We all have bad days when our sour mood gets the best of us and we end up binging on bags of potato chips and Netflix in an attempt to cope. But there’s a difference between reaching for comfort food now and then and a full-blown food addiction. But if you’re not sure where your habits lie, you’re not alone. Food addicts aren’t entirely different from folks who overeat. The same ingredients that cause intense cravings can also cause addiction. “The food industry makes food intentionally addictive,” Vera Tarman, MD, MSc, FCFP and author of Food Junkies: The Truth About Food Addiction, told Dr. Oz, The Good Life. Some people have genetics that make them even more susceptible to developing addiction. “There’s a subpopulation who gets that hook like everyone else, but then they’re vulnerable because of a previous addiction or genetics,” Dr. Tarman said. “It’s like an alcoholic who can’t put down a…
Diet Sodas Linked to Increased Risk of Dementia and Stroke, Study Finds
Given everything we’ve been told about sugar being bad for us, you might think reaching for the “diet” or “sugar-free” option is the smarter choice. But you’d be wrong. According to a new research published in the American Heart Association’s (AHA) journal Stroke, the sweeteners used in these alternative beverages are linked to higher rates of stroke and a risk of developing dementia among consumers. The April 2017 study asked more than 4,000 participants, three times each over a span of seven years, about their eating and drinking habits during that time. Over the next 10 years, the researchers continued to follow the participants’ health records and tracked which among them had strokes or developed dementia. Researches found that those participants who consumed at least one artificially sweetened “diet” or “sugar-free” drink per day — whether soda or juice — were nearly three times more liked to suffer a stroke…