Is food addiction a thing?

chunkydunk714

My belief leans more toward a lack of willpower or a mentality of "I'm addicted, so I can't change", rather than some true addiction. So many people like to blame their own inability to say no, whether to themselves or others, on a process they believe is out of their control.

Yea...I dont think so. People are truly addicted to food. And no, its not using lack of willpower as an excuse. You can want weight loss real bad just like a crack addict who wants to quit smokin crack...but the addiction is what sets us back.

sarajcurrie

With all the chemicals that are added to foods these days, I am really not that surprised that people become addicted to eating. The additives make you want to eat more even when you're not hungry - they are calorie dense, and nutrient deficient. And because your body isn't getting the nutrients it needs when you're eating crap food, it makes you want to eat more.


This!

redheaddee

The DSM definition of addiction includes tolerance, withdrawl, and negative impact on social/occupational/family. If food causes these things in a persons life, then yes.

julialdr

There are actually studies done on this that show junk food can be more addictive than heroin and cocaine... excerpt below.

"The most recent study to examine the addictive quality of fattening foods was published online March 28 by the journal Nature Neuroscience. For the paper, researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Fla., examined three groups of lab rats that were fed various diets for 40 days. One group was given typical rat chow only; a second group was offered rat chow, plus a buffet of bacon, sausage, cheesecake, chocolate frosting and other delectable goodies for one hour a day; and a third group was allowed extended access to the fatty buffet for up to 23 hours a day.

The extended-access group began consuming twice as many calories as the other rats, and, not surprisingly, became obese. The limited-access rats, meanwhile, developed a binge pattern of eating, consuming most of their daily calories during the single hour they were allowed in the junk food "cafeteria."

But what shocked the researchers was that extended-access rats also showed deficits in their "reward threshold." That is, unrestricted exposure to large quantities of high-sugar, high-fat foods changed the functioning of the rats' brain circuitry, making it harder and harder for them to register pleasure — in other words, they developed a type of tolerance often seen in addiction — an effect that got progressively worse as the rats gained more weight. "It was quite profound," says study author Paul Kenny, an associate professor of neuroscience at the Scripps Research Institute. The reward-response effects seen in the fatty-food-eating mice were "very similar to what we see with animals that use cocaine and heroin," he says."...

...""Human cocaine addicts, people who are obese, alcoholics and heroin addicts also show a down-regulation of this dopamine D2 receptor," says David Shertleff, director of the division of basic neuroscience and behavioral research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse. "This system is geared toward motivating behavior normally, but what's happening here is, with chronic exposure to highly fatty and sweet manufactured food, you're actually getting to a pathological state."

That is, the down-regulation of D2 receptors seems to turn normal desire into compulsion. In Kenny's study, the rats that had been given extended access to junk food for 40 days were later willing to continue seeking fatty foods at the risk of getting a painful electric shock to the feet. Limited-access and chow-only rats, however, were significantly put off by the threat of shock, and stayed away from the junk-food buffet."

robdel302

There are actually studies done on this that show junk food can be more addictive than heroin and cocaine... excerpt below.

"The most recent study to examine the addictive quality of fattening foods was published online March 28 by the journal Nature Neuroscience. For the paper, researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Fla., examined three groups of lab rats that were fed various diets for 40 days. One group was given typical rat chow only; a second group was offered rat chow, plus a buffet of bacon, sausage, cheesecake, chocolate frosting and other delectable goodies for one hour a day; and a third group was allowed extended access to the fatty buffet for up to 23 hours a day.

The extended-access group began consuming twice as many calories as the other rats, and, not surprisingly, became obese. The limited-access rats, meanwhile, developed a binge pattern of eating, consuming most of their daily calories during the single hour they were allowed in the junk food "cafeteria."

But what shocked the researchers was that extended-access rats also showed deficits in their "reward threshold." That is, unrestricted exposure to large quantities of high-sugar, high-fat foods changed the functioning of the rats' brain circuitry, making it harder and harder for them to register pleasure — in other words, they developed a type of tolerance often seen in addiction — an effect that got progressively worse as the rats gained more weight. "It was quite profound," says study author Paul Kenny, an associate professor of neuroscience at the Scripps Research Institute. The reward-response effects seen in the fatty-food-eating mice were "very similar to what we see with animals that use cocaine and heroin," he says."...

...""Human cocaine addicts, people who are obese, alcoholics and heroin addicts also show a down-regulation of this dopamine D2 receptor," says David Shertleff, director of the division of basic neuroscience and behavioral research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse. "This system is geared toward motivating behavior normally, but what's happening here is, with chronic exposure to highly fatty and sweet manufactured food, you're actually getting to a pathological state."

That is, the down-regulation of D2 receptors seems to turn normal desire into compulsion. In Kenny's study, the rats that had been given extended access to junk food for 40 days were later willing to continue seeking fatty foods at the risk of getting a painful electric shock to the feet. Limited-access and chow-only rats, however, were significantly put off by the threat of shock, and stayed away from the junk-food buffet."

This is likely the reason why a lot of people eat when they are bored or in a low mood state. In simple terms, those of us that suffer from a dopamine irregularity often have bad eating habits to go with it. I have a dopamine irregularity which is what causes my ADHD and I've always been a big eater. Fortunately the main thing I became addicted to was exercise which naturally releases dopamine. However this did not alleviate my desire for rich and fatty foods at times. I now take welbutrin for my ADHD and subsequently it curbs my desire to eat when I'm bored.

Bobbie8786

I am a massive sugar LOVER so when I went on the Atkins diet a few years ago there were withdrawal symptoms, which included intense migraine headaches for days on end. So a seemingly uncontrollable urge to consume something and then having physical withdrawal symptoms when cutting it out = addiction to me.

The worst part of it is that with any other addiction you can just stop using the substance you are addicted to --- food, not so much.

shannashannabobana

I'm not sure that I believe in the idea of "real" chemical dependency on food

Certainly types of foods affect brain chemistry. I see no reason why you could not get addicted to them.

That's aside from any mental type of addiction which would be different.

AnnR999

Well according to my shrink yes, food addiction is real and is just as addicting as other things that people have already mentioned. Add to it the facets of endorphines when we eat something we like, emotional eating and/or actual physical illnesses or diseases and it becomes a big old complicated mess. The trick seems to be to harness those feelings of pleasure that food gives us and refocus that to positive things such as exercise or social interactions, in the case of emotional eating, to get our brain used to assimilating those feelings with things other than food.

I am just starting on this journey and realized that no amount of dieting or exercise was going to change me unless I also worked on fixing my head too. It is very difficult to turn the microscope on myself and really take a look at the how's and why's of ending up in the body I occupy today. Luckily, I found a great doctor who gets it, and more importantly, gets me.

kazsjourney

Definitely think there is such a thing as food addiciton and believe i was/am a "food addict" and is something I will always battle no matter how much weight i lose.

Jetta1492

Yep, Just read an article on this today, about how food cravings are engineered by the Big Food companies. A lot of research goes into finding ways to make us addicted to junk food!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2013/03/05/f-vp-crowe-food-addiction.html

annettem24

When we talk about addiction we usually mean a chemical dependency. With food I believe there is some of that, particularly with processed foods because of the additives they lace the food with - yes they want you to eat more than you should or want to. They want you to go out of your way to get THEIR FOOD. and yes they want you to feel compelled to eat more.

That being said there is also the HABIT of eating certain types of foods, eating at certain times or because of certain activities. Along with habit is ASSOCIATIONS like popcorn at the movies, pizza when the kids come over, mexican food for birthday party, whatever it is for you.

The key then is to break free or more specifically DECLARE YOUR FREEDOM from the habits of old. This is NOT easy to do - Sunday morning are waffles, with bacon and all the trimmings. So - plan a special meal to replace that waffle habit. Or take on a new activity that makes leisurely waffle breakfast on Sunday morning not so workable.

I have successfully broken the waffle habit by attending a groups activity - Toastmasters - that meets every Sunday morning - it is so much fun that I don't want to miss it and the waffles are now a thing of the past.

Mexican food out for birthdays is much harder but this last round of birthdays - I made mexican food at home where I could more carefully control what was in the food we ate and splurge on the goodies and cut out the bad stuff. It worked well the last two birthdays and I'm sure it saved me 5 - 10 lbs.

kellywitcher13

is it an addiction if all i think about is food? I plan my food what im going to eat outloud like on here or something or writing it down. I will hide what i eat after that. I have been going to the grocery store or gas station and getting whatever i can with the the cash i have to eat and eat eat eat eat and eat. I feel like i have to control. I have eat and i am not full until i feel so full that it hurts to move and i get nausea. I have it in my mind if i dont eeat every two hours i will get sick and i do so im eating constantly. i cant stop. i crave it...its always on my mind...

PlayerHatinDogooder

Addiction......
The brain cannot tell the difference between food, narcotics, sex etc. If it feels good, the brain will respond accordingly and can lead to addiction.

My brain knows the difference between food and sex.

You're either having really awful sex or really good food.

SteelySunshine

Of course. People can get addicted to anything. I was watching a show and they had a guy on that was addicted to counting. Now, you have something that you need like food and add a bunch of things to it that stimulate your pleasure center then I think you hit the recipe quite literally to get people addicted and eating more than they would have if you didn't spend all that time and money finding the bliss point.

Ashleyxjamie

Addiction......
The brain cannot tell the difference between food, narcotics, sex etc. If it feels good, the brain will respond accordingly and can lead to addiction.

My brain knows the difference between food and sex.

You're either having really awful sex or really good food.

:laugh:

nomeejerome

Addiction......
The brain cannot tell the difference between food, narcotics, sex etc. If it feels good, the brain will respond accordingly and can lead to addiction.

My brain knows the difference between food and sex.

You're either having really awful sex or really good food.

:laugh: good one :laugh: special snowflake :flowerforyou:

VpinkLotus

Yes I believe it is. I'm a total food junkie from way back.

Myxalplyx

Yes, I believe you can become addicted to anything if you use or do it too much, whereas it causes an adverse condition on your well-being.

RoadsterGirlie

I don't believe it's as much as an addiction as it is people eat the wrong things which cause them to be hungrier.

I also think it's a refusal to change, and/or general laziness.

AnnR999

is it an addiction if all i think about is food? I plan my food what im going to eat outloud like on here or something or writing it down. I will hide what i eat after that. I have been going to the grocery store or gas station and getting whatever i can with the the cash i have to eat and eat eat eat eat and eat. I feel like i have to control. I have eat and i am not full until i feel so full that it hurts to move and i get nausea. I have it in my mind if i dont eeat every two hours i will get sick and i do so im eating constantly. i cant stop. i crave it...its always on my mind...