Interesting new study on "food addiction"

purplepenguins7 · September 2014

I think I'm a food addict or at least an emotional eater. I use food as comfort if I'm stressed, like I'll tell myself "I had a hard day, or I did a great job today, its ok to have a treat". I did an internship once at a substance abuse clinic, and it seemed like many of the clients had replaced drinking/drug use with smoking, caffeine/coffee and food addictions. I think the underlying issue (poor stress management, etc) was still there, and we as humans often replace one addiction with another. It has taken me a long time to be able to admit that I use food as comfort, and that's not healthy. I think its probably similar to an alcoholic not wanting to admit they have a problem.

Mistapholeezkat · September 2014

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.

I think "lack of self control" is over simplifying things. People over eat for many different reasons.

For me...I had to take a look at why I over ate...why allowed myself to become over weight...before I could fix it. Being honest with myself about those reasons is why I have been able to lose as much as I have and not quitting when it gets tough.

I will say this...food became my "new best friend". It was there for me when I felt like nothing else was...it also allowed me to hide behind a wall of fat. Some would say that I had good reason to hide...I look back now...it wasn't...but it was easier than the other alternative.

Not sure that self control had anything to do with it...

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.

I think "lack of self control" is over simplifying things. People over eat for many different reasons.

"Reasons ". Are our justifications for over eating.

Only you can control wether or not to eat that bite of food. you can dance around it a million different ways but it boils down to self control. Self control isn't will power. Self control is a practiced discipline and being accountable to ones self. willpower is just wistful thinking.

The_Enginerd · September 2014

This part of the article, in particular, sums up my feeling on food addiction.

The scientists said it was a behavioural disorder and could be categorised alongside conditions such as a gambling addiction.

They suggested tackling the problem of obesity should be moved away from food itself and instead focussed on the individual's relationship with eating.

Annie_01 · September 2014

Interesting... I liked these 2 quotes at the end of the article:
"Certain individuals do have an addictive-like relationship with particular foods and they can over-eat despite knowing the risks to their health.

"More avenues for treatment may open up if we think about this condition as a behavioural addiction rather than a substance-based addiction."
To me, it's saying that if you still want to refer to it as an addiction, fine, but recognize it as a "behavioral" addiction rather than a substance one. Makes a lot of sense. Thanks for posting!

Whether it is a behavioural addiction or a substance-based addiction do you think that one can be just as damaging as the other? Just as difficult to control?

IMO...the answer to both types of addictions start with understanding why we have the need to do this to ourselves. I think we have to solve that before we can begin to resolve either type of addiction...behavioral or substance based.

lemonsnowdrop · September 2014

I don't understand how you can be addicted to food. What are the physical symptoms of a food withdrawl? Death? Oh yeah, that's because we need to eat. As for being addicted to overeating, as it should be called instead, I feel like it's an excuse. Sorry for my insensitivity, but if all food tasted bland or bad, we would only eat when we needed to for survival. Some people just really, really love tasty food, but I would never go so far as to call it an addiction.

kimnteri · September 2014

I understand the worry and frustration with this issue. Addiction, chemical imbalance or behavoral pattern ... either way the habits are embedded in those of us with the issue(s) and it is a struggle to break the habit, especially when so much of our social lives in this society revolves around food. The impulse to eat can be resisted, but it requires diligence and focus that can be really hard to maintain. It takes 10 seconds of distraction or inattention to reach into a bowl of peanut M & Ms. And I know that once I take the first bite, I want more and more. I believe that there is a chemical reaction in the brain - like that of nicotine or cocaine - that happens when I eat sweet or salty foods. In the pleasure center of the brain. Some people react to it more strongly than others and have a harder time stopping. I believe that, addiction or not, eating right requires long term diligence until the new habit and the pleasure of eating quality food replaces the memory of the pleasure of eating the junk.

Mistapholeezkat · September 2014

Camo_xxx...well said. Food is a struggle for a lot of people, not just how much but the quality as well. It is really easy to offer excuses as to why we do what we do and to act like there are reasons for it but bottom line.....I control what goes in my mouth and if I fail it is only because of moments of weakness. Or for many people, years of weakness. I know people that eat Toaster Struedals for breakfast, drink soda, literally sleep 14 hours a day, maybe get 2500 steps a day, eat a hardy supper and snacks and wonder why they can't lose weight. They won't track their food intake but will tell me they hardly ate all day. The five things they did eat were high sugar, high fat, processed foods and beverages. So maybe the visual amount of food entering their mouth isn't a lot, they are in total denial of the quality of food they consume. I hear from them...."I need sweets." "I can't......." To me it appears it's all in their head. They limit themselves too much but the phrase, "I can't"

meridianova · September 2014

Interesting... I liked these 2 quotes at the end of the article:
"Certain individuals do have an addictive-like relationship with particular foods and they can over-eat despite knowing the risks to their health.

"More avenues for treatment may open up if we think about this condition as a behavioural addiction rather than a substance-based addiction."
To me, it's saying that if you still want to refer to it as an addiction, fine, but recognize it as a "behavioral" addiction rather than a substance one. Makes a lot of sense. Thanks for posting!

Whether it is a behavioural addiction or a substance-based addiction do you think that one can be just as damaging as the other? Just as difficult to control?

IMO...the answer to both types of addictions start with understanding why we have the need to do this to ourselves. I think we have to solve that before we can begin to resolve either type of addiction...behavioral or substance based.

i'm leaning toward the concept that food addictions are more behavior-based than substance-based, even though like everything else with the human body, there can be quirks that react differently to substances in certain foods.

if we can have allergies to some foods, then it stands to reason the pendulum can swing the other way into addiction. however, those are going to be the extremes. for most of us, it's going to be behaviorally based.

i find it strange to talk about something we require to survive as an addiction.

Biggirllittledreams · September 2014

I bealive you answered my question when you said " you stop putting the food in your mouth ". That would be self control in all it's glory.

I never said such. Perhaps you should reread my response, because that's not at all what i said, and if anything quite the contrary.

I'll have to disagree with you, simply because i choose to believe in science/empirical evidence over observation, and because quite frankly i'm more inclined to believe that professors/researchers have a better understanding of what they're talking about than you do (unless you're licensed in an area of neurology/behavioral sciences/medicine/etc. and neglected to bring up such, or could provide me with convincing evidence otherwise).

Please then - tell me when you decided to not have a food addiction, since this is a choice? Please tell me exactly what time every morning you wake up, and decide to not have Anorexia, Bulimia, OSFED, BED, PICA, MDD, BDD, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, BPD, PPD, and all other mental health conditions - even those that i didn't list above and i'm 99.999% sure you've never heard of and therefore cannot consciously choose to will away?

Surely if this is "all just a choice" you should share the wealth, eh? If you have it all figured out, wheres a book or research article to back up such? Do you - or a reputable source - have anything published about how eating disorders boil down to a matter of self control?

Until you are able to bring a source, i'm not going to respond because quite frankly i don't see the point. I don't see the point in having a conversation about illogical perspectives, for if that was the case i'd be wasting my time arguing with people about evolution - something that has long been proved yet many people still don't believe.

Why do you think it's valid to compare involuntary conditions (ALS) to voluntary actions (eating)?

Zod, yes, neurology is involved. Maybe some people are more susceptible to becoming drug addicts, or alcoholics, or overeaters. That doesn't change whether they are making a conscious decision to put the food in their pieholes.

When you can show me how Hawking can choose to get up out of his wheelchair, I'll see the connection to someone choosing to shovel Cookies and Cream into his face and that neurology is determinant.

You completely misunderstood what i was saying. My point was that the genetic pre-disposition for eating disorders is involuntary, much like the neurological disorders i listed. So, need to show such with Hawking.

PS. If you define eating disorders as 'choosing to shovel 'Cookies and Cream into his face' you're talking about over-eating, not eating disorders. Get your definitions straight before you respond with things like the above.

Biggirllittledreams · September 2014

Interesting... I liked these 2 quotes at the end of the article:
"Certain individuals do have an addictive-like relationship with particular foods and they can over-eat despite knowing the risks to their health.

"More avenues for treatment may open up if we think about this condition as a behavioural addiction rather than a substance-based addiction."
To me, it's saying that if you still want to refer to it as an addiction, fine, but recognize it as a "behavioral" addiction rather than a substance one. Makes a lot of sense. Thanks for posting!

Whether it is a behavioural addiction or a substance-based addiction do you think that one can be just as damaging as the other? Just as difficult to control?

IMO...the answer to both types of addictions start with understanding why we have the need to do this to ourselves. I think we have to solve that before we can begin to resolve either type of addiction...behavioral or substance based.

i'm leaning toward the concept that food addictions are more behavior-based than substance-based, even though like everything else with the human body, there can be quirks that react differently to substances in certain foods.

if we can have allergies to some foods, then it stands to reason the pendulum can swing the other way into addiction. however, those are going to be the extremes. for most of us, it's going to be behaviorally based.

i find it strange to talk about something we require to survive as an addiction.

They are behavior based, since food addiction doesn't include the physical withdrawals that substance dependence/addiction does. If you stop eating, you don't land yourself in the hospital like you risk when you stop drinking for example.

Regardless, the VTA/endorphins/dopamine reward system still fires the same. The difference is in the side effects from the drug it's self that arise/whether the body develops a physical dependence for such.

onefortyone · September 2014

I believe in the term "food addiction" as a psychological concept, because hearing the term was actually the catalyst for me to change my relationship with food, and take responsibility for what I was doing. I used to eat through painful situations, and the pain wasn't my fault. So being overweight wasn't my fault - it was circumstances. I was in denial. I truly believed I could 'quit overeating' any time I wanted.

Until I heard the term 'food addiction' and realised that it would take real effort (the same effort, say, alcoholics put into abstaining) to eat normal amounts to obtain/maintain a healthy bodyweight. And going over my calories was behaviourally equivalent to an alcoholic having one drink during recovery - it can cause a huge backslide in progress, and a binge session.

When you use food to block out/deal with emotional discomforts and pain for almost your whole life without even realising it, then there is definitely a 'detoxing' effect when you decide to make a change. The pain and grief that you have been propping up with food comes crashing down onto you, you go through 'cravings' and your body sends crazy fake hunger pains right after eating, etc. I know it's not as bad as withdrawing from an addictive substance, but I don't believe that's a reason to minimise what people go through to change destructive behaviour patterns.

Need2Exerc1se · September 2014

I think a lot of people confuse binge eating disorder with an addiction to food.

As someone who is going through the withdrawals, cravings and emotional pain caused by quitting smoking, I can honestly tell you that anyone who claims food addiction is a ridiculous person. Compulsion and addiction are not the same.

You seem to be projecting your own personal situation onto others. I know a few people who say it was easier to stop smoking than to stop overeating.

Well, I've also overcome binge eating disorder. Quitting smoking was more difficult for me, because it is an actual physical addiction that caused me pain to go through. The psychological pull of food is not the same thing. Maybe I'm projecting, or maybe I just have enough experience with both to compare them. Everyone on this site is projecting their own issues. Most people think their way is the only way. *shrug*

But not everyone calls the others ridiculous.

Kalikel · September 2014

I bealive you answered my question when you said " you stop putting the food in your mouth ". That would be self control in all it's glory.

I never said such. Perhaps you should reread my response, because that's not at all what i said, and if anything quite the contrary.

I'll have to disagree with you, simply because i choose to believe in science/empirical evidence over observation, and because quite frankly i'm more inclined to believe that professors/researchers have a better understanding of what they're talking about than you do (unless you're licensed in an area of neurology/behavioral sciences/medicine/etc. and neglected to bring up such, or could provide me with convincing evidence otherwise).

Please then - tell me when you decided to not have a food addiction, since this is a choice? Please tell me exactly what time every morning you wake up, and decide to not have Anorexia, Bulimia, OSFED, BED, PICA, MDD, BDD, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, BPD, PPD, and all other mental health conditions - even those that i didn't list above and i'm 99.999% sure you've never heard of and therefore cannot consciously choose to will away?

Surely if this is "all just a choice" you should share the wealth, eh? If you have it all figured out, wheres a book or research article to back up such? Do you - or a reputable source - have anything published about how eating disorders boil down to a matter of self control?

Until you are able to bring a source, i'm not going to respond because quite frankly i don't see the point. I don't see the point in having a conversation about illogical perspectives, for if that was the case i'd be wasting my time arguing with people about evolution - something that has long been proved yet many people still don't believe.

It could be (and has been) argued that people make the choice to hang on to their eating disorder every day. If you do not seek help, you're choosing to have it.

People don't choose to get them, but they choose to keep them.

I believe there are chemical reactions in play for many people. I think that there are things that they haven't learned yet. Thinking something might be happening without knowing it for sure is at the heart of Science, so all the people who scream about "Science" not backing something up always make me think, "You don't really have even a fundamental grasp of the subject." Saying, "Maybe there is something to that" - that's Science. Bro.

But it's beatable. People do get better!!

If you (general you, not You you) have a problem, seek help. It's out there.

If you refuse to seek help or to try to help yourself, it will be difficult for many to buy your, "I can't help it; I'm addicted" stuff. That doesn't mean you don't struggle or have a monkey on your back. It just is what it is.

Don't get help for Science or for critics. Get help for you. Because you're worth helping!

ILiftHeavyAcrylics · September 2014

In before lockdown!

Not sure why there would be a lock down. I think that last night some of us were able to discuss opposing views...for the most part...in a civil manner.

i suppose...that is subject to change...any minute now!

I go get another cup of coffee and check back...see if this thread is still viable...

I thought the discussion was good. I also think that doesn't necessarily mean it won't be shut down-- it depends on how many people feel the need to report it.

Personally I haven't completely decided where I come down on food addiction, although this study supports what I would like to believe. I do applaud the OP for saying "I believe in food addiction. This study contradicts me so I'm considering it." It's refreshing to see a person actually willing to consider evidence that doesn't necessarily support their opinion.

I won't say if food is or isn't addictive...I simply don't know. I have a tendency to believe that no food in and of itself is addictive. I do however believe that the emotional need to use food can be as powerful as any chemical addiction.

I can only speak of my own experience. I didn't always over eat. I didn't one day wake up and decide to eat way beyond my physical needs of food. I used food...my weight...my inactivity...to punish myself. I knew what I was doing was unhealthy but it gave me some where to hide. It wasn't until I hit rock bottom...wanted my life back...that I took a look at what had caused me to allow this to happen.

Even at this point...it wasn't so simple as...stop eating so much. It took almost 3 years for me to be able to get my life under control. It was one step at a time. Kind of like the 12 Step program that someone suggested!

Right now...for the last ttwo months...it has been a mind game...to keep moving forward. It has taken my by surprise...I thought that I was beyond this stage.

That is where self control has come in to my battle...the getting up every morning and starting over.

I would never say that I was "addicted to food"...I will say that I was addicted to self sabotage.

I agree that "just stop eating so much" is a gross simplification of a complex topic.

It was pretty easy for me to just stop eating so much. But I recognize that not everyone is like me. Maybe not even most people.

Kalikel · September 2014

People are confusing "simple" and "easy."

Weight loss is, for healthy people, VERY simple. Eat less and/or exercise more. Simple.

Not necessarily easy.

RunsOnEspresso · September 2014

This part of the article, in particular, sums up my feeling on food addiction.

The scientists said it was a behavioural disorder and could be categorised alongside conditions such as a gambling addiction.

They suggested tackling the problem of obesity should be moved away from food itself and instead focussed on the individual's relationship with eating.

I haven't read the article yet but I think my thoughts line up with what was quoted above. I have mixed feeling on this topic and try to read different thoughts on it. I have read studies showing how sugar can change the neurotransmitters, much like drugs do. Does that make it an addiction? Not necessarily but it makes an interesting path to explore.

I enjoyed reading through this thread. There was a lot of interesting points and made me think.

lemurcat12 · September 2014

I did an internship once at a substance abuse clinic, and it seemed like many of the clients had replaced drinking/drug use with smoking, caffeine/coffee and food addictions. I think the underlying issue (poor stress management, etc) was still there, and we as humans often replace one addiction with another.

I think this happens (except for the use of the term addiction), and it happened to some extent for me--I used food in a way to substitute for how I used to use alcohol, emotional or stress eating. I also realized that as alcohol abuse tends to be an extreme loss of control that allows someone to maintain obsessive control otherwise (or think they are), that my alcohol abuse affected the fact that I had become really controlled in my eating for a while before I quit, and so I had a weird counter-reaction to that when I did quit.

But that said, my relationship with food was never at all like my relationship with alcohol, and I don't think emotional eating is really the same thing as an addiction. I do think there are food addictions or something similar enough to be classified within the same group of issues. I'd say compulsive overeating is such a thing, as opposed to a reaction to a particular food stuff (this seems to be what the article is saying too). For example, I was moved by CyberEd's description of his history with overeating and to me that sounded very much like my own experience with alcohol addiction, but my own history with food does not, despite the fact that I was able to gain a crazy amount of weight.

I'm somewhat uncomfortable with the way that some people seem to want to water down the meaning of addiction to basically include not just compulsive overeating of that sort, but simply "I really like this food and don't want to stop because it's tasty" or "I have a pleasurable association between reading and munching on popcorn such that I crave popcorn whenever I start reading" or even "I had a bad day and ice cream will taste good and make me happy." The latter things are difficulties to be overcome when one tries to lose weight, and it's not just a matter of will power, but understanding the process, but it's still distinguishable from what addiction is in my mind.

But it's an interesting topic.

The other thing that I think tends to get people annoyed about the addiction model (which I don't so much see here) is the idea that if one is addicted one can't help it. (Often the corollary to this is that whereas you can quit other substances, you can't quit food, so there's nothing to be done. For someone who says this, I'd recommend something like OA, I guess, although it reads like an excuse to me.)

lemurcat12 · September 2014

I also worded myself wrong: I actually hardly over eat the way "normal" people do: for the past year I have almost only dieted, or over eaten in a way which I could now only describe as pathological and not physiological. I can sometimes eat beyond enjoyment, just eat and eat until i feel so full that any other emotion like sadness, anger, whatever... has been drowned out. Recently it got so bad that I sometimes fear for my life, maybe I'm just being too scared.
I do, however know that if I say "Oh well, I'm addicted, woohoo, there goes all my responsibility", I will pay for this greatly, because shifting the blame won't solve the problem. Addiction just means you are ill, doesn't mean you are untreatable, and only you can treat yourself, but there's a very big chance that you need help to do so.

Yes, and this does sound like it fits the addiction concept to me.

Also, not everyone who is overweight has a problematic relationship with food the way others do. It is a spectrum, going from eating too many calories for a prolonged space of time and these adding up, to eating enough to gain a significant amount of weight in weeks/days. Just like some people drink for fun, some people binge drink on the weekend, some people are alcoholics and some are tea-total.

I'd put it somewhat differently, as I'm not sure it's a continuum. I suspect that most people who are overweight (a huge number in post industrial societies, after all) aren't addicted in this sense at all. One reason I push against that term is that I think some are anxious to put it out there as the reason for a problem with overweight and obesity, and I think there are much simpler reasons, like that food is tasty, it's very available, we have a natural desire for it, and historically less reason to have developed genetic defenses against overeating, and we are inactive compared to even very recent history. Also, again, I don't think addiction is simply "oh, this is good, so more is better" or a human difficulty in weighing short term vs. long term. I think it's more like, well, what you talked about above.

tracie_minus100 · September 2014

I think a lot of people confuse binge eating disorder with an addiction to food.

As someone who is going through the withdrawals, cravings and emotional pain caused by quitting smoking, I can honestly tell you that anyone who claims food addiction is a ridiculous person. Compulsion and addiction are not the same.

You seem to be projecting your own personal situation onto others. I know a few people who say it was easier to stop smoking than to stop overeating.

I quit a 13+ year pack a day smoking habit 5 years ago. It was extremely hard. It took me several tries before I was successful.
But for me personally (I am ONLY speaking for myself, not trying to generalize), my overeating issues have been much, much more difficult to overcome.
I have major issues with overeating. I eat to comfort myself, I eat to celebrate, I eat when I'm sad, stressed, really happy. I use my emotions as an excuse to overeat. I use food to help ease the pain/discomfort of whatever I'm dealing with. It's something that I am fully aware of, but it's been extremely hard to get a handle on it permanently.
I agree that at the end of the day, it is about self control. But for someone like me, I don't think it should be brushed off as a self control issue only and left at that. There are so many things going on behind the scenes causing the overeating (emotionally, mentally)...it's just more complicated than that.

emtjmac · September 2014

Addictions are rooted in the habitual seeking of the sensations experienced when neurotransmitters are made to flood the brain because of the ingestion of a substance; heroin causes this, cocaine causes this, food causes this. Eating is an addiction for many people who crave the dopamine release that follows the ingestion of sugar, fat and salt. This is not up for discussion, it is easy to understand science. The thread is now over, nothing else to talk about really. You're welcome.

Interesting new study on "food addiction"

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