Food addiction -- real or excuse?

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  • Barneystinson
    Barneystinson Posts: 1,357 Member
    Excuses are part of denial and it's difficult to get to the core of things and admit you have a problem with food.

    It's very similar to alcoholism. A drive down a road dotted with fast food joints is an easy way back to a relaspe (binge).
  • calicat40
    calicat40 Posts: 37 Member
    wow so glad i didnt go read the comments on the article. People are so hurtful and misinformed. I have to say that I dont blame anyone for my issue and I do take full ownership but also acknowledge that there is an addictive personality trait in me and I need to curb my addiction to have a better life. I hope none of those folks who said those hurtful things ever find themselves overweight or addicted to anything because they won't like how they feel about themselves or how other think of them.
  • pyro13g
    pyro13g Posts: 1,127 Member
    Addiction is compulsive use that causes harm. If you compulsively eat and you are obese, you are an addict. Doesn't matter what it is, it's the same part of the brain. The excuse(actually denial) is denying you're an addict. Addicts aren't bad. It's a disease, are diabetics automatically bad? Nope, neither are addicts.
  • RozeGod
    RozeGod Posts: 118
    Good read on food addiction:

    http://scienceblogs.com/neurotopia/2010/03/dopamine_and_obesity_the_food.php
  • sophjakesmom
    sophjakesmom Posts: 904 Member
    If you boil it down to the simple fact that a person has an unhealthy/unbalanced "relationship" with whatever thing (drugs, food, alcohol, sex) then sure, they're about the same and I think there can definitely be food addiction.

    I think this is very true. I can only speak for myself, but I know I easily fall in to a habit of lying to myself about what I am eating and what it will do. :ohwell: I believe that self delusion is a powerful part of addiction. I guess if I always treat it as an addiction, I will always be wary and hopefully less likely to go back to that completely unhealthy place. Good topic!:flowerforyou:
  • graysmom2005
    graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
    I want to point out that "food addiction" isn't just from emotional problems. Many people claim they are "addicted" to food and aren't suffering psychologically. Many people who are overweight aren't depressed. Some people do eat because they can't handle their own emotions, but that's not the case for everybody.

    I don't believe that food addiction is legitimate as drug or alcohol addiction. Drugs and alcohol are carcinogenic. Food isn't. People suffer from withdrawal symptoms when they stop abusing drugs and alcohol. People don't suffer from withdrawal symptoms after eating less, except losing weight.
    Actually, I saw an episode of this show on OWN called addicted to food, and this one woman who even sprinkled her PEAS with sugar....eww.....went through serious withdrawals from sugar/fried foods etc. She was sick as a dog. It was crazy.
  • pyro13g
    pyro13g Posts: 1,127 Member
    I want to point out that "food addiction" isn't just from emotional problems. Many people claim they are "addicted" to food and aren't suffering psychologically. Many people who are overweight aren't depressed. Some people do eat because they can't handle their own emotions, but that's not the case for everybody.

    I don't believe that food addiction is legitimate as drug or alcohol addiction. Drugs and alcohol are carcinogenic. Food isn't. People suffer from withdrawal symptoms when they stop abusing drugs and alcohol. People don't suffer from withdrawal symptoms after eating less, except losing weight.

    You don't need to be suffering psychologically to be an addict. You don't need to be depressed. Food addiction is as legitimate as any other addiction. The definition is very clear and very concise.

    People do not always suffer withdrawal. That is a part of physical dependency and not part of the definition of addiction. You can also be dependent on a substance and not be an addict..

    People do suffer withdrawal from food substances. Carb flu is withdrawal. Withdrawal symptoms are also not part of defining an addiction. Withdrawal symptoms are part of physical dependency which does not make you an addict.
  • nibblerbigcat
    nibblerbigcat Posts: 60
    I never explicitly stated that I don't believe food can cause an addiction. I just said I don't think it's as legitimate as drugs and alcohol. Obviously, people who are obese have a problem. But that problem can stem from anywhere, not just from an addiction to food. Or it could stem from the way you were raised (parents who eat poorly = children who eat poorly). I just don't like how people grasp onto one possible explanation for obesity and use that to explain why so many people are obese.

    There is a freakin' obesity epidemic happening and it's not because of an addiction to food! It's because of the crappy, sedentary lifestyles people are living.

    If addictions to food were so prevalent and so common, then why only now are we facing an obesity epidemic?

    My point is that there was a time in the United States when obesity wasn't so common. When diet ad commericals weren't on every channel and when there weren't aisles dedicated solely to weight loss in supermarkets. There has to be other things happening than an epidemic of addiction to food. Which I think is the enviornment we live in. It's so easy to get food, eat lots and lots of extra food, and have none of it be healthy. It's also a hassle to get excercise in.

    With that said, I do believe a person can become addicted to food. I just don't think it's the cause for so many people being obese. Just like I don't believe in a fat gene. This is a scientist's way of attempting to explain the cause of what's happening before their eyes.

    Also, I'm aware that a person who stops eating 10,000 calories a day of garbage would feel like **** onced they stopped. I was referring to withdrawal symptoms that require hospitilization and careful monitering.
  • pyro13g
    pyro13g Posts: 1,127 Member
    You may want to trace through the lie Ansel Keys told and how it snowballed to where we are, the lies we are fed, but that's a different topic. Basically a "follow the money" type of thing.

    No one is saying addiction is the cause of all obesity. There are many paths to it. But, as far as food addiction goes, it is real and as legitimate, by definition, as any other.
  • stefraab
    stefraab Posts: 402 Member
    I'm sure it is a very real thing for some... an excuse for others.

    I doubt that a large proportion of overeaters are physically addicted. Just like most people that enjoy drinking 6 or 7 beers in a sitting aren't alcoholics. They just over-drink when they sit down to do it, but it doesn't affect their social lives or jobs etc.
  • lbelfrey
    lbelfrey Posts: 63
    Addiction also runs in my family. Alcohol, smoking and eating. All in the name of a having a good time. But besides that, these are real addictions that people live with everyday. I slowed down on the drinking and smoking because I saw a serious danger to becoming addicted because it does run in the family. Food can be very addictive because as a child you need someone to educate you on it. If you wait till your middle aged to become educated on food and exercise alot of damage can already be done. I think First Lady Michelle Obama is doing just that, trying to educate children at an early age about food and exercise. I'm now trying to do that for my children by setting the right examples and choices of food out for them. They don't like to hear it but atleast they're hearing it.
    I think if you have addictive personality best way to deal with it is to try and replace bad habits with good ones.
    This is a good way to focus all that energy.
  • lbelfrey
    lbelfrey Posts: 63
    I'm sure it is a very real thing for some... an excuse for others.

    I doubt that a large proportion of overeaters are physically addicted. Just like most people that enjoy drinking 6 or 7 beers in a sitting aren't alcoholics. They just over-drink when they sit down to do it, but it doesn't affect their social lives or jobs etc.


    There is such a thing as a functioning alcoholic. The excuse is that it doesn't disrupt their life so they are not addicted. In reality they are.
  • wonrob
    wonrob Posts: 66 Member
    I think it is an addiction to an extent...
    For instance some days (which turn into weeks) I just feel like stuffing my face with anything & everything, even if I'm not craving anything, to the point where I feel very sick & almost to the point of vomiting. & there are days where I'm constantly thinking of food.

    It may not be addictive to the extent of things like cocaine where you "need" more, but I still consider it to be an addiction. & scientifically, particular foods stimulate the brain's food-reward mechanism which causes you to want more & larger quantities of said foods.
  • Schwiggity
    Schwiggity Posts: 1,449 Member
    they already have excuses for being fat...they blame mcdonalds for ease of access to bad foods. they blame 'fat' genes that dont exist. they blame their parents etc etc.

    YEAH! DUN THEY KNOW THIS IS MURRICA?!?!? YOU ONLY HAVE YOURSELVES TO BLAME YOU DAMN COMMIES!
  • 4KidFather
    4KidFather Posts: 134
    Great Question - I don't think we can be addicted to real food. Food addicts rarely overeat on kale and salmon. It's usually industrially designed products like sugar, chips, chocolate and flour.
    We need real food like we need water, but don't suffer the addictive behaviors with it. It's just food to keep us alive, healthy active etc.
    I BELIEVE (and know) many people suffer addiction to sugar (including alcohols), flour, pharmaceutical drugs. Otherwise they could simply give them up. But many of these products are designed to be addictive and are novel to our bodies. Try finding long term epidemiological studies of many drugs and food additives. There are few if any.
    So, is HFCS (fructose) over consumption considered substance abuse? It's low fat.... ;)
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
    I think for some people they can become addicted to the unhealthy chemicals, sugars, etc in certain kinds of foods. I truly believe that things like high fructose corn syrup has contributed to us wanting to eat more and more and more. It is a cheap additive that messes with the trigger in the brain that tells us we are full. So, I can certainly see how someone would be addicted to foods that have this particular chemical in it just like they can be addicted to beer or drugs.

    That being said - at the end of the day, it is our OWN choices as to what we put into our bodies. No one is forcing us to down a big mac meal super sized or to eat a box of pop tarts or drink a 12 pack of Mt Dew in one day. These are CHOICES we make. Can the addiction lead to poor choices? Of course.

    I guess I am on the fence about the whole idea of "addiction" when it comes to food. I can see it both ways.
  • mheightchew
    mheightchew Posts: 334
    I am and always have been an emotional eater. If I am stressed, depressed or frustrated, chocolate or sweets makes me feel good instantly, then guilty later. I wouldn't know, but I would assume I would go through the same cycles if I replaced chocolate with drugs or alcohol. I have gotten up from a dead sleep at 3 am freaking out because I couldn't find a cupcake. If I get overly hungry and my sugar level drops even a little, I get a headache, the shakes and mood swings. It sure feels like an addiction.
  • elliecolorado
    elliecolorado Posts: 1,040
    I have to say that personally I think that it is some of both. While I am sure that there are people who have an actual addiction to food. I also think that more people use it as an excuse because it is easier to say that it is an addiction than to admit that they just don't care enough to change their bad habits.

    I actually heard something on the radio the other day about food addiction affecting the same part of your brain as other addictions. I would think that food addiction is like any other addiction though and it depends a lot on the person.

    Not everyone who likes to drink (even drink heavily) is or will become an alcoholic. Not everyone who does drugs is or will become an addict. Some people just have more 'addictive personalities' than others.
  • dragonbug300
    dragonbug300 Posts: 760 Member
    First of all, food addiction sounds like the equivalent of an eating disorder. Those who qualified as 'addicts' are just higher on a scale of disordered eating habits.

    Second:

    "In her experience, gym rats who work out four or five hours a day all have serious food and body image issues. But they’re addicted to starving, not eating."

    This last bit made me doubtful of the validity of this article. There is such a wide spectrum of disordered behavior that you can not say that gym rats all enjoy starving. There are gym rats who are training, some who are eating adequate amounts and enjoy exercise. Some gym rats actually binge eat beforehand and exercise for the purpose of burning the surplus calories. And yes, there are some gym rats who go all day without eating and then exercise until their hearts stop.

    Anyways, I loathe generalizations.
  • Picklepower
    Picklepower Posts: 66 Member
    I don't believe that food addiction is legitimate as drug or alcohol addiction. Drugs and alcohol are carcinogenic. Food isn't. People suffer from withdrawal symptoms when they stop abusing drugs and alcohol. People don't suffer from withdrawal symptoms after eating less, except losing weight.

    Actually there are some effects. For example, when I first stopped drinking Mountain Dew (I drank at least an entire liter bottle a day) I had a headache for about a week from the caffeine withdraw. No, not every food is going to give you withdraw symptoms but some can.

    And as far as if I feel it is a legitimate addiction? Yes, I completely believe that it is possible. However, do I believe that everyone who says they have an addiction to food actually has that addiction? No. I am a pharmacy tech and it's the same with pain meds. Do some people have actual pain from accidents and diseases that require them to be on serious pain medications? Definitely. Does every person with an oxycodone script that walks through the door have that kind of pain? Not even close.
  • Petunia32
    Petunia32 Posts: 24
    Addiction is addiction, no matter what it's to, and any addiction is legit, they have done many studies watching how the brain behaves within addicts to prove this. Someone with an addictive personality who doesn't have the skills and support to deal with their triggers and handle their addictive behaviour can get addicted to anything. Sex, food, drugs, alcohol, hoarding, shopping, gambling, caffeine, whatever, it doesn't matter. The addiction feeds a need within them, triggers the brain to behave in a certain way when they have it as well as when they are without and they get hooked in the destructive cycle. Then because they lack the skills and support to get out of it they spiral until they either get some help or reach bottom or die, because beating addiction is more than just giving whatever the thing is up, it's fighting these chemical urges and impulses that their brain has been feeding them, and that's a hard thing to do. It's not about what the person is actually addicted to and more about what the person's brain is doing at the time.
  • pyro13g
    pyro13g Posts: 1,127 Member
    The pull of an addiction to start using again is often unrelenting.
  • LivLovLrn
    LivLovLrn Posts: 580 Member
    I don't see why food can't be an addiction; I have another spin on it,though. There was a time in my history where I was rummaging through the cupboards desperate to find any form of sweet I could...ended up settling for cake sprinkles...pretty desperate! Turned out that my body couldn't handle sugar (specific to sugar cane). Because of that, if I had sugar I would only want more. It didn't matter how many candy bars, cookies, pieces of cake I ate..it was just never enough. Because of the way white flour breaks down in the body, the same thing occurred with bread products. So now that I have removed sugar cane and all flours from my diet, I no longer have those addictive symptoms. I really wonder if it isn't a similar story for other addicts. Not that they are addicted to the actual food, but that there is something in the food their bodies can't quite handle so it thinks it wants more and more. Just a thought
  • Schwiggity
    Schwiggity Posts: 1,449 Member
    First of all, food addiction sounds like the equivalent of an eating disorder. Those who qualified as 'addicts' are just higher on a scale of disordered eating habits.


    It is an eating disorder (compulsive overeating or binge eating disorder. pretty much bulimia without the purging). Addiction is a compulsion just like eating disorders are though. It's really just semantics.
  • beccau_20
    beccau_20 Posts: 191 Member
    Real. Real, real, real, real, real.
  • pyro13g
    pyro13g Posts: 1,127 Member
    I don't see why food can't be an addiction; I have another spin on it,though. There was a time in my history where I was rummaging through the cupboards desperate to find any form of sweet I could...ended up settling for cake sprinkles...pretty desperate!

    And people think it's not an addiction.
  • lcoulter23
    lcoulter23 Posts: 568 Member
    actually, I can say that I have an addiction to food. I have an addiction to most healthy food, but it is an addiction none the less. I could seriously over eat most any fruit or even carrots or cucumbers or green beans or corn and still not be satisfied. I am not joking or making light of this. it has been like this my whole life. i once ate an ENTIRE two pounds of grapes in one sitting. I'm also like that with chips. I could eat an entire bag, but not all at once. I once ate all of a jar of apple butter, an entire jar of applesauce, and then ate a bunch of carrots. addiction is addiction.
  • lcoulter23
    lcoulter23 Posts: 568 Member
    I should also mention that I have done the rummaging and settling thing...
  • pinkita
    pinkita Posts: 779 Member
    I think pretty much anything can be classified as an addiction if it has a negative impact on your physical or mental health.
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