Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain, which amongst other things is associated with pleasure and reward. It can be stimulated by exercise, diet and currently by the recent nude photos of Kim Kardashian (KK) photos going viral on social media.

Another KK equivalent, slightly less alarming though, which seems to have made convenient inroads in our deep freezers are fatal quantities of frozen processed food. Now, most food that we eat is processed to a certain degree. Citrus is picked from trees, butter is churned from cream and milk is pasteurized for safety purposes. This is natural, yet chemical processing is where the burn actually comes from.

As the food giants invest massive resources to outwit competition, they want to make food as desirable as possible. This particular ‘desirable’ food is chemically processed to enhance flavour and texture and primarily to reduce cost. In addition to the ailments that such food generates, it also falsely stimulates dopamine, giving the consumer a sense of ‘feel good’ signals. All those products that have added sugar or sugar substitutes, trans fats, additive, colourants and artificial chemicals are processed foods that initiate a sense of comfort and pleasure in our systems, essentially causing us to overeat and get addicted to ‘pleasure giving nuggets’ (pun intended).

These incredibly ‘rewarding’ foods have a serious uptake on the system, inhibiting all senses except for taste. And as humans it is only but natural to gravitate towards sweet, salty, fatty food that gives us energy and high levels of dopamine. Food addiction is a concept that might seem alien to you; however, it is extremely relevant and momentous in this context, simply because we tend to over-consume such foods and possibly enter into food comatose. Food addiction is often wrongly associated with lack of will power; it is essentially intense dopamine playing havoc with the biochemistry of the brain.

These compromised ‘junk’ foods are essentially made to lengthen the shelf life of foods so that there is less wastage and larger amounts can be sold over time. Food is stripped of its natural nutrients and instead beefed up with dopamine engaging chemicals and additives. These give the consumer a false sense of fulfillment and the producers a real sense of fulfillment.

As mentioned previously, all foods are processed to a certain degree; however, the most heavily processed foods are frozen pizzas, sausages, chicken nuggets, canned soups, processed cheese slices and microwavable dinners.  Eating clean might seem like an insurmountable task, but the closer you get to nature the better it would be for you and your family.

Finding healthy clean substitutes for the ‘stripped’ food in question is often a difficult task, however, not impossible. Listed on the left are certain food substitutes that might help you make better decisions in the future.

It is important to note that scarfing out processed foods from our diet is a journey and not an overnight switch. The journey only becomes easier if the entire household is on the same regime, where the switch to cleaner food seems like a norm rather than a liability.

Trailing off from here…only to catch you in a fortnight, where I will be talking about PH balancing foods!

Saadia Tariq is an avid foodie, blogs at capturebyst.com and can be followed on Twitter @capturebyst

Stripped Food                       Cleaner Option

Tomato sauce                            Diced tomatoes

Frozen potato fries                  Baked sweet potato fries

Commercial mayonnaise      Guacamole made from freshavocados

Frozen nuggets                         Homemade chicken strips (Baked or pan fried)

Boxed fruit juice                      Fruit water (Cut up fruit in water)

Canned soups                           Homemade broths

Cereals from boxes               Homemade granola

Packet of crisps                      Fresh cut up vegetables