Is Food Addiction a Real Concept?

Are you a Foodie Addict?

The phrase, “I can’t stop eating — I’m addicted to food.” Is something that’s tossed around a lot — at birthdays, family gatherings, barbecues, or maybe within the comfort of your own home. Some people claim to feel like they’re addicted to food and that they need to have food out of their sight to prevent themselves from eating any further. When people describe feeling “addicted” to food what they are usually describing is a mix of intense cravings, feeling out of control around food and frequent bingeing on certain foods. They may eat past the point of comfortable fullness, and may feel a sense of shame of guilt for eating these foods. The feeling of being out of control around food is a very real experience and the language of addiction (“this is a biological drive that I can’t control”) fits with this feeling.

While the concepts “food addict” or “sugar addict” are regularly used, is there any evidence to being addicted to food?

There are two main categories of addiction.

• The first category is a non-substance behavioural addiction where a person is unable to stop doing the negative activity or behaviour. For example, a person addicted to gambling may spend all of their savings.
• The second category of addiction is a substance addiction, such as drugs, alcohol, or tobacco. Researchers have placed ‘Food addiction’ in this category as the symptoms are thought to be comparable to substance addiction. Including loss of control, withdrawal, and cravings for palatable foods.

With regards to food addiction, there has been no evidence that food has a pharmacological effect on the brain the way that drugs do. To date, there is no evidence to support sugar addiction either (1). You might be thinking, “Hang on, sugar lights up the same brain pathways as drugs.” And while, yes it does light up those ‘pleasure centres’ so does listening to music, falling in love, or playing with puppies — but this doesn’t mean that we’re addicted to them.

What the studies do show is that when sugar was restricted, addiction-like behaviours occurred. When people cut sugar out of their diet, they end up wanting it more and when they finally do eat it, they may feel out of control and can possibly binge.

In animal studies which have looked at food addiction, it showed that rats which have intermittent or irregular access to highly palatable foods (high-fat and high-sugar) can develop compulsive eating behaviours. However, the rats which have continuous access to the same palatable foods don’t show any addictive-like behaviours (2).

Scientists also believe that there’s too much overlap between food addiction and binge eating disorder as well as bulimia nervosa for them to be considered separate conditions (3). Drugs, alcohol, gambling, and other addictions are very real and require professional support. But we don’t need these things to survive — we do need to eat though, so it doesn’t make sense that we would develop an addiction to something fundamental to survival.

Knowing that intermittent or irregular access to food causes more addictive-like behaviours, it’s safe to assume that for people who have dieted/ restricted, they’re going to feel that compulsive eating tendency. It’s like when you go on a diet and you decide to cut out bread and suddenly that’s all you can think about eating. I’m sure that bread was sitting on the counter for the week without you thinking twice about it, but the moment you told yourself you couldn’t have the bread, it’s all you wanted.

If you do feel out of control around food, the answer is not to cut out food groups. In fact, deprivation can exacerbate the issue at hand. Allowing yourself to eat from a place of self-care and abundance, rather than self-control or restriction can cause these addiction-like symptoms to decrease. If you feel like you need further support, consider reaching out to a therapist who specialises in eating disorders/ disordered eating.

References

1. Westwater ML, Fletcher PC, Ziauddeen H. Sugar addiction: the state of the science. European Journal of Nutrition. 2016;55(2):55–69.

2. Gordon EL, Ariel-Donges AH, Bauman V, Merlo LJ. What Is the Evidence for “Food Addiction?” A Systematic Review. [cited 2021 Sep 6]; Available from: www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrients

3. Davis C. Compulsive Overeating as an Addictive Behavior: Overlap Between Food Addiction and Binge Eating Disorder. Current Obesity Reports 2013 2:2 [Internet]. 2013 Feb 13 [cited 2021 Sep 6];2(2):171–8. Available from: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13679-013-0049-8

All of the content presented by Tru Valu Supermarkets on our Medium channel, including written text, photographs, videos, and graphics, as well as other resources we might include is meant to educate and it should not be perceived as a substitution for professional medical advice, as well as diagnosis or treatment. Always consult your doctor or nutrition advisor before making major lifestyle and diet changes.

Tru Valu Supermarkets is one of Trinidad and Tobago’s leading supermarket brands. As a responsible supermarket chain we believe in educating and informing our customers to make responsible decisions each day to improve their wellness and wellbeing.

Tru Valu Health and Wellness Program. Article 39.
Information supplied by Kirstyn Church, Associate Nutritionist, Nutrition Consulting Services.