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Researchers: Junk Food Can Be Addicting Like Cocaine, Heroin

The Reporting on Health Daily Briefing

Researchers: Junk Food Can Be Addicting Like Cocaine, Heroin

Picture of Barbara Feder Ostrov
By Barbara Feder Ostrov
November 02, 2011


doughnuts, addiction, reporting on health

Nutrition:

 In the latest "it's not your fault news," a growing body of scientific research suggests that sugary, salty or fatty foods "hijack the brain in ways that resemble addictions to cocaine, nicotine and other drugs," Robert Langreth and Duane D. Stanford report for Bloomberg News.

Environmental Health: Biking rather than driving to even a few errands could make you, your environment and your neighbors healthier, according to a new mathematical model developed by University of Wisconsin researchers, Nancy Shute reports for NPR's Shots blog.

Health Reform: California Healthline's Dan Diamond examines the $373 million that the health care industry has spent so far in 2011 to lobby on health reform.

Conjoined Twins: Some good news from the world of surgery: twin 2-year-old girls conjoined at the chest were successfully separated Tuesday in a 10-hour long operation at Stanford Hospital, Victoria Colliver reports for the San Francisco Chronicle.

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Photo credit: Paul Holloway via Flickr

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