I knew it!

NZ Herald

I knew it…Ice cream is like crack:

Cravings people have for ice cream are similar to those a junkie experiences for cocaine, a US study claims.

According to the study, published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the more ice cream an individual eats, the less “reward” they get.

Co-author of the study, Dr Kyle Burger, from the Oregon Research Institute, told The Daily Telegraph overeating high fat or high sugar foods appeared to change the way the brain responded to the food.

“This tolerance is thought to increase use, or eating, because the individual trying to achieve the previous level of satisfaction,” he said.

“Repeated, over-consumption of high-fat or high-sugar foods may alter how the brain responds to those foods in a way that perpetuates further intake.”

The study involved 151 healthy teenagers, aged 14 and 16, who were asked about their recent eating habits and how much they craved particular foods. The participants were then shown a picture of milk shakes, before being given a actual milk shake, while their brains were scanned with a Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Machine.

According to the study, all of the participants craved the ice cream, but those who had eaten ice cream in recent weeks enjoyed it less.

Why we need a fat bastard tax, not a fat tax

There is constant talk of a tac on foodstuffs to combat obesity, rather than taxing the fat bastard who scoffed the food stuffs. Mike Bloomberg reckons New Yorkers want a fat tax on soda. This is an illogical path based on some pretty common metrics.

Bloomberg also plans to exempt fruit juices, which typically have more calories per ounce than sugar-sweetened soda, and milk-based drinks. So while New Yorkers won’t be allowed to order 20 ounces of Coke (240 calories), they will still be able to get a 20-ounce Starbucks whole-milk latte (290 calories) or even a 24-ounce Double Chocolaty Frappuccino (520 calories), not to mention a 20-ounce milkshake (about 800 calories).

In other words, Bloomberg is right when he says there will still be lots of opportunities for New Yorkers to consume large quantities of high-calorie drinks, which means he does not even have a sound paternalistic justification for his meddling. He is screwing with people not to protect them from their own foolish choices but just to create the appearance of doing so. Or maybe just because he can.