Hormonal
Consuming ultra-processed milkshakes high in fat and sugar does not produce a statistically significant average increase in postingestive striatal dopamine release in healthy adults, refuting the hypothesis that such foods elicit drug-like dopamine responses.
The idea that ultra-processed foods trigger a massive, drug-like dopamine spike in your brain is not supported by this research. While individual responses vary, the average brain does not show a significant dopamine release after eating these foods. This suggests that overconsumption is likely driven more by behavioral factors, hunger, and hedonic preference (how much you like/want the food) rather than a fixed, overpowering biological addiction mechanism.
milkshake consumption did not result in significant postingestive dopamine response in the striatum (p=0.62) nor any striatal subregion (p>0.33)... Thus, postingestive striatal dopamine responses to an ultra-processed milkshake were likely substantially smaller than many addictive drugs and below the limits of detection using standard PET methods.
Why this rating
Large sample size (n=50) for a PET study, rigorous control of diet and state, but limited by the sensitivity of the PET method for small effects.
Source
Brain dopamine responses to ultra-processed milkshakes are highly variable and not significantly related to adiposity in humans
Valerie L. Darcey et al. · medRxiv · 2024
DOI 10.1101/2024.06.24.24309440
More from this paper
- Adiposity (BMI, body fat percentage) is not significantly correlated with the magnitude of postingestive striatal dopamine response to ultra-processed foods, contradicting the hypothesis that obesity blunts this response.Good
- Individual variability in dopamine response to ultra-processed milkshakes is associated with perceived hunger and hedonic ratings (pleasantness, wanting), but not with adiposity or glycemic response.Moderate
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