6. Processed meat is addictive.
It is a well-understood phenomenon about how often we crave those hot dogs and our beloved bacon. There’s a reason for it because they are supposed to leave you with craving. With certain additives and flavorings, processed meats stimulate the release of dopamine in brain, a feel-happy neuro-transmitter that activates your brain just like any recreational drug would do. Journalist Michael Moss told us more about this in his book Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us.
“Some of the largest companies are now using brain scans to study how we react neurologically to certain foods, especially to sugar. They’ve discovered that the brain lights up for sugar the same way it does for cocaine.”