Food Addiction...is it real?

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  • Holly_Wood_888
    Holly_Wood_888 Posts: 268 Member
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    Compulsive eating is considered a disorder - you could call it a food addiction . There is much involved mentally. I have suffered from that throughout my life. Eating food ALL THE TIME -in the absence of hunger and binging on sugar filled foods to top it off..
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
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    Holly_Wood_888 wrote: »
    Compulsive eating is considered a disorder - you could call it a food addiction . There is much involved mentally. I have suffered from that throughout my life. Eating food ALL THE TIME -in the absence of hunger and binging on sugar filled foods to top it off..

    Is it about the food or is it about something you are trying to self medicate with food?
  • cross2bear
    cross2bear Posts: 1,106 Member
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    This is a real can of worms to open, particularly because it is difficult to agree on the exact definition of "addiction", and semantics. Personally, I think if you feel comfortable applying the term as you understand it to be to yourself or your behaviour, then fill your boots. But others may not agree and will label your behaviour something else. I can see both sides.
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    There isn't a physical addiction, but I do believe people have compulsive eating disorders which would be a psychological addiction much like gambling or sex, etc. If you truly have a compulsive eating disorder, you should probably seek treatment...i.e. therapy, etc.

    IMO, the vast majority of people simply have bad habits and lack self control rather than actually having a compulsive disorder.

    True or false. You die if you don't eat?


    Seriously though that's a good answer. Bad habits and perhaps the use of food as an emotional crutch. I don't know that you can call it an addiction if it's something you need to live.
  • htimpaired
    htimpaired Posts: 1,404 Member
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    Yes compulsive eating is a disorder-in the DSM-V it's considered Binge Eating disorder, one of three eating disorders including anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, in a category specific to eating disorders, NOT an addiction. The compulsive nature of eating can be similar to the compulsive nature of abusing substances, but there is much more to an addiction than cravings and overdoing it.
  • Scamd83
    Scamd83 Posts: 808 Member
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    singingflutelady wrote: »
    JoshuaMcAllister wrote: »
    I think anyone who has experience of having a friend or family member anorexia might have a different view. Its obviously the other end of the scale but they don't choose to be anorexic but they are mentally ill, I believe that in some cases over eating for years can cause some form of mental health issue. That being said I wouldn't personally want it classed as an addiction, as far to many people who pick up on it and claim it the cause for their ill health when in fact they are simply overweight and do not care about their own well being. I definitely think there is something to it, just not enough to take action on like other addictions.

    I'm a mostly but not totally recovered (weight restored but still have body dysmorphia and a bad relationship with food) anorexic binge/ purge and I think "food addiction" is a behavioral addiction. Yes it's a mental illness but in all reality for me it really has nothing to do with food itself. It is more stuff I associate with food. I didn't binge because I was addicted to sugar or because I was craving. I binge in response to hunger and all or nothing, black or white thinking "oh I let myself eat this bad food so I might as well eat all the food as I will gain anyways". I have foods I must avoid just because I associate them with past binges. Also when I get emotional I am more likely to binge. Other than my trigger foods I can be around any foods and not binge at all if I am not restricting or am not in a bad place mentally.

    Body dysmorphia is the worst thing ever (to me), how I feel about food directly relates to how I feel when I look in the mirror.
  • lisawinning4losing
    lisawinning4losing Posts: 726 Member
    edited March 2016
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    A look at the number of obese people around me, and the number of people dying of obesity related diseases, and the fact that some people can have open heart surgeries and be told by their doctors that they need to stop eating crap but they still can't stop eating it, and the fact that diabetics have lost their legs but still keep eating crap, would say to me that food addiction is real. But I wouldn't actually call it food addiction, since the crap that we're addicted to and that's killing us isn't really food.

    Sugar (what we would call table sugar), for example, is a white crystal substance that contain no nutritional value other than calories, and it actually leaches nutrients from the body in the same way that many other drugs do. It has a similar affect on the brain as other drugs, and there's an addictive quality to it. A number of studies have linked it to a number of diseases. Some people can use it in moderation, just as some people can drink alcohol in moderation, or have it only occasionally, and that's perfectly fine. But I still think of it as more of a drug than a food.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    htimpaired wrote: »
    Yes compulsive eating is a disorder-in the DSM-V it's considered Binge Eating disorder, one of three eating disorders including anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, in a category specific to eating disorders, NOT an addiction. The compulsive nature of eating can be similar to the compulsive nature of abusing substances, but there is much more to an addiction than cravings and overdoing it.

    I would say it's more of a psychological behavior addiction like compulsive gambling or compulsive sex disorders vs comparing it to substance abuse...i.e. simply being addicted to the behavioral act itself and unable to stop regardless of negative consequences.
  • Isabelle_1929
    Isabelle_1929 Posts: 233 Member
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    elphie754 wrote: »
    Isabelle_1929 wrote: »
    More seriously now: an addiction is a mental health condition and as such, should be diagnosed by a health specialist.

    And I think it's a bad idea to try to diagnose yourself, and even more so with the help of the Internet. The Internet, where being sad = being depressed, being tidy = suffering from STD, having the habit to eat when bored or when it's time to celebrate = being an emotional eater, etc.

    Um what? Do you mean OCD?

    LOL
    Yes.
    Brain fart.
  • angella_jacobs93
    angella_jacobs93 Posts: 54 Member
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    You have all been very helpful! Thanks a bunch! :)
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
    edited March 2016
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    lisawinning4losing wrote: »
    Sugar (what we would call table sugar), for example, is a white crystal substance that contain no nutritional value other than calories, and it actually leaches nutrients from the body in the same way that many other drugs do.

    You're just making that up.

    Table sugar is simply a naturally occurring glucose that's had all the fiber removed. Yes, it's simply what you get squeezing sugar cane or beets (vegetables). It's actually your body's preferred source of energy.
  • tincanonastring
    tincanonastring Posts: 3,944 Member
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    _Waffle_ wrote: »
    lisawinning4losing wrote: »
    Sugar (what we would call table sugar), for example, is a white crystal substance that contain no nutritional value other than calories, and it actually leaches nutrients from the body in the same way that many other drugs do.

    You're just making that up.

    Table sugar is simply a naturally occurring glucose that's had all the fiber removed. Yes, it's simply what you get squeezing sugar cane or beets (vegetables). It's actually your body's preferred source of energy.

    I hate it when my cocaine leeches nutrients from my body. Stupid cocaine. It's worse than sugar, I tell ya!

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