From the article:
So, dopamine makes sex and food equally pleasurable. But what if you’re single? Without sex, some people turn increasingly to food to make them feel good. Part of the problem is genetic. According to this study, people who naturally produce lower levels of dopamine often overeat because they need to eat more food to trigger the same level of pleasure as people who produce normal levels.
Because food and sex both release dopamine into the brain, it’s easy for our brains to sublimate our sexual appetites into our food cravings. And while deriving pleasure from food is totally normal, taking it to excess can have tragic consequences.
Me, me, me. Did I mention this was me? My celibate marriage had me at my heaviest and investing more energy into cooking/eating than anything else in my life (because there was nothing else to do). I've always naturally produced low dopamine levels (coupled with dysthymiac depression - and there's likely a connection), so food and sex were always 'over done'. Food was easier to get ahold of. Sex ... well, my ex-lover ended up more exhausted with me than with anyone else he had been with.
I'd rather have sex three times a day. This eating thing isn't filling up the emptiness.
