Interesting new study on "food addiction"

GatorDeb1

And I still really really want to binge sometimes. So I guess other than whatever you want to call them what's more important is how you want to characterize them. Through experience with binge eating it is as "easy" as just stopping (same thing as losing weight is as easy and eating right and working out).

GatorDeb1

So explain going through a drive-through feeling like I wasn't in control of my action, 5000-7000 calorie binges, during an 18 year period, and one day just deciding to stop, and stopping. I can definitely you I felt more crappy than good during those 18 years and spent a lot of money trying to find a solution and at the end it was just a matter of stopping!

First, answer me this question - were you diagnosed by a health/mental health professional as suffering from binge eating episodes?

Are you trying to say unless it's written down somewhere 7000 calories in one sitting is "normal" and not considered a "binge" ??

Biggirllittledreams

So explain going through a drive-through feeling like I wasn't in control of my action, 5000-7000 calorie binges, during an 18 year period, and one day just deciding to stop, and stopping. I can definitely you I felt more crappy than good during those 18 years and spent a lot of money trying to find a solution and at the end it was just a matter of stopping!

First, answer me this question - were you diagnosed by a health/mental health professional as suffering from binge eating episodes?

Are you trying to say unless it's written down somewhere 7000 calories in one sitting is "normal" and not considered a "binge" ??

I think my question was pretty straight forward.

If you want to get technical (according to the DSM-IV-tr and DSM-5), no that is not a binge: that would be an episode of over-eating. Over-eating could be stopped by a matter of will power/self restraint/nutritional education.

Biggirllittledreams

So explain going through a drive-through feeling like I wasn't in control of my action, 5000-7000 calorie binges, during an 18 year period, and one day just deciding to stop, and stopping. I can definitely you I felt more crappy than good during those 18 years and spent a lot of money trying to find a solution and at the end it was just a matter of stopping!

Well, to be fair, my husband did the same with cigarettes. Just decided to stop one day and did. But that doesn't really mean they aren't addictive. He says he still has intense cravings for them years after having his last one.

Exactly. My fiance has cancer and his tumors - with stem cell treatment - have been getting a lot better, but it doesn't mean that he didn't have cancer to begin with, merely because he's getting better and his treatments are 'outside of the norm'.

Mr_Knight

Are you trying to say unless it's written down somewhere 7000 calories in one sitting is "normal" and not considered a "binge" ??

Knocking down 7000 calories in a day is easy and routinely accomplished by many, many people - so yes, it is "normal".

LiminalAscendance

Are you trying to say unless it's written down somewhere 7000 calories in one sitting is "normal" and not considered a "binge" ??

Knocking down 7000 calories in a day is easy and routinely accomplished by many, many people - so yes, it is "normal".

doesthisappmakemelookfat

Thank you for posting this article. I loved it. It could have been written about me, and it's given me a whole new perspective on myself. Behavioural addiction. Huh. I never really believed that I was addicted to food, because food only serves it purpose for me under certain conditions, so the behavioural aspect of it totally fits. (eg. being at a picnic with lots of people and lots of great food does not challenge me, but sitting at home alone, with raw cookie dough, does challenge me--there's some kind of pathology there). Something new to focus on changing. Love it.

Biggirllittledreams

Are you trying to say unless it's written down somewhere 7000 calories in one sitting is "normal" and not considered a "binge" ??

Knocking down 7000 calories in a day is easy and routinely accomplished by many, many people - so yes, it is "normal".

Exactly. Over-eating in our society isn't at all unheard of, especially with how many calorie-dense foods we have readily available. It's not disordered to eat a bit more when you eat a lot more when a diet goes wrong, when you go to an 'all you can eat buffet', or when you attend some sort of cultural celebration, which tend to be centered around food.

However, over-eating is very different than Binge Eating Disorder/having an eating disorder, which is what i feel many people on this forum are not able to comprehend.

Saxonvoter

I know I'm more addicted to the behaviour than the food itself. I always crave salty snacks and sugary drinks when I watch telly and movies. But I've gotten rid of that habit once, I can do it again.

Something I found useful back when I ate less of those bad snacks; if you have a TV show/shows you like to watch several times a week, instead of sitting on the sofa, try exercising while watching it. A stepping board, a stationary bike or a treadmill are great help.

If you absolutely want to eat something nice once in a while, buy them in small amounts (so that they won't haunt you in the kitchen) and limit yourself to a small portion. Then savour it slowly. It's better than eating loads and feeling bad afterwards.

Biggirllittledreams

Thank you for posting this article. I loved it. It could have been written about me, and it's given me a whole new perspective on myself. Behavioural addiction. Huh. I never really believed that I was addicted to food, because food only serves it purpose for me under certain conditions, so the behavioural aspect of it totally fits. (eg. being at a picnic with lots of people and lots of great food does not challenge me, but sitting at home alone, with raw cookie dough, does challenge me--there's some kind of pathology there). Something new to focus on changing. Love it.

You should try looking into really basic Cognitive Behavioral Techniques: they teach you how to be more aware of your thoughts, and the resulting behaviors. So if you find yourself struggling to make healthy choices at night when you're alone, understanding what thoughts/experiences lead you to use that behavior (unhealthy eating) could be rather helpful! There are therapists trained in such whom are very easy to find, but if you don't have the resources/time for such, find a few articles on 'cognitive distortions' and basic CBT sheets to help you out! It has the potential to be incredibly helpful, if you're persistent with it.

Basically, when you find yourself distressed, use a worksheet/some paper to write through the distorted cognition you're experiencing, a more logical thought, and find a more positive/productive coping mechanism to cope with whatever is causing you to reach for that mechanism to begin with. There are also craving diaries, to help you learn to differentiate between your physiological hunger, and your emotional cravings.

Worksheets you may find helpful if you want to try this:
http://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/docs/ThoughtRecordSheet.pdf
or
http://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/docs/ThoughtRecordSheet7.pdf
and
http://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/docs/CravingsDiary.pdf

Biggirllittledreams

Through experience with binge eating it is as "easy" as just stopping (same thing as losing weight is as easy and eating right and working out).

With-over eating, the above is 100% true and i completely agree. When it comes to over-eating, it's a matter of education and learning to exercise will power. When it comes to eating disorders, it's a lot more complicated than that as that perspective leads to relapse and worsening states of disordered eating.

If you go to any mental health professional (psychiatrist, psychologist, behavioral neuroscientist, etc., they would laugh at the advice of telling eating disordered patients to 'just stop. It's literally one of the worst things you could tell anybody with an eating disorder.

skinnyinnotime

The term "food-addiction" is being used more and more nowadays.

Of course it is. By playing the addict card people don't have to accept responsibility for their actions. Over eating is a lack of self control.

Yep.

What a load of crap

Biggirllittledreams

Okay. I'm not going to respond anymore to this forum because i feel as though i'm starting to repeat myself in my responses, but i do hope that people in this world begin to realize that eating disorders are a lot more than merely matters of self control

That being said - i do also agree with a majority of you, in saying that people are quick to blame addictions as a justification in not taking responsibility for themselves. Regardless of what we are thrown in life, ultimately we all should be responsible for ourselves - mental illness or not. I think we need to be careful - collectively as a community that is - in how we use the word 'addiction', because improperly using it to describe over-eating/other situations of guilty indulgence dilutes the severity of those struggling with the disorder.

Regardless, i hope that all of you struggling with this - regardless of your perspective on the matter - are able to find peace with yourselves, with food, and with your bodies. Different people go about recovery in different ways, and whatever works best for you, readily pursue it while also allowing those struggling to pursue whatever works best for them as well.

Also, this is worth a listen:
https://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_insel_toward_a_new_understanding_of_mental_illness

Take care<3

WhatMeRunning

There are great programs out there to deal with an addiction.

http://www.oa.org/

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.

DataSeven

I don't like using term 'addiction' when it comes to overeating because it takes the blame away from the individual... like.. I know I overeat, but it's an addiction, so I am not in control of my own actions, it's the food's fault.

Yes, we have dispositions to liking high-fat, high-sugar things, from an evolution standpoint, being able to find these types of foods helped keep us alive when food was scarce. In the western world, we now produce way more food than any of us needs to survive. We can now be selective in what we choose to put in our bodies, and not just stuff our faces with what tastes good all the time.

It's a matter of preference, not addiction. We don't suffer withdrawal in the sense of what a drug addict does. It's not chemical. Sure, we may be crabby because we want to stuff our pie-holes with pizza and ice cream and aren't doing it, but that's not what withdrawal is.

It's not an addiction, it's not a disease. It's YOUR FAULT. And it drives me up the wall when people want to paint themselves as 'victims' of obesity.

minibandit

I was reading an article on addiction a short while ago and one thing struck me as remarkable - that the heroin addicts studied found relief in just the action of injecting - even if it was saline.

Behavioral addiction - as opposed to the brain flooding foreign chemical rewarding type - is under-researched and under-recognized. Just the action and preparation and paraphernalia was enough to meet 'a' need in people who had also very real physical dependency to an addictive substance.

Taking that in to consideration I don't think it's such a leap to link food and addiction. It does reward us, if we got no relief we wouldn't eat or we would just manufacture a pill to take once a day that has everything we need and be done for the rest of the day.

Combine that feeling of relief with a severe emotional state and a situation and a behavior - do it enough, and there is an addiction.

I also think however, that we have these 'words' these days that can be banded about and used too freely. Addiction is one of them, as is 'bully' and a few others. It dilutes the word and the meaning. It removes it's real effect and the real pain behind it.

WhatMeRunning

It's funny how many people are so eager to be "addicted to food" but would never admit to being "addicted to alcohol".

Just saying.

GatorDeb1

See criteria below. ALL of them applied to me.

5'4" female 18-36 who does not exercise, I honestly cannot believe that people are saying one 7000 MEAL is normal. That just blows my mind. I guess it's time to change my MFP goals.


The key diagnostic features of BED are:
Recurrent and persistent episodes of binge eating
Binge eating episodes are associated with three (or more) of the following:
Eating much more rapidly than normal
Eating until feeling uncomfortably full
Eating large amounts of food when not feeling physically hungry
Eating alone because of being embarrassed by how much one is eating
Feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed, or very guilty after overeating
Marked distress regarding binge eating
Absence of regular compensatory behaviors (such as purging).
- See more at: http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/new-dsm-5-binge-eating-disorder#sthash.1FyYAC2e.dpuf'

pdxevergreen

I'm not sure I would say weight loss is easy.....it takes time to change habits, and takes the right motivation.

lemurcat12

Are you trying to say unless it's written down somewhere 7000 calories in one sitting is "normal" and not considered a "binge" ??

Knocking down 7000 calories in a day is easy and routinely accomplished by many, many people - so yes, it is "normal".

Exactly. Over-eating in our society isn't at all unheard of, especially with how many calorie-dense foods we have readily available. It's not disordered to eat a bit more when you eat a lot more when a diet goes wrong, when you go to an 'all you can eat buffet', or when you attend some sort of cultural celebration, which tend to be centered around food.

However, over-eating is very different than Binge Eating Disorder/having an eating disorder, which is what i feel many people on this forum are not able to comprehend.

It seems like you are saying that regardless of GatorDeb's own experience of her binges, they aren't "real binges" and don't count if she was able to stop.

Seems pretty much like people who say that if someone can stop drinking they must not have been a "true Alcoholic," and yet lots of alcoholics and other addicts quit drinking or abusing drugs all the time.

You can tell yourself that's somehow based on science as much as you like, but there's no science that says that someone who binges or is an alcoholic cannot ever stop the negative behaviors.

OtakuDev

By playing the addict card people don't have to accept responsibility for their actions. Over eating is a lack of self control.

I agree that over eating reveals a lack of control in a person. However, when someone is trying not to eat certain foods but the item is constantly being brought to mind... That to me sounds like addiction in the traditional sense.

Right now for the past several hours I have been fighting an urge to eat chocolate. It is late, I don't NEED it but it's constantly playing on my mind. I can almost taste the chocolate in my mouth, I can see it, I can visualise myself opening the packet and reaching into it. I even went to the extent of getting a pack of chocolates from the pantry and bringing it to my room because the urges were getting unbearable.

I can assure you all that I HAVE NOT eaten any and I keep drinking water instead. Might have gone off on a tangent and diverted slightly from the original topic.

I personally believe that when we have those "cravings" it is a sign from our body telling us we need energy or we are thirsty. Most of the time we are just slightly dehydrated but sometimes it may be that our body needs the energy (e.g. not enough sleep?) and thus food is needed. Rather than our bodies saying, "hey eat something" it says "hey, remember that gorgeous deep fried burger you had with those chips... You COULD get it. It's only a 5 minute walk...".

Am I making any sense? Or am I rambling?
I think I'm rambling but I hope someone gets where I'm coming from.

Hearts_2015

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