While you might not think that cheesecake, ice cream, or candy bars can be lethal, the cumulative effect of a regular diet of junk food can cause chronic health problems that contribute to death, particularly those high in fat and calories.

High-fat, high-calorie junk foods—those notorious non-nutritive noshes—can be addictive, and the regular consumption of said unhealthy items is a contributing factor in the rise in obesity in America, which is also seeing alarming rates of diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

What is most surprising out of a new study published in the March 28 issue of Nature Neuroscience is the posit that eating junk food can be addictive, just like drugs, smoking, and alcohol.

The study, conducted on rats, suggested that those high-fat, high-calorie food items can affect your brain in the same way that drugs like heroin do.

These types of food satisfy the pleasure center of the brain, but will require more and more to retain that pleasurable feeling.

The 40-day Scripps Research Institute study focused on three groups of rats; one fed regular rat food, a second fed regular food and junk food for one hour per day, and a third group that was allowed unlimited junk food for 23 hours every day.

That third group became so addicted to the junk food that they couldn’t get enough, consuming more each day and becoming obese.

The eating became compulsive even though an electric shock was administered every time they did so. The pleasure obviously outweighed the pain.

While the study was done with extremes, utilizing bacon, sausage, cheesecake, cake frosting and other unhealthy foods available on a continuing basis 23 hours a day, it did show that there was a change in the dopamine D2 receptor in the brain.

This receptor, when suppressed, leads to addictive behavior. The researchers were even able to artificially suppress the dopamine receptor in rats and came up with the same results…compulsive overeating.

While the majority of the population is not going sit around and eat bacon and sausage all day long, it is a reminder that everything should be done in moderation, and that even food can change the way your brain processes work.