The Addictive Eating Behavior

Losing weight is always on the top of my “New Year Resolution List”. Every summer I executed my strict dieting plan, yet every winter I lost control and gained my weight back. Until today, I have been in this endless “extreme dieting and addictive eating” loop for 5 years. The biggest dieting challenge for me is that I cannot start eating foods I like. I can control myself on the extremely low calories meal plans for months, but once I start eating certain foods I just cannot stop.

Until last week I found a research online which showed that there are some foods are considered addictive in a way similar as the addictive drugs and attribute to addictive eating behavior. However, the addictive foods are actually common foods we eat regularly. I start wondering whether certain people are more vulnerable to food addiction. Out of curiosity, I found one study that established the interrelationships among impulsive personality traits, food addiction, and body mass index.

In this study, researchers used UPPS-P Impulsive behavior scale to assess participants’ impulsivity, and Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) for participants’ food addiction diagnosis. The participants’ BMI are also measured. When analyzing the data, in order to clarify the interrelationships among the 3 variables the researchers used two strategies — regression analyses and indirect effects analyses. Also, Pearson’s r (zero-order correlation) were used to establish the correlations between impulsivity, BMI and food addiction.

In the discussion, the researchers concluded that there are two out of five specific domains of impulsivity that are significantly related to food addiction. One is Negative Urgency, it refers to “individuals with a tendency to act rashly when feeling upset of angry”. It was positively related to food addiction symptoms, and indirectly related to higher BMI. The other one is lack of Perseverance, it was indirect associated with BMI as a function of food addiction. However, correlation does not show causation, there are still more factors need to be considered.

Anyways, the result of this study may be acceptable to others but it does not apply to me. With all the suffering I went through during the weight loss and regain cycle, I can say that impulsivity does not play an important role. However, it is always nice to know factors that contribute to addictive eating behavior.

Student ID: 260415310

Reference:

1.Cara M. Murphy, Monika K. Stojek, James MacKillop. Interrelationships among impulsive personality traits, food addiction, and Body Mass Index. Appetite, 2014; 73: 45 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2013.10.008