The Most & Least Addictive Foods

This is no surprise to those cheese- and pepperoni-loving folks out there who crave a slice, regardless of style or locale of choice. Pizza is the ultimate comfort food--it's handheld, easy to eat, and transport.

You can eat it hot or cold. You can eat with your hands or with a knife and fork. You can put literally any ingredient on it and it works. 

I can equivocally state that I’ve never had a cucumber craving in my life. “I wish I had a cucumber to eat,” simply doesn’t exist in the human lexicon.

However, many will attest that they’ve craved pickles before. Ponder that — you don’t crave cucumbers but do pickles.  What a difference a little vinegar can make.

Ahhh, the sweet, semi-sweet, or bitter taste of life. Chocolate ranges from mild to harsh, from white to dark. Chocolate is the food that covers all others or is at the root of it.

This author confesses to being very addicted to chocolate, and why not? It's beloved the world over.

It's no surprise this vegetable made the least addictive list.  However, there will be people who tell you that carrots are sweet and they love them.

And if you cook them with a little brown sugar or serve them with a side of ranch, many folks will nosh on them. Maybe it’s the craving for the keto crowd--but then again, they don’t get to eat sugar at all. 

Did you know that the #1 snack on Super Bowl Sunday is the humble potato chip?  And whether you call them ‘crisps’ or ‘chips’, they’re the exact same thing.

 The varieties run deep and wide, from unflavored to extra hot, loaded, salted, fired, and barbequed. The chip scene is incredible, and the flavor combinations are endless.

I found this entry odd in the least addictive foods category, but I guess it makes sense. Beans are protein, and most people don’t crave simple proteins.

Also, beans have to be cooked the right way--you can’t eat them raw. The list was specific to beans without sauce--which leaves beans with sauce open to addiction? 

Cookie Monster knows that C is for Cookie--and that’s good enough for me. I’ve heard that there are people that hate cake but love cookies.

Cookies are fantastic--they’re portable and easily transformed with a few ingredients that enhance them like nuts, chocolate, fruit, or cool shapes. The cookie can be a cookie or a brownie, technically.

Brown rice being one of the least addictive foods around is no surprise. Brown rice is blah--it's so hard to cook properly, and even when you do, it’s still blah.

Is it better for you than white rice? Marginally. Is there a way to make it taste better? No.

We all scream for ice cream or frozen treats.  Face it--add a frozen component to anything sugar and dairy and you’ll find it tastes better.

You can eat cheap ice cream or really expensive ice cream and your craving is satiated no matter what because it hits your need for cold and creamy.

It's one of the most maligned fruits around, yet it's also one of the most consumed in the U.S. in various forms. Apples are a great addition when you’re craving something sweet while watching your health- especially when paired with peanut butter or caramel.

The apple taste depends largely on variety and ripeness, which is why it’s the least addictive.

It’s hard to say no to golden fries fresh out of the grease and sparkling with salt. They’re the perfect foil to your diet--they’re earthy, crunchy, and satisfying.  

Take into account your favorite way to consume them: waffle, shoestring, regular cut, or McDonalds (which is a real addictive thing) and you’ve got a winning snack.

Look, broccoli gets a bad rap because a lot of people don’t like the way it smells when it's cooking, and I get that. It's not as mouth-watering and fragrant like a French fry is.  

But if you’re making broccoli that is freshly steamed with a hint of seasoning without pounding it with salt, I think you’ll find it can become addictive.

The cheeseburger is deceptively simple (and deceptively addictive). It's portable, malleable, and entirely able to be personalized to your own taste.

The cheeseburger can be humble or sophisticated--and it will still provide the same feeling of warmth and comfort.

I think that while it’s the least addictive, it's certainly one of the best entries on the list for a heart-healthy diet that also can take on a multitude of flavors.

But still, no one says, “I’m craving salmon!” and that’s why you don’t see it on drive-thru menus or in the snack aisle at the store.

Golly, what a can of worms this one is. Just the word itself exudes such charm--cheese.

Do you want a slice, a cube, or some shredded? Do you want it hard, soft, with crackers or alone? Cheese has great variety as a standalone snack, and why not? It’s wholesome and lovely.

You’ll get no argument from me that plain ole corn is not addictive. I can’t think of anything I’d rather eat less than plain old cooked or raw corn.  

However, if you smash and bake it, you get chips. If you pop it then you get popcorn.  Altered plain corn is addictive.

There are legions of reports to back this claim up and entire companies based on these findings alone.  There's no getting around it--sometimes you just want a soda. 

You want the fizzle in your drink over ice with or without libations.

Water was listed as least addictive and that’s odd. Because all of us need water, whether we get it in our soda, our coffee, or our foods.

And if you’re a fan of water and drink a lot of it, it can become addictive--although no one will tell you that. Most people just think that's being healthy.

Give me a great slice of bacon any day and I’m happier than a pig in mud.  Add it to anything and food instantly tastes better.

The smokiness and salt complement everything from pizza to potatoes to macaroni and cheese to breakfast.

Unless you’re a Minion, you probably don’t walk around saying,  “Man, if I just had a banana”. Yet, it's one of the most portable and consumed foods in the world--which is incredible.

The lowly banana starts a lot of days in the U.S. whether you realize it or not, and you may be ‘addicted’ all the same.

It’s hard to deny the appeal of cake--especially since it’s a cornerstone of our celebrations. We use it for birthdays, retirements, weddings, and funerals.

We decorate it, customize it, and share it universally with our friends, families, and co-workers. Cake is a fundamental craving, and thank goodness the stores now realize that and you can just buy a slice.

In this instance, we mean the actual fruit and not the artificial flavor, which is abundantly used in all of the most addictive foods. Strawberries are hard to get in season, fresh, and with the right amount of sweetness.

They’re not easy to clean--you have to remove their little leafy hats and get out the core sometimes.

I confess that this is something that confounded me in college. I couldn’t wait to get home to just eat a piece of plain bread because it was always packaged with something--a sandwich usually.

Rolls are comforting--they’re portable and easy to eat. You can pull them apart or stuff the whole thing in your mouth and get your satisfaction.

I don’t know where to start with this because I believe that people want crackers as much as they want chips, but in this instance, we’re talking about plain old saltines.

But then again, it’s the food we crave when we’re sick- partially because of the blandness and ability to soak up all the bad in our tummies. I think you can contest crackers as being addictive.

This is pretty easy to see because there are so many varieties of fried chicken parts and restaurants. You can have it on a bun, or just the wing in sauce, or cut up and fried in little, tiny pieces.  

What makes the chicken addictive is not the chicken itself but the cooking method and the way its dressed.

As a whole protein, chicken breast is great because it takes on the flavor of whatever you’re making and adds depth and protein to it.

However, a plain, baked chicken breast is no feast at all. It tastes, well, like plain old chicken. And it's not surprising that it's not addictive unless you fry it.

The sheer variety will overwhelm you, and there are entire communities of thought on the proper way to consume it. You may be a plain Cheerios fan while your family loves Sugar Smacks.

You can eat it dry or with milk. You may want it crunchy or slightly soggy. At any rate, cereal is an any time of day craving.

In this instance, we’re talking about the wholesome kind and not the chocolate-covered, candy kind. Although they are next to the cereal and sugary treats in the convenience store aisles, you’ll notice a thin layer of dust on top.

That’s because the Snickers sitting adjacent just looked better. 

This entry surprised me but actually makes a lot of sense. There's a huge amount of the population in America invested in the beef industry and sometimes, a well-cooked steak just hits the spot.

And while we all may be disagree on our cuts of beef--tenderloin, short rib, porterhouse, T-bone, or strip--we just can't seem to get enough of that delicious beef. 

Nuts are the least expressive snack food in America.You can get them in different flavors, but they’re still so expensive and, well, basic.

There’s a reason they’re usually mixed up and served together--because that’s where the magic happens for nuts. But basically, all plain nuts taste like dirt--that’s why squirrels eat them.