If there’s a packet of cookies in the house, then I won’t just eat one or two, I’ll scoff at the lot. And as for the milk chocolate, well, there have been times when I’ve broken up an entire bar and thrown it in a bin to stop myself from eating it — only to find myself searching for it minutes later. A particularly low point was when I ate my then six-year-old daughter’s Easter egg. Now he’s 23 but he still hasn’t forgiven me. The idea that you can be “addicted” to food was controversial — as the lawsuit against her included that food doesn’t change brain function the way alcohol or drugs do. But a team at the University of Michigan in the US recently argued, in the journal Addiction, that highly processed sugary foods such as ice cream, chocolate, donuts and cookies should be considered addictive in the same way that tobacco is. And that’s because, like cigarettes, some foods cause strong urges and cravings to the point that you’ll keep eating them, even though you know that doing so increases your risk of life-threatening diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The idea that you can be “addicted” to food has been controversial — with the lawsuit against it including that food doesn’t change brain function the way alcohol or drugs do The researchers also point out that highly processed foods can cause brain changes of a similar magnitude to those of nicotine. This is what happened to a friend of mine, Dr Chris van Tulleken, when he went on a diet of 80 per cent ultra-processed food for a month for a BBC documentary. His diet included foods such as cocoa-flavored breakfast cereal, chicken nuggets and microwave lasagna. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he gained 6.5kg (over a stone), but he also found himself craving more and more junk food. And the scans showed that in that short time, eating all that junk had literally rewired his brain—there were many new neural pathways, many of which connect the reward centers and the cerebellum, an area that controls automatic behaviors. It seems he was reprogrammed by his new diet to seek out and eat even more of these unhealthy foods on autopilot. Which is good news if you’re a food manufacturer, but not so good news for the rest of us. If you accept that certain foods are addictive, then who are the worst offenders? In 2015, another study from the University of Michigan asked 120 college students to complete the Yale Food Addiction Scale (a measure of how addictive you find a particular food) and rank 35 foods according to how addictive each one was for them. Not surprisingly, chocolate topped the list of “most addictive foods,” followed by ice cream, fries, pizza, cookies, chips, cake, buttered popcorn, and cheeseburgers. Somewhere in the middle was cheese, bacon and nuts, while at the bottom was salmon, brown rice, cucumber and broccoli. So what do addictive foods have in common? Well, first they’re highly processed, designed to be absorbed quickly, and give your brain an almost instant rush of dopamine (a brain chemical associated with reward). It is also a mixture of fats and carbohydrates. And not just any old mix. Generally speaking, whether it’s chocolate or chips, a cake or a cheeseburger, they all consist of about 1g of fat to 2g of carbs. It’s an analogy that we humans seem to find particularly compelling. Topping the list of “most addictive foods” was chocolate, followed by ice cream, potatoes, pizza, cookies (file photo), crisps, cakes, buttered popcorn and cheeseburgers To see if you’re “addicted” to a particular food, try my quiz (right), adapted from the Yale Food Addiction Scale. So what can you do if you’re stuck on sugary junk food? The first thing is to make sure you don’t have any in the house or you’ll pop and eat it. Then look for alternatives that could, at least partially, satisfy your desires. I found that switching from milk chocolate to dark chocolate helps a bit because I still get the chocolate hit, but less sugar and it makes it less delicious. I also find that eating an apple or pear can sometimes satisfy that sweet craving. Another trick I use is to “surf the urge”, which helps the craving pass. Surfing the urge means that instead of trying to fight it, I try to chase it away by drinking a large glass of water, practicing deep breathing, and trying to focus on other things. It usually takes about 30 minutes to get back to control. Look for support from family and friends. I’m lucky that my wife, Claire, doesn’t have a sweet tooth, so if we’re given a box of chocolates as a gift, she either gives it away or takes out the chocolates in measly quantities. Finally, when I’m sleep deprived I crave sugary carbs, a lot. In one study, published earlier this year in the journal Sleep, nearly 100 teenagers were asked to reduce their sleep to 6.5 hours a night for one week. During this week they ate far more sugary, high-carbohydrate foods than normal, perhaps because they were unconsciously looking for a quick jolt of energy to keep them going. So, once again, the message is to make sure you get enough sleep. ARE YOU ADDICTED TO CERTAIN FOODS? Answer the following questions. More than three “yes” answers and you might be in trouble.

  1. When I start eating this food, I can’t stop and end up eating way more than I intended.
  2. I keep eating this food even when I’m not hungry anymore.
  3. I find myself craving this food when I’m stressed.
  4. If it is not at home, I will go to the nearest store that sells it.
  5. I hide this food so that even people close to me don’t know how much of it I eat.
  6. Eating it causes anxiety and feelings of self-loathing and guilt.
  7. Although I no longer get much pleasure from eating it, I still do.
  8. I tried to give up this food but failed.

Listening to bird sounds can lift your spirits

As it gets colder, wetter and darker, I make a special effort to go for a walk in the morning. It helps that we have a dog, Tarry, who gets excited when I head for the front door. Going for walks, especially in green spaces, is very good for your mental and physical health. In Japan, where I recently filmed, they have a concept of ‘shinrin-yoku’, or forest bathing — spending time in forests and woodlands, taking in the sights, sounds and smells to reduce stress. Where I live, there are lots of lovely red kites (pictured) crossing the sky, with their characteristic meow You also have the benefit of breathing in herbicides, essential oils that the trees produce, which boost our immune system. Another benefit is seeing and hearing birds. Where I live, there are many lovely red kites soaring through the sky, with their characteristic meow. Seeing them makes my heart soar and it seems I’m not alone. More than 1,200 people participated in a recent study on the effect of birds on mental health. Using an app designed by researchers at King’s College London, volunteers reported whether they could see or hear birds and answered questions about their mental well-being. The study showed that bird life can affect how we feel, especially in people with depression. Another good reason to pull on your wellies and explore the great outdoors.

Bed bugs are an age-old problem

Our children have grown up and left home and I miss having them around. What I don’t miss are the little friends they brought from elementary school. I’m talking about lice. I was reminded of this by a recent study by archaeologists in Israel, who revealed that written on an ivory comb more than 3,000 years ago were these immortal lines: “May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and beard.” . The oldest known sentence, written in the world’s first alphabet, turns out to be a guide to how to get rid of lice. The oldest known sentence, written in the world’s first alphabet, turns out to be a guide to how to get rid of lice (file photo) Archaeologists know that the comb was actually used for this purpose as there were nits between its teeth. There are many special filters to get rid of head lice, but a study by researchers at the University Hospital of Ghent in Belgium showed that the usual conditioner, a comb and patience are your best weapons. If you’re worried that robots will one day take over the world, you may be reassured that even the most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems need a nap sometimes. We humans need sleep to consolidate our memories – but it turns out that a new type of artificial intelligence, called spiking neural networks, which closely mimic the way the human brain works, also need downtime to learn and remember what they have learn. Image: A Walker robot from UBTech Robotics Inc. plays Chinese chess during the AI ​​World Congress 2021 in Shanghai Researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the US have shown that if they don’t have the equivalent of a good night’s sleep, they tend to become restless. Researchers suspect the same will be true of androids and other artificial intelligence machines created in the future.