We All Scream for Ice Cream, But Can We Become Addicted?

Time to make ice cream a controlled substance.

There are people who say that for them, food is like a drug, and a new study suggests that high-calorie foods like ice cream can affect the brain in some of the ways drugs do.

Researchers Kyle Burger and Eric Stice of the Oregon Research Institute in Eugene tested whether eating ice cream very often would lead the brain to require more and more of it before sending signals that it's an enjoyable treat.

They surveyed 151 adolescents about their food cravings, and then scanned their brains while showing them images of a chocolate milkshake to determine how strong their cravings were. The researchers also measured brain activity when the subjects drank a tasteless liquid as a comparison. The teenagers were then fed actual milkshakes.

The participants who reported eating more ice cream over the previous two weeks enjoyed the shakes less -- at least according to the brain scans. The scans showed less activity in the area of the brain associated with reward.

"We believe that means the more an individual is consuming a high-fat, high-sugar and high-energy food, they develop a tolerance of it in a similar fashion that you see happening with drug addiction or alcohol addition," said Burger.

All the teens in the study were a healthy weight, and Burger said that suggests the changes in the brain are happening well before obesity sets in.

Time to put Ben and Jerry in the hoosegow.

Jailhouse Rocky Road, anyone?