No wonder I'm so hungry

"Because narcotics such as cocaine, heroin and amphetamines, and even tasty and highly-caloric foods also cause the release of dopamine and therefore make people feel rewarded, it's clear that dopamine has a role in addiction and the development of obesity."

All of it has to do with dopamine. It seems that people seek it out. Pigs do, too. Truffles release dopamine in pigs, which is why they hunt them down. At least, that's my theory. I know that pigs hunt them down. I'm sure some other animals look for mushrooms for the same reason.

Dopamine deals with the pleasure receptors in your brain. All the drugs and high calorie foods make you feel good, too, according to this and other studies.

Perhaps we're all dopamine deprived? Perhaps addicts and compulsive eaters lack certain dopamine producing elements in their brains? There's a new article in Time this week talking about what things effect kids in the womb. Perhaps there are things that mothers of addicts do differently that creates this dopamine lack. Or maybe our receptors are messed up, instead. That's what the drugs do, they produce more dopamine.

Or maybe it's all genes: "But researchers may finally be honing in on specific genes tied to all types of addictions - and finding that some of the same genes associated with alcohol dependence are also closely linked with addictions to nicotine, cocaine, opoids, heroin and other substances."