trigger that addictive element," registered dietitian Cameron Wells tells Mic.
So, there you go. Your addiction to cheese is real and validated. Now that you've admitted you need help, the healing process can begin.
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