Food and Drug

An interesting scientific discovery: Food may be as much of a physical addiction for some as drugs are for others.

Anyone who has ever faced a lifetime battle of the bulge already knows this to be true. I have, in fact, had this conversation with my slender, cigarette smoking husband many times as we've contrasted and compared our addictive weaknesses. He could not care less about food (he often refers to meals as "cavity filling") but he could describe in great detail the exquisite rush of the day's first cigarette or the sense of satisfaction that comes with smoking after a meal.

I, on the other hand, would rather put dry leaves into my mouth than smoke a cigarette first thing in the morning. Food is what I cannot resist -- it's as joyful to me as sex or rollercoasters. I think of it in sensory terms: the way it looks, the way it smells, they way it feels in my hands, the way it tastes. I love the variant nature of food, the experience of eating, and I love that feeling of fullness when I'm done.

So anyway, it's no great shocker to me that science is finally discovering what many of us have always known to be true... food can be as intoxicating as any drug on the market.