Thursday, March 14, 2024

What To Do If You Are Addicted To Food

Food Addiction Recovery Options

Are you ADDICTED to FOOD?

Recovery from food addiction is different from recovery from alcoholism or drug addiction in one simple way. You cannot simply refrain from eating all together as a part of your recovery. Humans need to eat to live, so there has to be some form of behavioral change. One thing is certain. Food addiction is a problem that is unlikely to be solved without help.

There are several food addiction recovery options available if you or a loved are suffering from this eating disorder. Treatment for food addiction includes therapy, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy , nutritional therapies, and group support. Contact us to learn more about our food addiction recovery program or to discuss admission options.

Question : Can I Stop Using

Well, can you? Can you go one full day without using your substance of choice or attending your action of choice? If you did have to go for a full day without using, would you suffer from withdrawal symptoms? Withdrawal symptoms are a great indication that we have a problem with drink or drugs and that we need to do something about it.

Types Of Food Addiction

Food addiction is a type of eating disorder. Two types of food addiction are binge eating and bulimia nervosa. Binge eating is compulsive overeating with the inability to control food intake. The food addict may have attempted at control through dieting, which often leads back to overeating in response to some emotional trigger. Bulimia is a dangerous cycle of overeating combined with purging to prevent weight gain. A bulimic person is often secretive about the disorder and obsessed with weight gain.

Also Check: What Are The Behaviors Of An Addict

Causes Of Food Addiction

Food addiction is likely the culmination of several factors that interplay in the overall cause of this disorder. A man or woman may develop an addiction as a result of biological, psychological, or social reasons. Biological causes that may influence the progression of this eating disorder might include hormonal imbalances, abnormalities in various brain structures, side effects from the use of certain medications, or having family members with this type of addiction issues.

It also might also be the result of psychological factors. Factors included in this category might include emotional or sexual abuse, being a victim or survivor of a traumatic event, having an inability to healthily cope with negative situations, chronic low-self esteem, or experiencing grief or loss.

Psychological factors such as these can influence an individual to use food as a coping mechanism to relieve the painful emotions that may have resulted. Lastly, there are social implications that may be involved with food addiction, including factors such as disturbances in family function, pressure from peers or society, social isolation, child abuse, lack of social support, and stressful life events.

Food Addiction And Eating Disorders

Check Out If You Are Addicted To Food  LMG for Health

Food addiction may be related to eating disorders in some cases, Cohen says.

This may be the case because most food-related disorders are rooted in the binge-restrict cycle: Restriction, such as excessive fasting, inadequate calorie intake or removal of entire food groups, sends the body to believe it is in famine, and ends in episodes of overeating or bingeing.

A post shared by Rihanna on Oct 7, 2019 at 12:30pm PDT

People make jokes about eating disorders and binge eating, like in the Instagram post above, but it can become a serious problem if the cycle persists.

Cohen emphasizes that it’s completely natural to use food as a comfort in times of stress and to soothe yourself in moderation. It becomes a problem “when overeating is not connected to an emotional moment but rather is a frequent occurrence, happening time and time again.”

A key sign of a problem that may point to an eating disorder: thoughts of guilt and shame that accompany overeating, especially after the fact.

An eating disorder specialist may say you can’t be addicted to food, Cohen says, explaining that “you can be fooled into thinking you are addicted to food, but that typically comes from a place of restriction and your body’s desire to be fueled.”

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The Role Of Cravings In Binge Eating Disorder

The struggle is real: Some people who have had prolonged exposure to high-sugar and high-fat foods have decreased dopamine receptors making them more vulnerable to pleasurable stimuli. This heightened sense of anticipation for reward increases their risk for using food for self-medication whether conscious or subconscious.

When explaining this to my clients, I use the metaphor of a fighter plane such as in the movie Top Gun that has technology that locks in the target for a missile launch. By the time your brain locks in on food, youre toast unless you use some very skilled flying to change your trajectory. Once triggered, these types of cravings activate reward-seeking behaviors. Behavior is influenced by stress. Food exposure combined with stressful stimuli, including prolonged food deprivation may activate this painful pull. Someone in substance use recovery might use the term jonesing.

For those with binge eating disorder, unfortunately the wanting is more powerful than the liking of the actual food or experience. There is evidence of dissociative processes during a binge that interestingly makes it hard to fully enjoy the reward the person was seeking.

Do You Need To Quit Cold Turkey

Most people dont manage to quit anything cold turkey without relapsing. Rather than adopting a meal plan for a short time that youre unlikely to stick with, we recommend you progressively incorporate new foods and meals that align with your goals and phase out the old foods and meals as you lose your cravings for them.

We think most people need about 30 foods and 30 meals that they enjoy eating regularly align with their goals. We call this YOUR OPTIMAL 30/30. This concept is the foundation of our Nutritional Optimisation Masterclass that helps you find YOUR OPTIMAL 30/30.

Dont worry. Nutritional Optimisation does not involve the elimination of all pleasurable and tasty dopamine-producing foods. These tools will help you to incrementally and progressively refine your diet just enough to keep you moving and get the results you need.

Also Check: How Addiction Affects The Brain

Addicted To Food: 4 Signs You May Have A Problem

Food provides nourishment and energy to our bodies, and it can also be a source of emotional gratification. Different foods provide different elements of wellness and are essential to human survival, but some people can develop an addiction to food that has the potential to be as serious as a substance abuse disorder.

For those struggling with food addiction, highly palatable foods high in sugar, fat and salt can trigger the release of chemicals in the brain similar to that of addictive drugs like cocaine and heroin.

The science behind food addiction is still evolving, but researchers at Yale Universityâs Rudd Center for Food Science & Policy have developed a survey to help identify people who may have a food addiction.

If youâre struggling with your relationship with food, here are four signs you may have a problem.

Do You Feel Hungry Quite Often

Addiction vs. Habit | Food Addictions Explained | How to Avoid Overeating

Many of us believe that eating frequently can boost our metabolism.But if your hunger pangs to eat snacks hit you every 2-3 hours, you are probably addicted to sugar.In such cases, instead of having junk food, you can have green tea and nuts like almonds as they are healthier.Also, during the nighttime, avoid eating anything right before you hit the sack.

Read Also: How To Tell If Your Addicted To Alcohol

Social Causes Of Food Addiction

Scientists believe there are many social pressures that contribute to food addiction.

This includes social pressure to be thin and the social disapproval for people who are overweight.

This pressure fuels the food addicts self-disgust.

The resulting depression causes the food addict to overeat in an attempt to feel better about themselves.

How Common Is Food Addiction

So why is it then, so many of us do feel addicted to certain foods? Well, the brain does have a neurochemical response to food, causing the release of feel-good hormones such as dopamine. Were programmed to remember habits that are rewarding so that we repeat them, and hormones such as dopamine help us do that. Our primal brain also knows that high calorie foods will restore the equilibrium more quickly, which is in our best interests for survival.

This is more pronounced when the body detects an imbalance, such as that created by calorie restricted dieting. Were drawn towards the very foods were trying so hard to avoid, confirming our worst fears that we must be addicted! As a cruel double blow, the body will interpret calorie restricted dieting as a threat, which puts us into defence mode. In this mode the sympathetic nervous system takes over which further serves to deregulate appetite and mess up how we metabolise food.

Whilst keeping food as the enemy, were effectively swimming around in stress chemistry which just makes everything a whole lot harder. But instead of getting out of the water and looking objectively at the pool, we stay in it, smacking ourselves over the head with a dive stick. Random analogy there, sorry but you get my point.

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Red Flags To Watch Out For

If theyre not addressed, food-addictive behaviors can contribute to health problems associated with an unhealthy diet, such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

But not everyone who struggles with it is overweight. People who are a healthy weight can also fall into addictive eating behaviors. Sometimes, these behaviors can trigger other unhealthy patterns, such as crash dieting or over-exercising to burn off the extra calories consumed.

It also really affects peoples quality of life because they feel so guilty or ashamed, Dr. Albers says.

Watch for these troubling patterns of behavior:

  • Eating consistently past the point of being full.
  • Sneaking or hiding eating behaviors.
  • Feeling out of control around certain foods.
  • Thinking or stressing about food every day.
  • Finding other once-pleasurable activities less enjoyable.
  • Going out of your way to get certain foods when they arent readily available.
  • Avoiding social or professional situations because of food.
  • Continuing these behaviors despite their negative consequences.

A Culpable Food Industry

How do you know if you are addicted to food?

Many people believe the food industry spikes food with processed sugars and flours knowing this will lead to food addiction.

Indeed, many supermarket premade dishes contain more sugar than a bar of chocolate! The sweetness of these dishes is often hidden by an infusion of salt and spices.

In fact, some even say processed sugar is more addictive than cocaine!

I recommend you read the book Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss.

Studies conducted on rats exposed to junk food prove the rats suffer withdrawal symptoms when the junk food is removed similar to that suffered by rats addicted to drugs or alcohol.

This was particularly the case for rats addicted to sugar. When sugar was withdrawn, the rats suffered several withdrawal symptoms: shaking, anxiety and a change in body temperature.

Scientists say youre least likely to become addicted to unprocessed natural foods such as vegetables, nuts, beans and seeds.

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Food Addiction: The Symptoms And How It Affects Your Health

There’s some debate as to whether food addiction is real, but mental health pros see it often.

“Just one piece” sometimes ends up like this. But does that always mean you’re addicted to food?

Just one piece of chocolate, you think, after a long day at work. You have good intentions but before you know it, wrappers lie all around and you’re left with a tummy ache — and probably a wave of guilt or self-shame.

Food — especially palatable food — has a way of making people temporarily toss their healthy resolutions for the instant gratification of satisfied taste buds. While the occasional chocolate indulgence is no problem, if you often find yourself unable to stop eating certain foods even when you’re full, it may indicate a problem.

Food addiction, while not defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a psychiatric condition, resembles drug and alcohol addiction in many ways, and many mental health professionals agree that food addiction is a real condition.

Like other addictions, addiction to food can interfere with relationships and obligations, as well as impact your health — learn what kinds of foods are addictive, how food addiction develops, and how to get help if you’re struggling with food addiction.

Acclimatising To A Changing Bliss Point

Another characteristic of addiction is acclimatisation to increasing levels of stimulation.

Food scientists spend a lot of time and money testing, before they bring a product to market, to optimise the formula for the bliss point that more people will find more pleasurable.

This technique was perfected by psychophysicist Howie Moskowitz in the 80s to optimise parameters such as flavour intensity, fat and sugar.

Its interesting to note that this bliss point has been shifting as we have become more and more acclimated to processed foods. Food manufacturers have had to use more intense flavours to keep people hooked on their products.

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Food Addiction: Facts And Treatment Options

Our culture does not normally associate overeating with food addiction. Nonetheless, there are a number of medically recognised eating disorders that would constitute some sort of compulsion toward eating. These compulsions are every bit as powerful as the compulsions that might lead someone to take drugs, drink excessively, or engage in reckless gambling or sexual behaviour. Whether we apply the term food addiction really is irrelevant in terms of treatment. People who eat compulsively need some of the same kinds of treatments applied to other compulsive behaviours.

UKAT is the UKs leading provider of treatment services for people dealing with addiction and/or compulsion. We include services for eating disorders. When you get to the end of this guide, we encourage you to contact us for more information about how we can help. If you are struggling with any level of food addiction, regardless of how minor or serious, we can help you find and access the treatment you need.

Avoid Alcoholic Drinks And Caffeine

Instantly Overcome Food Addiction

As much as you can, avoid alcoholic drinks and caffeinated beverages . Evidence shows that drinking alcoholic or caffeinated beverages triggers poor eating choices.

Coffee can cause the body to crave sugary drinks or sweet foods. In addition, too much caffeine can cause anxiety, and an anxious person may end up resorting to binge eating comfort foods to feel better.

Drinking alcohol may also cause you to become hungry. For sure you have experienced this. After a night of drinking or bar-hopping with friends, eating whatever you see on the fridge, even junk food seems like a good idea. Because alcohol causes poor judgment in many people, so this can break your recovery.

Also, avoid soda because it has addictive substances and has high sugar contents. Dont make it a part of your every day life to consume sugar because this can trigger addiction to your brain.

Read Also: What Is The Difference Between Addiction And Dependence

Signs Of A Sugar Addiction

Unlike many other substance use disorders or behavioral compulsions, sugar addiction is often easy to spot. The clearest signs of sugar addiction involve consumption of large amounts of food or drinks laden with sugar. The individual may eat constantly, eat to combat boredom, and become hyper and crash. They may even talk about craving sugar after stressful or irritating life experiences.

Learn To Take A Look At This Issue For Yourself And Make Changes If Necessary

Are you addicted to junk food filled with sugar? Is that even possible? Is addiction driving the obesity epidemic?

Addiction to food is a very controversial issue. There are many strong opinions in the medical field on both sides.

Dr. Nora Volkow, the Director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse, has done extensive research on addiction and obesity. She has concluded that addiction to foods, especially ones high in sugar and fat, is real. She has done extensive research showing that the reward pathways in the brain are disrupted in people who are obese, especially those involving dopaminesometimes known as the pleasure neurotransmitter.

Dopamine is released when we do pleasurable things like eat, have sex, or use drugs. When people do these things too often, or in larger amounts than normal, the brain adapts and makes it harder to trigger this system. This leads people to use more and more in order to feel good. It leads to a vicious cycle of addiction.

An article in the European Journal of Nutrition reviewed some of the science and concluded that sugar addiction is not real. They claim that binging on so-called comfort foods only occurs in the context of food deprivation. People on this side of the issue say obesity can be controlled by eating in moderationeven junk food every now and then.

The full criteria are here.

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What Kinds Of Foods Are Addictive

Foods you would call “junk food” — cookies, candy, potato chips, cheese puffs, and the like — are very palatable, which gives them their addictive qualities.

Typically, high-fat, high-sugar and high-calorie foods are the most addictive, Hopkins says.

“Highly processed foods with added fats and sugars tend to have the greatest addictive potential,” she says. “It’s thought that the brain develops a stronger preference for calorie-dense foods, and prepackaged snacks fit the bill.”

One important thing to call out is that these kinds of snacks also tend to contain higher amounts of refined grains and lower levels of satiating fiber, Hopkins says, which results in food moving more quickly through the digestive system.

“Combine this with starch, sugar, salt and fat and you have yourself a food that can be addictive and also likely to leave you feeling hungry not long after eating it,” she explains. This is one of the reasons why even people without food addiction may find it difficult to to eat certain foods in moderation, and the reason why these foods are not usually fresh fruits and vegetables.

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