Why is McDonald’s So Addictive? (And How Do You QUIT?)
As you know, humans have a natural craving for salt and sugar…But the fast food industry purposely makes their food even more horribly IRRESISTIBLE! So why is McDonald’s so addictive, exactly?
Well, you probably saw the article I wrote on carbs (I know I have a few of them!) about how they spike your blood sugar, giving you a quick energy rush that is just as quickly depleted:
And then you’re hungry and craving again! So why is McDonald’s so addictive? Carbs and sugar!
Since most of us are used to running on carbs (and possibly on sugary foods), our body quickly uses the energy, and has come to expect an immediate REFILL!!
When we’re right in the middle of those hunger cravings and have a seemingly endless appetite, that’s not when we’re making the best decisions!!
I try to restrict my carbs and increase my intake of healthy fats instead!
But I also have to say that how fatty McDonald’s is = part of the answer to the question, “Why is McDonald’s so addictive?”
This is because, when we were all cavepeople out hunting thousands and thousands of years ago, it was very difficult to obtain the fat we NEED TO SURVIVE.
So that means, from an evolutionary standpoint, the cavepeople who craved fat were more likely to survive than the ones who didn’t, since they were driven to get enough healthy fat.
I think of it like, they got super “hangry” in order to work up the energy to go kill a mammoth!
But these days, our “hanger” doesn’t drive us toward anything good, instead it just drives us toward, well, the drive-thru.
Of course, I wouldn’t be very helpful here if I didn’t provide you with my guide to HEALTHY fats:
Providing slow-burning fuel and tons of nutrients…instead of the quick-fuel, nutrient-deficient “food” from McDonalds!!
In fact, did you know that fast food places use a food processing technique called refining?
Basically, refining a food is reducing it to its simplest components and removing nutrients in the process.
Like, I’m not a big bread eater, but white bread is worst of all, because it’s just the version of whole-grain bread that has additives and processed flour. So it doesn’t even have the fiber content!
High fructose corn syrup is another example of a refined food:
A cup of regular corn has vitamins A, C, E, and K. It even has calcium and iron! High fructose corn syrup, however, has had all of these nutrients stripped away in the refining process! Isn’t that just crazy??
So because of how artificial and processed fast food is, it often means that’s there is no nutrition in it at all, in order to make it taste better, or make it last longer with preservatives.
“Duh, Melissa,” you say. “I knew McDonald’s has a bunch of fake ingredients like MSG and all that.” But you’d probably be surprised to know that their fries contain “natural beef flavor,” which comes from wheat and milk!!
And the fryer oil contains dimethylpolysiloxane, which is anti-foaming — that’s to prevent the oil from splashing on the employees. It’s a nice idea and all, but definitely not for the person EATING the food!
It’s an ingredient used in silly putty, and it can break down into formaldehyde, which causes cancer!
There are so many ways that a greedy corporation will cut corners with no regard for your health.
So to recap, why is McDonald’s so addictive?
They keep you coming back with quick-acting energy that will never fill you up, and even though the food is calorie-dense, it won’t fill you up, because it doesn’t have nutrients!
That, combined with aggressive advertising, can worsen those cravings even more. And that’s exactly what those corporate bigwigs are hoping for!!