“I would literally just eat a block of cheese with my hands,” she told the tabloid, adding that she fed her habit, in true addict style, sitting on her apartment floor alone in the dark. “It was the only thing that would make me feel somewhat whole.”
Cheese contains a protein called casein that is known to have opiate properties. Photo: Getty Images
Apparently, she was doing up to 5.5 blocks of cheese per week, and blamed her addiction on stress. Her health was ruined as her weight ballooned to 78.5kg (173 pounds) and her menstruation stopped. Finally, she was able to beat her daily dairy habit after enrolling in a nearly US$6,000 two-week health and wellness retreat.
Only in America.
The student was doing up to 5.5 blocks of cheese per week, and blamed her addiction on stress. Photo: Getty Images
Now, the recovering student says, she is able to enjoy samples in supermarkets without the need to chase a whole wheel of Provolone. “I dabble, but not in the way that I used to before.”
It is easy to make fun of her cheesy substance abuse. The headline for this story was: “The Gouda, bad and ugly.” I am just as guilty with my puns. However, food addictions are real and probably happen more often that we think.
Chocolate, pizza, potato chips, ice cream and French fries are all compulsive foods people crave without control. They are high in fat, sugar or salt – all ingredients we are hard-wired to want since the time of cavemen when storing reserves for another day was important.
Cheese also contains a protein called casein that is known to have opiate properties, affecting the brain the same way fentanyl and other narcotics do. So yes, cheese is not unlike crack.
Too many students are substance dependent on their hit of Nissin ramen for us to ignore. Photo: Shutterstock
We have not even brought up the stimulant effects of umami (the “fifth taste” that can be evoked with MSG or monosodium glutamate), the basis of many Asian dishes – as well as of cheese.
At the supermarket, some people buy so much of them, I wonder if they are addicts or dealers. And we all know that what is inside those little flavour packets is surely as addictive as narcotics. Too many students are substance dependent on their hit of Nissin ramen for us to ignore.
There are other Asian foods with intoxicating properties. Koreans say they cannot go a day without kimchi. Given how loud, aggressive and intense some of them are, I wonder if the salty, sour and spicy profile of fermented chilli cabbage has the same effect as cocaine? Maybe it is time to set up Kimchi Anonymous?
Who needs CBD when you can get a euphoric high from the mala peppers and spices in Sichuan hotpot? Photo: Shutterstock
In China, who needs CBD (cannabidiol), which is derived from cannabis, when you can get a euphoric high from the mala peppers and spices in Sichuan hotpot?
Meanwhile, across Southeast Asia, sambal is added to practically every meal. The capsaicin oil in its chilli peppers is known to encourage the release of endorphins and dopamine for a neuro-pleasurable sensation. Just imagine if they had had nasi lemak at the Woodstock music festival in 1969?
In recent years, masses of Hongkongers fell under the spell of Singaporean snack companies as they peddled their fried salted egg fish skin. Compared to regular potato chips, the packages they pushed were certainly not cheap, so feeding this habit got pricey.
On the other hand, at least it is not US$6,000 per month expensive.
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