The Science of Addiction in Food and Apps

things that were designed to be addictive on purpose. 1.

The Bliss Point in Your Food If you have ever felt like you physically

could not stop eating a bag of chips, it is not your fault.

In the 1970s,

a scientist named Howard Moskowitz discovered what is called the bliss point,

the exact combination of sugar,

salt and fat that gives your brain maximum pleasure.

Food companies now use lab testing to hit that precise point,

deliberately overriding the signal that tells your body you are full. 2.

The Food Made by Tobacco Scientists Here is the part most people do not know.

For years, one of the largest food manufacturers in North America was Philip Morris,

a tobacco company.

The same people who understood how to make cigarettes addictive,

turned their attention to snacks and processed food,

applying the science of addiction to the items sitting in your kitchen right now.

3. The Slot Machine in Your Pocket The apps on your phone use the exact same

trick as a casino slot machine. It is called a variable reward.

You never know when you will get a like, a message or something interesting,

so you keep pulling the lever by refreshing the screen.

That unpredictable reward floods your brain with dopamine and keeps you

hooked the same way a gambler cannot walk away. 4.

The Endless Scroll Have you ever wondered why social media feeds never end?

It is on purpose.

A normal page has a bottom,

a natural stopping point where you decide whether to continue.

The infinite scroll deliberately removes that moment of choice.

Without a stopping cue, your brain just keeps going,

and hours can vanish without you ever deciding to keep watching. 5.

The Casino with No Clocks

Step into a casino and you will never see a clock or a window. This is deliberate.

By removing every cue that time is passing,

the casino traps you in a bubble where hours feel like minutes.

Some casinos have even been accused of

using specific scents and lighting to keep gamblers awake,

alert and playing for longer. 6.

The Near Miss Slot machines are engineered to show you near misses,

where two jackpot symbols line up and the third just barely misses.

To your brain, a near miss feels almost like a win,

triggering the urge to try again. In reality, you lost.

But that engineered feeling of being so close is...

one of the most powerful tricks for keeping you playing. Number 7.

The Sweetness Added Everywhere Food companies did

not just engineer obvious treats like soda.

They marched through the grocery store adding sugar to

products that were never meant to be sweet, like bread,

yogurt, and pasta sauce.

Some pasta sauces contain the sugar equivalent of cookies.

This trains your taste buds to expect everything to be sweet,

making natural food taste bland by comparison.

Number 8. The Free Trial Trap.

That free trial you signed up for was designed around one thing.

The moment you forget to cancel.

Companies know that if they ask for your card up

front and make cancelling slightly annoying,

a huge number of people will simply forget and get charged.

The whole system profits from a moment of human forgetfulness.

The truth is, when you struggle to stop, it is often not weak willpower.

It is a billion dollar industry that has

engineered these products specifically to defeat your self control.