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September 2020 | Read this issue and more at www.healthandwellnessmagazine.com |
HandWmagazine
ARE YOU
ADDICTED TO
FOOD? A FOOD ADDICTION CAN BE AS SERIOUS AS AN ADDICTION TO DRUGS OR ALCOHOL
By Health & Wellness Staff Believe it or not, people can be addicted to food. They can actually develop a chemical dependency on one or more foods. Unlike addictive substances such as drugs and alcohol, we need food to survive. But for some people, eating goes beyond survival and sustenance. Some people can become obsessed with eating, calorie counting and their weight. Eating disorders include bulimia (eating and purging), binge eating and anorexia nervosa, in which a person literally starves herself or himself to death. (The majority of anorexics are female, but men can suffer from anorexia as well.) Food addiction has also been described as a compulsive or uncontrollable urge to eat food that does not relate to feelings of hunger. This behavior may occur in response to emotions such as stress, sadness or anger. Food addiction appears to be especially common in people who overweight or obese, female and over age 35 years. Many of these people have experienced trauma in their lives and may already have an eating disorder compounding their food addiction. About 5 percent of the general population has a food addiction. The most common addictive foods are high in sugar, flour, fat, grains and salt. Combining these hyperpalatables affect the brain’s reward center in a way that is very similar to the way drugs and alcohol do. According to www.addiction.com, the combo can trigger an abnormally large release of the pleasure chemical dopamine. Repeated overstimulation of these reward pathways can create brain adaptations that can lead to compulsive consumption despite negative consequences, a classic manifestation of addiction. Some researchers prefer to use the term eating addiction rather than food addiction. People with food addictions are unable to control and stop their eating behavior. They often find themselves spending excessive amounts of time on food and overeating. They eat to reduce negative emotions or increase pleasure. Although they eat more and more, food satisfies them less and less. But cutting down on certain foods may cause anxiety. Conversely, eating may make you feel depressed or guilty. The Yale Food Addiction Scale identified certain foods that appear to have close links with food addiction. These include potato chips, fries, chocolate, cookies, white bread, pasta and ice cream. Someone may develop a compulsion to eat any food that brings them comfort.
