I used to joke that I am a cheesoholic but I'm not laughing anymore.
Apparently, it's true.
According to Dr.
Neal Barnard, an associate professor of medicine at the George Washington School of Medicine and founder of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, sugar, chocolate and cheese all contain addictive opiates that get us hooked.
All three of my major food groups! Sugar and chocolate, I can understand, but how did my fondness for fondue become a full-blown addiction? Dr.
Barnard explains that in 1981 researchers at Wellcome Research Laboratories found traces of morphine in cow's milk.
Further research found that the cows were not shooting up but that they actually produce morphine, codeine and other opiates in their livers.
It turns out that milk contains a protein called casein that releases various opiates called casomorphins during digestion.
Before you get too excited, one type of those casomorphins has about one-tenth the pain-killing power of morphine.
In the production of cheese, the casein protein is concentrated, so it's much higher than in milk.
That's why Dr.
Barnard refers to cheese as "dairy crack.
" It gets worse.
Cheese also contains an amphetamine-like chemical called phenylethylamine also found in chocolate.
And it seems that cheese cravings, like opiate cravings, respond to the drug naloxone.
Not surprisingly, as with other drugs, there are vast organizations making a concerted effort to get us hooked and keep us hooked.
We call them the federal government and Big Cheese.
The USDA Report to Congress on the Dairy Promotion Programs for the year 2000 boasts that through government sponsored programs, the cheese industry has encouraged fast food restaurants to increase the amount of cheese in their offerings.
They have specifically targeted the poor cheese addicts, whom they call the "cravers," making it a goal of their advertising to "trigger the cheese craving.
" As part of the program, Domino's Pizza launched a line of 6 new pizzas using 40% more cheese.
Thanks in part to these government sponsored programs, average cheese consumption in the U.
S.
nearly tripled between 1975 and 2003 from 11 pounds per year to 31 pounds per year and that number is expected to rise to 37 pounds by 2017.
In the meantime, the average American has gained 13 pounds since 1990.
How does a cheese addict defend against the cravings and the pushers? No, you don't need to go through rehab or take naloxone.
You can try a three-week diet limited to whole grains, vegetables, legumes and fruit, together with vitamins B12 and D.
Although it may be a challenge, it's best to go cold turkey (hold the swiss) for just three weeks and you should find the cheese cravings will subside.
Let me know how you do.
Apparently, it's true.
According to Dr.
Neal Barnard, an associate professor of medicine at the George Washington School of Medicine and founder of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, sugar, chocolate and cheese all contain addictive opiates that get us hooked.
All three of my major food groups! Sugar and chocolate, I can understand, but how did my fondness for fondue become a full-blown addiction? Dr.
Barnard explains that in 1981 researchers at Wellcome Research Laboratories found traces of morphine in cow's milk.
Further research found that the cows were not shooting up but that they actually produce morphine, codeine and other opiates in their livers.
It turns out that milk contains a protein called casein that releases various opiates called casomorphins during digestion.
Before you get too excited, one type of those casomorphins has about one-tenth the pain-killing power of morphine.
In the production of cheese, the casein protein is concentrated, so it's much higher than in milk.
That's why Dr.
Barnard refers to cheese as "dairy crack.
" It gets worse.
Cheese also contains an amphetamine-like chemical called phenylethylamine also found in chocolate.
And it seems that cheese cravings, like opiate cravings, respond to the drug naloxone.
Not surprisingly, as with other drugs, there are vast organizations making a concerted effort to get us hooked and keep us hooked.
We call them the federal government and Big Cheese.
The USDA Report to Congress on the Dairy Promotion Programs for the year 2000 boasts that through government sponsored programs, the cheese industry has encouraged fast food restaurants to increase the amount of cheese in their offerings.
They have specifically targeted the poor cheese addicts, whom they call the "cravers," making it a goal of their advertising to "trigger the cheese craving.
" As part of the program, Domino's Pizza launched a line of 6 new pizzas using 40% more cheese.
Thanks in part to these government sponsored programs, average cheese consumption in the U.
S.
nearly tripled between 1975 and 2003 from 11 pounds per year to 31 pounds per year and that number is expected to rise to 37 pounds by 2017.
In the meantime, the average American has gained 13 pounds since 1990.
How does a cheese addict defend against the cravings and the pushers? No, you don't need to go through rehab or take naloxone.
You can try a three-week diet limited to whole grains, vegetables, legumes and fruit, together with vitamins B12 and D.
Although it may be a challenge, it's best to go cold turkey (hold the swiss) for just three weeks and you should find the cheese cravings will subside.
Let me know how you do.