The Willpower Myth
- Jeffry Miller
- Nov 21
- 6 min read
How Ultra-Processed Foods Make You Overeat, and Why It’s Not Your Fault!
How Food Engineers “Hook” Your Brain on Fat, Sugar, and Salt
If you’ve ever opened a bag of chips with the intention of having just a handful—and suddenly you’re staring at the bottom of the bag—welcome to the club. It’s one of the most universal human experiences.
But here’s the important part: It’s not because you “lack willpower.” It’s because the food was engineered to work against your willpower.
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) don’t happen by accident. They’re built through careful formulas designed to bypass your brain’s natural “stop eating” signals. Food scientists use precise ratios of fat, sugar, and salt to create something called hyper-palatability—basically, food that tastes so good your brain won’t let you stop.
And the research is now crystal clear: The way UPFs interact with your brain’s reward system looks a lot like what happens with addictive substances. Understanding this is a huge step toward taking back control of your eating habits.
The Triple Threat — Fat, Sugar, and Salt
Food engineers operate with a concept called the “bliss point.” It’s the perfect combination of sugar, fat, or salt that makes food delicious without tasting too overpowering. And it’s this precise balance that keeps you coming back for more.
Let’s break down the three leading players:
1. Sugar: The Dopamine Flash
Sugar causes your brain to release a surge of dopamine—the key chemical involved in pleasure and reward. In whole foods, this dopamine release happens slowly thanks to fiber and natural structure. But in UPFs? It’s immediate. And it’s huge.
The science behind it: This rapid dopamine spike overloads the brain’s reward pathway. Over time, your brain adapts, demanding more stimulation to get the same reward. This is precisely how addictive cycles form. Brain imaging even shows that the neural activation seen after consuming highly palatable UPFs mirrors the patterns seen with drug exposure. (Reference: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition)
2. Salt and Fat: Flavor Extenders That Keep You Eating
Salt does more than taste good—it enhances all the other flavors around it. Fat adds richness, creaminess, and energy density. Taken separately, they’re normal parts of food. But engineered together in unnaturally precise ratios? They create a flavor and texture experience your brain wasn’t built to resist.
Why it’s a problem: Scientists call these foods “disproportionately rewarding.” They deliver enormous pleasure—both in taste and texture—while offering very little nutritional benefit. Your body interprets this as a massive, rare energy windfall and urges you to eat as much as possible, no matter how full you actually are.
“It’s not because you “lack willpower.” It’s because the food was engineered to work against your willpower.”
The Two Ways UPFs Silence Your “Stop” Button
UPFs don’t just hit your reward system. They also shut down the biological signals meant to tell you you’ve had enough.
They do this in two significant ways:
1: Calorie Density vs. Volume
UPFs are engineered to be high in calories but low in physical volume. This means your stomach doesn’t stretch enough to send the “I’m full” message to your brain.
The study that proved it: In 2019, the NIH ran a landmark inpatient study (published in Cell Metabolism). Participants were given either minimally processed foods or ultra-processed foods for two weeks. Both diets had the same calories, sugar, fat, and sodium.
Yet the group eating UPFs:
Ate about 500 extra calories per day, automatically
Gained weight
Reported stronger appetite signals
Simply because UPFs didn’t trigger fullness.
2: Disrupted Hormone Messaging
Whole foods trigger hormones that help regulate appetite:
Leptin: tells your brain, “We’re full. You can stop now.”
Ghrelin: tells your brain, “Hey, we’re hungry.”
UPFs interrupt this conversation.
Because they lack fiber and are eaten quickly (since they require almost no chewing), the hormonal signals take longer to activate. The leptin message gets delayed, and by the time it arrives, you’ve already overeaten. This is why UPFs make you feel like your hunger cues are broken—they actually are in that moment.
Is This Real Addiction? What the Experts Say
“Food addiction” is a controversial term, but when you look specifically at ultra-processed foods, the evidence is far more convincing.
Dr. Ashley Gearhardt, from the University of Michigan and creator of the Yale Food Addiction Scale, studies this extensively. When people apply the scale to UPFs, the patterns mirror classic addiction behaviors:
Loss of control, even with good intentions
Intense cravings
Withdrawal-like irritability when trying to cut back
Dr. Gearhardt explains:
“The highly rewarding nature of ultra-processed foods—specifically their rapid delivery of refined carbohydrates and fats—is a critical factor in driving compulsive overeating behavior, akin to addictive cycles.” The struggle is not personal failure. It’s a biological response to a product designed for overconsumption.
Reclaiming Your Control
The best part? Your brain can recover. Your taste buds can reset. And you can absolutely retrain your reward system.
Here are some practical, realistic steps:
1. Embrace the “Bland Point”
Cut back on added sugar and salt in your home cooking for two weeks. Your palate adjusts surprisingly fast. Suddenly, UPFs will taste overwhelming rather than irresistible.
2. Focus on Chewy, High-Texture Foods
Nuts, seeds, whole fruits, raw veggies—anything that takes time to chew. Chewing slows down your eating, giving your gut time to release fullness hormones and register satiety.
3. Use the 5-Ingredient Rule
If a food has more than five ingredients—or includes words like “dextrose,” “isolate,” or “hydrogenated”—that’s a sign it’s highly engineered. This simple rule can eliminate the majority of hyper-palatable foods with zero calorie counting.
4. The 20-Minute Delay
Cravings feel urgent, but they’re incredibly short-lived. Try drinking a full glass of water and waiting 20 minutes. Most cravings fade once your hormones catch up.
Conclusion: It’s Not About Willpower—It’s About Design
Ultra-Processed Foods aren’t created to nourish you. They’re designed to be irresistible. The intense blend of fat, sugar, and salt overrides your body’s signals and hijacks your brain’s reward system. Once you understand this, you can stop blaming yourself and start making choices based on how your biology actually works.
The best part? Your brain is adaptable. Your taste buds can change. You can rebuild your hunger cues and create a healthier relationship with food—without feeling deprived. Stepping back from UPFs isn’t about punishment. It’s about reclaiming energy, clarity, and control over your own body.
Sources
Hall K.D., Ayuketah A., Brychta R., et al. “Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake.” Cell Metabolism. 2020 Oct 6;32(4):690. DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2020.08.014. PubMed entry
→ This tightly-controlled NIH study found participants consumed ~500 extra calories/day on an ultra-processed diet despite matched nutrients and gained weight on it. PubMed+1
National Institutes of Health. “Eating Highly Processed Foods Linked to Weight Gain.” NIH News Release, May 16, 2019. NIH News in Health article
→ A readable summary of the Hall et al. study: ultra-processed foods = more calorie intake, faster eating, weight gain. NIH News in Health+1
Gearhardt A.N., Corbin W.R., Brownell K.D. “The Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS): Development and Validation.” Appetite. 2009;52(2):430-436. YFAS information page
→ Original tool developed to assess addictive-like eating behaviours, especially in relation to ultra-processed or hyper-palatable foods. LSA Technology Services+1
Penzenstadler L., et al. “Systematic Review of Food Addiction as Measured with the Yale Food Addiction Scale.” Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2019;10: ? (PMC 6712300)
→ A review summarising evidence for “food addiction” and usage of YFAS in multiple populations. PMC
Schiestl E.T., & Gearhardt A.N. “The Qualitative Evaluation of the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0.” European Eating Disorders Review. 2022. Abstract
→ Examines the updated YFAS 2.0 version and how it operationalizes the concept of food addiction. ScienceDirect
Gearhardt, A.N. “Processed Food Addiction.” BMJ. 2023;383:bmj-2023-075354. DOI: 10.1136/bmj-2023-075354.
→ Recent article discussing ultra-processed foods and addictive patterns in consumption. BMJ
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