Here's why you're 'addicted' to cheese You've got a problem, and its name is brie. And manchego. And...

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Edit: the word "gram" has been changed to read "ounce." We regret the error.

It appears that cheese, the fatty ambrosial bonne bouche we literally can't get enough of, has a dangerous side.

Studies have been done and data has been analyzed, and now, what we had perhaps long-feared has been proven true: cheese is kind of addictive.

Researchers at the University of Michigan and Colorado State University concluded that much in a study published online earlier this year, writing that "highly processed foods, which may share characteristics with drugs of abuse (e.g. high dose, rapid rate of absorption) appear to be particularly associated with 'food addiction.'"

Basically, what they're saying is we're all in deep trouble.

In an interview with Dr. Neal Barnard, a scientist who calls cheese "dairy crack," we get the facts on why exactly our brains think cheese is so gouda. I mean good. Cheese is good.

A protein component of cheese called casein, Barnard explains, is to blame. Casein, structured as a beady string of amino acids, is concentrated in the cheesemaking process, and is too tough for the body to break down completely. That means that the short strings of these amino acids remain intact through digestion. They are then called "casomorphins," which — as you may sort of deduce — are "casein-derived morphine-like compounds."

And it's not just the chemical compound of the food that's got us all hooked. Cheese is also calorie-rich and fatty — a food quality that humans have evolved to crave since the days when "hunter-gatherer" was a career around 200,000 years ago.

But you're not doomed just yet. As with all vices, moderation is key. The National Institutes of Health advise people aged 19 to 50 eat only about one ounce daily, with older folks advised to eat a little more for the calcium content. Much more than that can lead to health issues later on in life.

Or, if sticking to the one gram limit is impossible, at least do a little exercise and eat more veggies. Just think: the cheese is worth it.