Is food addiction a thing?

Ashleyxjamie
Ashleyxjamie Posts: 223 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Do you believe that there is such thing as food addiction? Like smoking? To be honest, I do believe it..

Here's a sample of questions that I found on a website. Apparently you can even get treatment for this type of thing and it is taken pretty seriously.

-End up eating more than planned when you start eating certain foods

-Keep eating certain foods even if you're no longer hungry

-Eat to the point of feeling ill

-Worry about not eating certain types of foods or worry about cutting down on certain types of foods

-When certain foods aren't available, go out of your way to obtain them

-You eat certain foods so often or in such large amounts that you start eating food instead of working, spending time with the family, or doing recreational activities.

-You avoid professional or social situations where certain foods are available because of fear of overeating.

-You have problems functioning effectively at your job or school because of food and eating.

What's your opinion on this?
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Replies

  • clobern
    clobern Posts: 341 Member
    Addiction to anything exists. It doesn't have to be something crazy or (necessarily) unhealthy to be an addiction like porn, smoking and drugs. You can be addicted to food, television, pain, sex, etc. I think it is something that can be overcome a little easier than some other addictions, but it's real :)
  • nomeejerome
    nomeejerome Posts: 2,616 Member
    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.
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,021 Member
    I think there are chemical addictions and emotional addictions. I'm not sure that I believe in the idea of "real" chemical dependency on food (suffering the same withdrawal symptoms as people who are rehabbing from a heroin addiction, for example), but I do think people who are stress eaters or who eat to fill some kind of void in their lives develop an emotional addiction to food. It makes them feel better, so they almost instinctively turn to eating when they feel badly.
  • ehardy1103
    ehardy1103 Posts: 14 Member
    soooo agree there IS..... I sabotage myself and either drugs.. booze.. food.. if you have an addicting personality.. it is all true.. Mine is totally food... can't stand it.. :)
  • toaster6
    toaster6 Posts: 703 Member
    I do not believe you can be addicted to something you *need* to survive; I would not say I am anymore addicted to food than I am to oxygen.
  • rachface1234
    rachface1234 Posts: 227 Member
    Yep. I'm addicted. been doing some light fasting (twice a week going 14 hours between meals, then eating very lightly on those days) trying to retrain my brain not to beg for food constantly! I think that when your food becomes less about hunger or need and more about want or soothing or obsessing about tasting things... it can easily be an addiction. Self diagnosed foodie addict, meh!
  • Joehenny
    Joehenny Posts: 1,222 Member
    Who doesn't?
  • elleloch
    elleloch Posts: 739 Member
    I think there are chemical addictions and emotional addictions. I'm not sure that I believe in the idea of "real" chemical dependency on food (suffering the same withdrawal symptoms as people who are rehabbing from a heroin addiction, for example), but I do think people who are stress eaters or who eat to fill some kind of void in their lives develop an emotional addiction to food. It makes them feel better, so they almost instinctively turn to eating when they feel badly.

    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.

    It's just depressing to me.
  • shaleyn
    shaleyn Posts: 125 Member
    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.
  • manders376
    manders376 Posts: 53 Member
    Yes there is. It comes in several forms.

    There is an actual "Binge Eating Disorder" described in the DSM (book of psychological conditions). It is in the same category as anorexia and bulimia.

    Food can also be an addiction just like drugs, porn, etc. Only problem is you can never completely cut food out of your life, lol. You have to eat to survive. It is learning what to eat and to eat in moderation.

    For me (I have a problem with food addiction) it is related to emotional things. When I realized it wasn't just "lack of willpower" sabotaging my weight loss I got some help and am working to change :)
  • alisonlynn1976
    alisonlynn1976 Posts: 929 Member
    Yes, it exists, but it's a serious psychiatric condition and a lot of people throw the term around when they really just mean that they like food a lot.
  • sunnyskys2013
    sunnyskys2013 Posts: 159 Member
    This was really interesting it was a study done by NBC News.


    http://abcnews.go.com/Health/brain-activity-food-addiction-similar-addictions-study/story?id=13291191#.UboB3efVCHc
  • SkinnyMsFitness
    SkinnyMsFitness Posts: 389 Member
    Hi my friend! I most certainly do believe food is an addiction; hence, why I struggle so much...just like many other individuals. I believe it's considered a disease, just like any other addiction.
  • NonnyMary
    NonnyMary Posts: 982 Member
    yes, espeically when a "healthy" food is like crack to an addict.. Like when I get hungry, and I cannot resist my special K with red berries cereal, and it feels so good in my stomach, then i know im an addict! (im not kidding on this one either).
  • neva4saken
    neva4saken Posts: 300 Member
    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.

    You're absolutely right! In fact the brain waves that are given while somoene is indulging in over eating is the exact same pattern as a herion addict when they are about to "take a hit". Rather ppl will admit it or not food can become an addiction just like anything else when you lose your self control. It can create the same level of comfort and escape as any or drug, or addiction. It also has adverse effects just as any other "addiction". When we dive into the different types of "mood foods" you can find yourself eating to be happy and yet miserable at the same time. Yes it's very much an addiction some choose it as to others choose alcohol, drugs, pain, sex etc..
  • nomeejerome
    nomeejerome Posts: 2,616 Member
    I think there are chemical addictions and emotional addictions. I'm not sure that I believe in the idea of "real" chemical dependency on food (suffering the same withdrawal symptoms as people who are rehabbing from a heroin addiction, for example), but I do think people who are stress eaters or who eat to fill some kind of void in their lives develop an emotional addiction to food. It makes them feel better, so they almost instinctively turn to eating when they feel badly.

    There is absolutely a chemical and behavioral component to addiction, and yes, there are different withdrawal symptoms between a heroin user, caffeine user etc. However, when speaking in the simplest form, the brain does not know the difference between the substances, only that it feels good to the user.
  • nomeejerome
    nomeejerome Posts: 2,616 Member
    I do not believe you can be addicted to something you *need* to survive; I would not say I am anymore addicted to food than I am to oxygen.

    There is a chemical and behavioral component to addiction.
  • McBatty
    McBatty Posts: 18 Member
    I totally agree with this statement. In fact, one of the most addicting addictions. When you think about it, many people have food addictions it just isnt considered as dangerous as like heroin, alcohol, etc addicts so it isn't taken as seriously which is a shame. I believe I read an article once that said the sugar addiction the brain can develop from a poor diet is stronger than the addiction a cocaine addict has to cocaine. How crazy is that?
  • mazzasweet
    mazzasweet Posts: 266 Member
    I agree with you. I think one can become addicted to food. I know for me, it's using a substance to fill a void that really has nothing to do with food. Why or how, I don't know.
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,301 Member
    since I discovered I have a significan,t debilitating, reaction to salicylate and avoid as much in my food as I can and avoid places where many people congregate to avoid their perfumes, laundry and hair spray etc and other things like cleaning products I have found I do not crave foods containing salicylate like pineapple or chocolate with vanilla in (most chocolate). My general health is improving. No joint pain, stiffness, uti's an much more. I am left fighting the the residual overweight built up over 40 years!!!!!!!!!
  • chunkydunk714
    chunkydunk714 Posts: 784 Member
    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
    sarajcurrie Posts: 11
    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
    redheaddee Posts: 2,005 Member
    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
    julialdr Posts: 100 Member
    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
    robdel302 Posts: 292 Member
    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
    Bobbie8786 Posts: 202 Member
    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
    shannashannabobana Posts: 625 Member
    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
    AnnR999 Posts: 27 Member
    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
    kazsjourney Posts: 263 Member
    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
    Jetta1492 Posts: 47 Member
    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

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