Are You Addicted to Food?

Donna, thanks so much for sharing that.  Your weight loss is so impressive, but knowing how you feel about food and yet still managed to lose so much weight is even more impressive.  You ROCK!!

i don't believe that food, in and of itself, is addictive in the same way that alcohol and other substances are. it does not create permanent changes in brain chemistry and since it does not have withdrawal and tolerance, it is not an addiction according to the american psychiatric association. as i said before about this topic, the addiction model is appealing to the general public but is very weakly supported in the research literature. even treatment models that address easting addiciton, like OA, havea difficult time standing up to much scrutiny - as we have  discussed in this forum before. there are chemicals involved after eating food that make you feel good like serotonin and dopamine. people who have an underlying depression and lack these feel good chemicals can produce them in this way, sort of like using food in the same way you would use prozac. i don't believe i am and would never say i have ever been a "food addict."  there are many reasons for being overweight ad many, MANY things that lead us to overeat and subsequently gain weight.  i have done a lot with substance abuse/addiction and do not think they are even comparable to what is commonly thought of as food addition. now i do believe somewhat in an addictive personality that needs constant stimulation - whether that is by a substance, sex, gambling, food etc. but in that case, it doesn't usually matter what the actually addictive thing is - this where the whole addiction transfer concept post-WLS has gained a lot of attention.

Andy -- Thanks so much for your very analytical perspective.  You mentioned how food doesn't change brain chemistry like drugs do.  But what about all of the different chemicals that are in a lot of the foods themselves.  There seems to be more and more talk about how these different chemicals are causing people to become addictive to certain foods.  Do you think there is a possibility that these chemicals can be addictive even though they may not permanently change brain chemistry?

Hi Andy!!!!  Missed you. OA will say we have a food compulsion..not technically an addiction. Bottom line for me:  I abused food and fear that I would to this day given no plan to arm myself against the abuse. I no longer split the hairs of the difference between compulsion and obsession and addiction. In my book, the word Food is fully substitutable for the word Alcohol in all AA phrases, so for me, I could certainly treat it like an addiction with good results.  It technically is not food/drug/alcohol that is the problem...it is our perception of those things. All of those things can change brain chemistry as you described!

I think I have a food addiction.  I can't pinpoint it to one certain group of foods though. I eat all types of food and lots of each. Though I am aware that it will eventually kill me I still continue to eat. I cannot seem to control myself. I am not unwilling, I just seem to have a terrible time trying to control it long-term.  SO if that is the definition of food addiction then I am a food-aholic.  What am I doing to control it??  Well to quit smoking I had to quit cold-turkey. It was the only way.  So I imagine, abstinence is the only way with food as well. Therefore, Ii'm switching to intravenous nutrition and sewing my mouth shut.   No but seriously.. I think the best thing you can do is get the trigger foods out of the house and stay away from them.  That's the only way you'll ever get a handle on the problem.  Am I doing that?? Not exactly...at least not now.. but i want too...

Yes, I do have one.. my thing is soft breads, chocolate, nuts, ice cream, chocolate cake, whipped cream.

Sooo, how do you control it?

1. I don't bring in the house. Seeing it will set me off. <- This has worked the best. 2. I resist at the sight of it. (most of the time, when at outings & work) 3. I find alternative foods that are less caloric, similar taste, but still satisfy me. 4. I treat myself to them.

Considering the idea of addiction/obsession When I think of memories I think of the food.  I am inclined to think that is obsessive.  What happened at my granparent's 40th wedding anniversary when I was 10?  I tried escargot for the first time. What was served at my bosses funeral in 1992?  Some of the best damn chicken wings EVER! What did I order in that lovely indian resturant just outside of London the first time I met my sister in law?  Chicken Korma, basmati rice and garlic naan.. What did Steve and I have after we saw CATS on the east end?  Burgers....

It goes on and on.... ask me for a memory and I will give you the menu... as for foods that trigger - fast foods, sugars, simple carbs....

I wouldn't say I have an addiction.  I may have called it that in the past for lack of a better term at the time, but what I really feel like I have is a need for fullness.  i enjoy the feeling of being very full from a meal.  I have tried to stop that enjoyment, and some days it works, and others it doesn't.  Mostly, I try to eat a lot of things like celery and cucumbers and drink a lot of water...so that when I eat an actual meal, I am already close to feeling full.  I have a friend who is the opposite...he feels "gross" when he's over-full.  He's also very fit and healthy and has never had a problem being over (or under) weight.   I do believe people can be addicted to certain kinds of foods, like refined sugars.  I am not addicted to any specific sort of food group, but there's no doubt in my mind that little kids get crazy addicted to sugars and sweets, and those addictions will probably carry over into their adult life.