Why do unhealthy foods like junk foods taste delicious and addicting while healthy foods like vegetables dont?
In: Biology
Fat and sugar, We crave it.
Its why McDonald is so good, they put an ungodly amount of fat and sugar into it.
A lot is also affected how we cook and season those veggies.
In their natural state, they can’t really compete with the sugar rush that other foods can give us. Also they can contain bitter elements that have to be cooked out.
Spice them up a bit and do a proper sauté and you can turn lots of veggies that people think aren’t good into a dish which they will enjoy.
Bland and bitter Brussel sprouts suck. Properly seasoned sautéed Sprouts are amazing.
It’s worth noting that addictive foods are defined by wanting to eat more than a healthy amount, so even if “healthy” foods were addictive, they would be unhealthy at those levels.
Also, it’s because we engineered junk foods to be maximally delicious, not maximally healthy, so health concerns took a back seat when we designed them.
Sugar. Eating sugar releases opioids and dopamine in our bodies. This is the link between added sugar and addictive behavior. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is a key part of the “reward circuit” associated with addictive behavior.
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