They're not adapted to being hit with a sledge hammer of these um compelling food properties at every meal . And you know , these things , I , I won't get too deep into the neurobiology of it , but these food properties cause dopamine to be released by the brain , which is a , a reinforcement signal that reinforces motivation and behavior . And if you get excessive dopamine release , for example , co by cocaine or especially crack cocaine or methamphetamine or heroin , excessive dopamine release leads to um all the behaviors associated with drug seeking being prioritized over everything else in your life .
And um it turns out that a lot of people , by all appearances appear to be addicted to many of our modern foods , they're not getting addicted to celery sticks , they're not getting addicted to lentils . What they're getting addicted to is these foods that have a combination of extreme uh reward factors . These things that provoke dopamine , release fat , carbohydrate salt sugar , combinations of all these things together that our ancestors would never have experienced .
And you know , these things , I , I won't get too deep into the neurobiology of it , but these food properties cause dopamine to be released by the brain , which is a , a reinforcement signal that reinforces motivation and behavior . And if you get excessive dopamine release , for example , co by cocaine or especially crack cocaine or methamphetamine or heroin , excessive dopamine release leads to um all the behaviors associated with drug seeking being prioritized over everything else in your life . And we call that addiction .
Um these things reinforce behavior in my opinion to a degree that you would have not have seen um that our ancestors would not have experienced and people develop , you know , it's controversial whether there is such a thing as food addiction . Some researchers believe that there is some researchers don't kind of believe the concept , but certainly people exhibit addiction like behaviors toward food . And most of us , even if we're not addicted to food per se , we'll still feel compelled to eat some of these foods , even though we know it's not good for us .
What they're getting addicted to is these foods that have a combination of extreme uh reward factors . These things that provoke dopamine , release fat , carbohydrate salt sugar , combinations of all these things together that our ancestors would never have experienced . So when it comes to us , you know , a piece of a piece of pizza or ice cream or candy or actually chocolate is a good example .
