My blog on food addiction called Might As Well Face It, You’re Addicted to Food…Or Are You? recently posted caloriecount.com. I had to keep it short, of course, but would be remiss if I didn’t share more on the topic from the oh so brilliant David Katz, MD, Director, Yale University Prevention Research Center and Editor in Chief, Childhood Obesity.
When asked if he believes in the actual concept of ‘food addiction,’ Katz said “I don’t think it matters whether or not food addiction formally qualifies as a ‘physiologic’ addiction.” He went on to describe ‘addiction’ as “A word we invented to describe a particular experience that involves 1) wanting something very badly; 2) wanting or needing more of something the more of it you get; and 3) developing withdrawal symptoms when you stop getting the thing you want or need.” According to Katz, “The common experience with food is that it can certainly satisfy the first two and possibly the third. People want, need, and crave sugar, salt, perhaps fat, and starch. The more sweet and/or salty food people consume, the more they tend to want, need, and crave it.” He adds “While there’s no clear withdrawal ‘syndrome’ per se, many people do experience unpleasant effects when they wean off the food elements we most associate with addiction.”
Katz then went on to say “If there’s clear evidence that dietary elements are being manipulated in a way that exploits an ‘addiction’ comparable to that with nicotine, it might serve—like in the case of tobacco—as an iron clad argument for more regulation. Findings from brain imaging studies can certainly contribute to the idea that people can become addicted to food.
Katz says we know too well that our diets pack in too much sugar and too much salt. He adds “We already know that people like/want/crave sugar and salt, and that the more people have, the more they tend to prefer it.” He feels we don’t really need brain imaging studies to establish a robust basis for action and that the mandate is already there.
Katz says some people might benefit from knowing if, in fact, they have an actual ‘food addiction’ –but for those who want to improve your diet, and don’t find doing so to be too tough a challenge, knowing whether or not they have a food addiction is irrelevant. Katz believes the true value in defining ‘food addiction’ is the role that may play in advancing public policy—not personal progress.
That being said, for those who think they may be addicted to food, Katz offers a few suggestions. He encourages people to use ‘skill power’ instead of ‘will power’ to dial down exposure to food components—like sugar and salt—that may someday prove to be addictive; reading food labels to identify stealth sources of added sugar and sodium and to replace usual picks with lower sugar, lower sodium options. Katz adds “When you systematically remove sugar or sodium from your diet, it won’t be long before you find the taste of things you used to love to be too sweet or too salty.” He recommends you ask yourself if you turn to food to fight stress, boredom, loneliness, or anxiety. If you find the answer is yes, he recommends finding non-food ways to manage stress or seeking out a stress management to empower yourself.
He sums things up by saying “A food ‘addiction’ must be viewed in the context of what else is going on in your life.” He adds “We are not helpless victims—we can direct our behaviors where we want them to go.” Says Katz. He says we can practice more healthful habits, get used to them—we may even find that health and vitality can be addictive too! The better you feel, the more positive reinforcement you have to take better care of yourself. Smart words from a smart man, I’d say.
Your thoughts?
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I don’t have any doubt that certain people do have full-blown addictive behaviours around food. I know that I have had them in the past. Recent research you mentioned in your caloriecount article that shows similar MRI results to drug addicts when food-addicted subjects are shown certain food cues would lend further credence to that fact.
My personal experience has been that when food has become a truly addictive substance in my life, I’ve needed to abstain from it as I would any other drug. Of course, you can’t abstain from food per se, but you can certainly undergo a nutritional detox wherein you eat no refined sugar or excess salt for a number of days to see what happens to your body.
In my own case, whenever I’ve done that I’ve undergone genuine withdrawal symptoms such as severe headaches, irritability, and even some joint pain. But the feeling that comes after even a few days of eating no sugar and low salt can be pretty remarkable. Suddenly I feel refreshed when I awaken in the morning and it doesn’t take me 10 minutes of slow movement to work the stiffness out of my joints. My mind is clearer and sharper throughout the day, and I just feel better generally.
For someone in the throes of their addiction, this activity is much easier said than done. That’s why I think psychotherapy can have a big role to play in that process. I can’t really think of any case wherein someone who is addicted to food hasn’t developed their addiction through mindless eating behaviours tied to emotional or psychological precursors. Some form of inward-looking talk therapy — or even substantive personal journaling — is required to break up the mental logjam in our minds and to develop authentic awareness around the reasons why we’re overeating in the first place.
In some measure, whenever we can develop genuine mindful awareness about why we’re overeating, we can slowly start to change the behaviours themselves.
There is no doubt in my mind that some people are addicted to food. Any obese person with a desire to loose weight should not be eating empty calories, food with no or little nutritional value, such as sugar, ground grains and manufactured oils. Just try to give them up, and see if you are addicted or exhibit addiction like behavior. If you are unwilling to give them up, is that not the definition of addiction?