Addicted to food?

[BlindMeFromTheSun]

Do you think it is possible to be addicted to food? I wonder if there is anyone else out there or if there is any learnt wisdom that could be shared? TIA

[juliafree]

Hi BlindMeFromTheSun,

yes it is possible to get addicted to food. We get a rise in dopamine and endorphins when we eat - eating is pleasurable, and we get a little high!

But this in itself is not going to cause addiction. This is just our survival mechanism telling us that to eat food is a good thing. To be addicted to food or anything else, we also need a stress. The stress could be a difficult relationship, the demands of parenting, anxiety about the future, feeling lonely, or any number of other problematic issues. We also need a seed (susceptibility), and this might lie in how our parents made us feel, or a trauma, illness or situation in which we were not able to cope.

Whatever the stress or seed, when eating food makes us feel better, distracts us from our problems, or forms part of a compulsive behavioural pattern, and we cannot regulate how much we eat despite a creeping waistline, a loss of fitness, and crumbling self-confidence, then yes, food can be addictive.

It doesn't have to be junk food that has certain addictive additives, either. It can be any food that provides that momentary relief from undesirable situations, thoughts or feelings.

[ILostItInTheEarlyNineties]

There is research that shows that eating a combination of sugar and fat produces a similar effect on the brain to using opiates and can be just as addictive.
Deficiencies in insulin can also cause a 'false starving' effect causing you to overeat.

[Msqueen33]

Yes. I've been reading up on it and there's also groups in the UK for people with food addiction.

[roseteapot101]

my mother was diagnosed with food addiction unfortunately it led to sleep apnea which meant when her health deteriorated she just stopped breathing completely.

She had a hard life ,its common for people who have been mistreated to ease the pain with food

[CatyB]

Indulge in other joys other joys apart food?