Food Addiction

Food addiction: Does it exist? If you’re searching for help for food addiction, you’re not alone.

Unlike other addictions like heroin or alcohol addiction you have to eat to live. There is no other option!

However, there is an increasing body of evidence to suggest that, as with other addictions, some peoples brains react to the presence of certain foods in exactly the same way it reacts to the presence of drugs, alcohol, prescription medication and even caffeine.

The Science of Food Addiction

Quite simply, studies of both animal and human brains have shown that the same pleasure and reward centres of the brain are activated by food as they are by substances such as crack cocaine and heroin.

Recent studies indicate that the three types of food most likely to have these effects are:

• Salt
• Fat
• Sugar

These foods, when metabolised, activate dopamine receptors in the brain.

Dopamine is a naturally occurring feel good chemical.

When you eat these foods, Dopamine is released and you experience pleasure.

The difficulty is that, if you keep doing this, the brain will develop what is known as a state of tolerance and start to change it’s chemistry.

Tolerance

When you keep activating your brains dopamine release system the brain will change how it works.

In short, you will need more and more activating substances (sugar, fat and salt) to have the same effect as when you first started to experience the release of dopamine.

The other problem is that you will find it extremely difficult to experience pleasure without activating dopamine via eating these food groups.

These foods are not carbohydrates which mean they wear off: Quickly.

While your genetic makeup may mean you don’t gain weight, these foods are not going to be good for your long term health.

Help For Food Addiction: What Are the Signs of Food Addiction

There are no hard and fast rules though researchers at Yale university in America have designed a rating scale that can help to narrow down signs.

The scale works on positive responses to questions along the following lines:

• Do you keep eating certain foods despite not feeling hungry
• Do you eat to the point that you feel discomfort
• Does your diet make you concerned about the food groups you are excluding
• Are you concerned about what you are eating
• Are you having to spend time and money getting your fix
• Is your habit interfering with family time? relationships? affecting work and study?
• Do you avoid situations because you won’t be able to access these food groups?
• Can you function without access to them?
• If you can not access them do you feel anxious? Agitated? Have physical symptoms?

Food addiction and mental wellbeing

Due to tolerance, you will need to eat ever increasing amounts of these foods to feel pleasure.

If you stop, Dopamine will stop being released and your mood will crash: very quickly.

Thus you will end up in a vicious circle: If you don’t eat these foods you will become depressed yet if you do you have to eat very large quantities just to stay level.

Cravings

Just as heroin withdrawal causes cravings, so does food addiction.

These will be very unpleasant and you will find yourself on virtual autopilot trying to satisfy your brain in obtaining food high in salt, sugar and fat.

As foods containing high quantities of these food groups are not complex carbohydrates, they are metabolised: Fast.

There is no difference in the behavioural responses to food addiction craving as there is to getting a fix of heroin.

It has nothing to do with lack of willpower but everything to do with science,.

Help for Food Addiction

Addiction is addiction.

Whatever the substance or behaviour that is causing the problem, the origin is the same: Something in that persons life is not going well. They are trying to escape from something: A situation, a person, painful memories, anxiety or a combination of the above.

The treatment is the same, as well.

It matters not if you go into recovery because you have a problem with alcohol, crack cocaine or Heroin. The brain responds in the same way.

You can fly to New York in economy, premium economy, business or first class: How you got there might be different but the destination is the same.

The only difference with food addiction is that you must have a certain amount of salt, sugar and fat in your diet. However, there is alcohol in bread so maybe not so different!  

Recovery

Help For Food Addiction: Recovery

All addiction, no matter what the cause or the substance or behaviour, requires four elements for recovery:

• Detox
• Therapy
• Relapse prevention
• Aftercare

Detox

Clearly, humans need a certain amount of sugar, fat and salt to sustain life. You simply can not survive without these food groups. Your brain will stop functioning and you will die.

Thus, with food addiction, a detox is about careful food preparation. In rehab, the catering team , in consultation with your clinician and the centres dietician will draw up a nutritional plan while you are in treatment.

Your brain will not respond to therapy without detox or within the very early stages of stopping your reliance on these food groups.

Therapy

A detox without therapy is like moving the deckchairs around on the deck of the Titanic while it is sinking: A waste of time.

Therapy is there to discover what the root cause of your addiction is. Were you trying to escape unpleasant memories? Avoid certain situations? people? Work/study? Perhaps you had untreated mental health concerns?

Every rehab centre in the world is grounded around a group therapy process. Why? Because it works!

The groups sessions will be full of laughter, tears, inspiration and hope. It will be challenging: It needs to be. Those around you will support you. Everyone is there for the same reason: Recovery.

12 STEP, SMART or eclectic. The model used really isn’t important. What is important is that you get into recovery.

Adjunctive treatments

Additional psychological therapies are also of great value in recovery from food addiction. These can include:

• Cognitive behavioural therapy
• Family therapy
• Motivational interviewing
• Art therapy

Relapse prevention

You have to eat to live.

Fat, salt and sugar are absolutely essential to maintain brain and bodily function. Unlike heroin and alcohol, you can’t siimply abstain.

When you are in rehab, the chef and catering team will work to your recovery plan and ensure your meals are balanced. When you go home, the onus will be on you to continue to eat healthily.

Relapse happens: FACT.

It doesn’t happen to everyone, but it doesn’t have to be catastrophic, either.

If you have the tools to deal with the challenge of relapse, you are in a much better place to overcome it.

Aftercare

Rehab is a place of unconditional acceptance. You are welcome no matter what it is you are addicted to.

You could bee a peer of the realm, an engineer, doctor, lawyer, cleaner or school dinner supervisor. It really doesn’t matter.

Everyone who leaves rehab will face challenges. With the ongoing support of your rehab centre, you can succeed.

All rehab centres provide a weekly support group (in person or remotely, depending on your location) as well as regular telephone check in.

If you find yourself struggling, there will be a dedicated number to call for support.

What you don’t need

Yoga with miniature goats, shakra realignment and organic green tea from the Himalayas are all very nice, but of no use, whatsoever.

The foundations of addiction recovery haven’t changed for decades and they don’t need to: Detox, therapy, relapse prevention and aftercare. Nothing else is required.

Get Expert Free Advice From an Experienced Addictions Clinician

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 Help for food addiction is available.