Junk food is in the headlines again. As if we have to be told junk food is bad for us. Over the last two days there have been a spate of headlines about an announcement that was made over a week ago funnily enough.

Neuroscientist Dr. Paul Kenny presented his findings at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience on Oct 20th. In summary he’s proposing that eating junk food can be as addictive as heroin or other drugs.

The findings were based on experiments with rats, and the junk food included “cheesecake, fatty meat products, and cheap sponge cakes and chocolate snacks”.

Here are my picks of the headlines, with the story looked at from different pespectives. ScienceNews has the most lengthy description of the study, and The Examiner offers the most irreverent look, questioning some of the researchers’ statements…

Telegraph.co.uk Junk food as ‘addictive as drugs’ 28 Oct 2009

ScienceNews FOR KIDS: Junk Food Junkies 28 Oct 2009

TheMedGuru Junk food addictive like drugs: Study 29 Oct 2009

The Examiner Junk food is addictive as heroin say scientists 28 Oct 2009

I couldn’t help but think of Morgan Spurlock’s 2004 documentary “Super Size Me”. Spurlock essentially made himself a human guinea pig in an experiment which had him eating nothing but McDonald’s food for 30 days. His doctor was probably more shocked than anyone about the drastic changes he saw in test results, and even recommended the experiment be stopped. (And in an entirely different way, Spurlock’s girlfriend wasn’t particularly pleased either.)

He carried on however and survived the ordeal. And along the way he spoke a few times of the addictive properties of many of the ingredients. He’d obviously done some research. In one scene about halfway through he was having a particularly bad day, and was actually acting like he was on drugs. Talk about clinical trials! Perhaps the researchers had missed the movie.

Recommended Viewing:

Super Size Me [DVD] [2004] R1 Amazon.com

Super Size Me [DVD] [2004] R2 Amazon.co.uk

The survey also revealed that 91 percent of respondents said they would rather be talked about as someone who is “healthy” than as someone who is “wealthy,” and 71 percent of Americans would prefer to be described as someone who “looks really healthy” than as someone who looks “put together or well-dressed.”

Is it about looking younger, or about living longer?

They are one and the same. The body works as one, and when it’s in top form it shows. Youthfulness is about more than just your face. Or your waistline, or your butt. It’s in how you move, in your attitude. It’s that sparkle in your eye, the glow of your skin. It’s a whole-person concept.

When something is out of kilter, it tends to influence other areas. One negative tends to prompt another, and before you know it you’re on a self-destructive path. But it works the other way too. And when you begin to recognise the true ageing influences in your life, it makes them so much easier to deal with. Being “Real” is about working in harmony with your body and with nature, so there is no need for suppressive and manipulative procedures.

Let’s turn the question around. What do you hope to achieve by visiting the site? Do you think the last couple of years have been unkind to you? And maybe you’d like to reverse some of the changes. Let’s do it! It doesn’t matter where in your life you are right now. This is your starting point. From here we can start taking little steps in the right direction.

ageing (also aging)   1 growing old  2 giving the appearance of advancing age

Oxford Concise Dictionary, Ninth Edition

Straight away definition Number 1 isn’t very useful.  And as simplistic as Number 2 looks, I think it sums up what many readers are concerned about.  Though I’d like to expand a little on it — to make it more relevant to this little journey we’re about to begin.  Here is my working definition of the kind of ageing that we are “anti-” …

prematurely giving the appearance of advancing age, due to destructive habits that are contrary to the laws of nature

(Say that ten times fast )

This is what we’re here to talk about.

It may sound a rather weighty definition, but it also defines the area over which you have control. And that’s the first thing I’d like you to remember: You are in control. You have the power to steer your own life, your health, anything you want. Some people find that a little scary, but when it sinks in there’s no more liberating feeling than empowerment. Think about it for a while.