E18: Ashley Gearhardt on Food Addiction and You...Yes, You.

Can some foods have addictive properties? We all have cravings for some things--chocolate, let's say? But can food really hijack the brain much as happens with classic substances of abuse? And are foods engineered by the food industry in ways that trigger addictive like reactions in the brain? Such are the questions being asked by Dr. Ashley Gearhardt. She is an associate professor of psychology and the clinical science area at the University of Michigan and a leading researcher in the field of food and the brain, food, and addiction in particular.

Deborah Hill