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A first ever research was conducted by the researchers at the University of Michigan to determine if there is really such a thing as food addiction like one gets addicted to smoking, drugs and drinking. In this study, as reported by CNN, the researchers enrolled 120 undergraduates from the University of Michigan and another group that consisted of 400 adults and asked them about different foods, from pizza to broccoli. The participants were also asked if they would have a problem controlling how much they ate from the foods that were listed. 18 of the foods in the list were rich in fats and sugar. The results revealed that processed food such as pizza topped the list that was closely followed by chocolate, cookies, ice-cream, chips, cake, soda and French-fries. Cheese and bacon were at the second spot. Healthy food items such as broccoli, carrots and strawberries were at the bottom of the list.

The lead author of the study, Erica Schulte, graduate student of Psychology at the University of Michigan said, "In a similar manner that drugs are processed to increase their addictive potential, this study provides insight that highly processed foods may be intentionally manufactured to be particularly rewarding through the addition of fat and refined carbohydrates, like white flour and sugar", reports Food World News.

According to the research findings, the foods that spike the blood sugar levels tend to be more addictive as they have glycemic load similar to the highly concentrated drugs. As a result, they are quickly absorbed into the blood stream. They also pointed out that from the 400 adult participants, those who had high BMIs and those with risk of food addictions were the ones most likely to have a hard time controlling particular foods from the list, says Omnifeed.