Food Addiction
Do you ever feel completely out of control around certain foods? Are you unable to keep these foods in the house because you end up overeating and feeling sick, then guilty for your lack of “willpower”? This is what most people are referring to when they talk about food addiction. Food addiction isn’t an official, diagnosable condition so it can be difficult to define. Generally, when people talk about being addicted to foods, they're usually referring to highly palatable foods - foods that are typically higher in fat and sugar. These are the types of foods that diet culture tells us are “bad” or “junk” food. We don’t tend to hear about people being addicted to broccoli or brussel sprouts! Let’s dive into the theory of food addiction to try and understand a little bit more about what drives it.
Food addiction theory is just that, a theory. There isn’t much scientific evidence to back it up (1). This is partly because food addiction isn’t a diagnosable condition so there isn’t defined diagnostic criteria for it. Most of the studies on food addiction use the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) as part of their assessments. The YFAS was developed in 2009 and uses criteria developed originally for substance addiction for food. There’s a couple of flaws with this (2). First, substance abuse is considered a mental disorder. It is known to involve changes in the parts of the brain responsible for reward and self control. Applying this criteria for food addiction assumes that food addiction is also a mental disorder, and there just isn’t the research to support that. Second, the YFAS is self reported so that brings up a question of reliability. One person may report one way but their friends/family/doctor may see things completely differently.
Let’s talk about some other possibilities with the feelings of food addiction. Let’s use the example of Jamie. Jamie loves Oreos. Oreos are her absolute favorite sweet treat, her favorite cookie. Jamie grew up never having Oreos in the house, her parents deemed them “junk food”. So when Jamie had the opportunity to get Oreos at school or at a friend’s house she overate because she didn’t know when she’d be able to have Oreos again. As an adult, Jamie could buy her own Oreos, but she still considered them “bad”. She knew she “shouldn’t” eat them. So Jamie would avoid (restrict) Oreos. She wouldn’t buy them, because she “shouldn't” have them, but she thought about Oreos all the time! She would go a week or weeks without Oreos but she craved them constantly until she finally gave in. She’d get a package from the store and take them home and eat them all within a day. She’d feel sick, and guilty for eating so many. She’d swear off Oreos and start the cycle all over again. Our bodies are really good at letting us know what it needs, especially when it’s not getting what it needs. Now, do we NEED Oreos to survive? Of course not, but we are human, we don’t just eat for sustenance. Food is meant to be pleasurable and denying ourselves that can be harmful to our health - because when we talk about health, we’re talking about mental and emotional health in addition to physical health. A lot of the “symptoms” we see with food addiction are also the same symptoms we see with restricting and depriving ourselves of foods we enjoy but that diet culture has told us are “toxic” or “poison” for our bodies.
Restriction and deprivation is likely the most common culprit when it comes to feelings of food addiction, but here’s a couple of other factors that could also contribute to these behaviors.
Food Insecurity (3) - people who don’t have enough to eat can exhibit uncontrolled eating behaviors simply because they don’t always know when they’ll get to eat again. Food insecure people are at a much higher risk for eating disorders as a result of this. When you don’t know when you’ll get to eat again, it only makes sense that you’ll want to eat as much as you can while it’s available.
Emotional/Psychological Factors - Some people may need to work on developing coping strategies that don’t involve food to help manage their emotions. Emotional eating isn’t inherently a bad thing, but when it’s your only coping mechanism is when it can cause problems.
It’s important to remember that regardless of whether or not food addiction is ever a diagnosable medical condition, your feelings surrounding food are absolutely real and valid. If you think that you are addicted to food, or feel completely out of control around foods, here are some recommendations for helping to get to the bottom of why.
Get evaluated for an eating disorder. There may not be a fully blown eating disorder at play, but maybe some disordered eating behavior that is negatively impacting your relationship with food. If so, please seek the help of a therapist or dietitian familiar with eating disorders to help you work through those behaviors.
Build up your coping mechanism tool box. Again, something that a therapist or dietitian can help with. Brainstorming ways to cope with your emotions without always using food is crucial here.
Aim for eating regular meals and snacks. If we’re restricting when we can eat or what we can eat, this will ultimately lead to extreme hunger and compulsory eating - where we feel completely out of control because we’re so starving, causing us to eat large quantities in a short amount of time.
Dive deeper into your relationship with food. Food is just food. There’s no good or bad food. Some foods are more nutrient dense and some foods are more just for fun, but you’re not a good or bad person for the foods you eat. We often assign morality to food which translates over to us as people - I’m a “good” person for eating the salad and a “bad” person for eating the burger and fries.
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