To think that food addiction is a real thing?

[Summerbreezer]

Obviously a psychological rather than physical addiction, but still - AIBU to think this a real problem?

I really struggle with regulating my food intake. If I do not have access to food, I feel very anxious and stressed. Food is the release I allow myself from all the pressures in my life.

When I am tired, I can binge like no-one's business. Sometimes, I wonder if I am just a bulimic who doesn't make herself sick.

I have just been talking to a friend about it, who cannot get her head around why it could ever be a problem. Her mantra is "just eat less" and she cannot understand why anyone would ever struggle to do that. She points out that it is not a physical addiction, and as such should be an easy habit to break.

AIBU?

Yes it's a massive problem for many people. I have a friend who has struggled with it her entire life. She tried going to OA (over eaters anonymous) but it didn't help. For her it's tied up with lots of issues around her childhood and ongoing depression. But in therapy they treat it like an addiction, and said n many ways it's harder to overcome because you can't completely avoid food and the "cravings" never really go away as they would for cigarettes, or other drugs.

Obviously not everyone who is over weight has this issue, but there are plenty of eating disorders that don't fit neatly into a particular box. I'm lucky in that my body naturally regulates my appetite such that I don't over eat (at least not enough to take me out of a healthy BMI), but there is just pure luck.

Anything can be an addiction -> by definition an addiction is a bad relationship with anything - be it drugs, food, drink ...

It can be a physical addiction if you are getting quick sugar highs, crashing, then having another sugar fix, then crashing, then having another sugar fix. It's a cycle that's hard to get out of.

I believe certain foods (essentially sugar) can be physically addictive for some people, but this is a controversial topic amongst doctors. To say someone is addicted to food in general is sort of ridiculous though-a but like being addicted to oxygen .

When it comes to the psychological side then eating (anything, although usually it will be 'comfort' food) can be used as a crutch or coping mechanism in the same way as drugs, alcohol, shopping or gambling and to stop it people generally need support to unravel the reasons behind it and find other ways of addressing whatever issues are there.

Come and have a look at BED support thread and see if you think it might help you Summer

I think, food is one of the only things that you can be addicted to but actually need to exist.

So if you're a smoker and give up - great, you never have to smoke again. Same with gambling, alcohol etc.

If you've a bad relationship with food you can't just not eat.

I know what a healthy balanced diet is. I know how I should eat. I know tucking through a massive bar of whole nut on a Friday night followed by a family bag of Doritos is not good. But I make excuses. Tell myself I deserve it. Skip lunch two days during the week to atone. Hence I'm overweight. I font think I have any underlying issues though. I'm happy. Content. So why?

Well one big bar of chocolate and a bag of Doritos once a week doesn't sound like any kind of addiction Youll- and it probably isn't the only reason you are overweight (if you are). To me it sounds more like too much of an association between food and reward with the 'I deserve it' mentality. But probably what you need to let go of is the idea that you shouldn't eat those things or need to 'atone' when you do - then you'd still enjoy them occasionally but most likely eat a lot less of it!

Well you need food to live but you don't need JUNK food. I say this as someone who managed to give up a food addiction through restricting junk food and processed carbohydrates. I hardly have any carbs now (apart from green vegetables) and I rarely get that uncontrollable urge to stuff my face. For years I thought it was all psychological, and maybe there is an element of that for some people, but I've found that removing the physical element (carbohydrates especially refined) made all the difference.

Most food these days is carefully created in labs to be as addictive as possible 70% are overweight and it just goes up.