Habitual daily intake of a sweet and fatty snack modulates reward processing in humans

Evaluating Bidirectional Predictive Pathways between Dietary Restraint and Food Addiction in Adolescents

“…In sum, while these constructs do appear to be related during this stage of development, longitudinal analyses do not support a causal role of dietary restraint in mechanistic models of food addiction. Rather, the present findings provide stronger empirical support for a model of food addiction in which risk may be underlied by alternative factors, such as exposure to HP foods [44,45], clinical co-morbidities and psychological risk factors (e.g., addiction proneness [47]), stronger reward sensitivity [46,48], vulnerability for weight gain [44,45], or addiction risk factors (e.g., family history of addiction [49]). Therefore, evidenced associations between food addiction and dietary restraint in adolescents may reflect attempts to manage an addictive response to HP foods.…”

“…It may be that an addictive response to HP foods results in a greater tendency to engage in reactionary dietary restriction (e.g., due to social pressures and beauty ideals about thinness) to offset excessive food intake. A recent study demonstrated that repeated exposure to HP foods in healthy, normal-weight participants led to increased sensitization to the rewarding properties of HP foods and related neurobehavioral dysfunction, such as decreased preference for minimally processed foods and increased consumption of HP foods [46]). Thus, individuals who exhibit addictive eating of HP foods may be more likely to engage in dietary restriction in order to combat increased consumption of HP foods or related weight gain.…”

Unveiling the influence of daily dietary patterns on brain cortical structure: insights from bidirectional Mendelian randomization

“…Research has shown that foods rich in sugar and fat can enhance the brain's response to food and associative learning independent of food cues or rewards. 53 This suggests that frequent consumption of sugary foods may lead to changes in brain activity, reinforcing a preference for such foods. Additionally, alcohol addiction progresses through various stages, with positive reinforcement being characteristic of early-stage addiction and later stages involving negative reinforcement.…”

Dietary intake in children and adolescents with food addiction: A systematic review

“…An explanation for these findings lies in the excessive consumption of sugar, fat, and sodium present in UPFs, which can act as a reward system ( Bijoch et al, 2023 , Edwin Thanarajah et al, 2023 ). Preclinical studies have shown reduced concentrations and changes in dopamine signaling in the reward system areas ( Hamelin et al, 2022 ).…”